Enrollment at our campus hit an all time record of 21,016 last semester, according to WSU News. As time goes by that record will be shattered again and again, especially now that the poor economy has made a college degree even more valuable. While higher enrollment might seem like it is better for the budget, it actually puts more of a drain on the university’s wallet. 

Of course, as all of this is going on, state funding for education is steadily declining. Some day soon the imaginary lines of the declining budget and the rising enrollment are going to intersect.

If we can change the university's carrying capacity, or the amount of students the WSU infrastructure can support, we may be able to change the trajectory of one or both of those imaginary lines. It would be easy to turn excess students away and raise tuition, but there are obviously several issues with that approach.

The best option we have is to change the way we do business. That is, if we change the way we educate students to a more cost-effective method we would obviously have an easier time when budget season comes around.

Earlier this semester, I discussed a group of physics professors who were dead set on the idea that the lecture is no longer the best way to teach students. 

Whether you believe that or not, soon there may be no choice but to ditch the lecture in favor of a cheaper method of teaching. One that could accommodate more students for less money. It may seem too good to be true but such a method is being developed right here on the Palouse and in classrooms across the world.

Online courses have previously been the realm of such prestigious scams as the University of Phoenix or ITT Tech but more and more public universities are heeding the call. WSU already has an entire “branch campus” devoted to online learning. Studies have shown that people can learn just as well at their laptops as in the classroom. As an added bonus, those who can succeed online are also more likely to actually finish their degrees.

I do not believe WSU will ever or should ever disappear into cyberspace entirely, but there is new ground to be broken online. While I was attending an over-crowded community college for Running Start I took several classes that had strong online components. These classes met once a week and were otherwise completely online. 

So there you have it. Face time with your professors with the flexibility and responsibility of online work coupled with lower costs to the university. In a perfect world, it just might work. Unfortunately, we live in the real world. But that also means the day will come when new methods like these could be on the table in a very real way.