Officials at the University of Florida are firing back at what they say is the media incorrectly branding a program intended to increase access to higher education as a "bait and switch."
This spring, the university invented a new admissions program, known as Pathway to Campus Enrollment, or PaCE, to circumvent its space issues. Students admitted to the university through PaCE complete their first 60 credits through UF Online, the university's online degree-granting arm, avoiding the enrollment bottleneck -- but also missing the campus experience -- that is the university’s face-to-face introductory courses.
The rollout, however, has been marked by confusion and criticism. Students questioned why they were invited to start their studies online when they applied to be residential students. The Washington Post said the students "wound up as part of an admissions experiment." The Gainesville Sunquipped that the university "made them an offer that most of them could refuse."
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/06/11/u-florida-administrators-defend-controversial-new-admissions-program-pace