Invoking a decades old law that requires any degree granting academic institution to obtain a license to operate in state (and pay a hefty fee for said license), Minnesota has banned universities from offering free online courses through education site Coursera, prompting the site to issue this notice to all Minnesota users:
Coursera has been informed by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education that under Minnesota Statutes (136A.61 to 136A.71), a university cannot offer online courses to Minnesota residents unless the university has received authorization from the State of Minnesota to do so. If you are a resident of Minnesota, you agree that either (1) you will not take courses on Coursera, or (2) for each class that you take, the majority of work you do for the class will be done from outside the State of Minnesota.
Now, say you, Coursera doesn’t actually award degrees for the completion of online courses! Well, since the universities that offer their courses through the site are technically “degree granting institutions”, lawmakers are asking that they pay to register with the state.
Defending the statute, George Roedler, Manager of Institutional Registration & Licensing for the state of Minnesota says, “We regulate colleges & universities that enroll Minnesota residents. They are required to register as degree granting institutions with us.” When I pointed out that students are not actually obtaining a degree upon the completion of these online courses, he argued that, “Our statute does not exempt free and non credit bearing courses.”
That strikes me as a bit of a stretch of statute 136A.61, listed here (emphasis mine):
The legislature has found and hereby declares that the availability of legitimate courses and programs leading to academic degrees offered by responsible private not-for-profit and for-profit institutions of postsecondary education and the existence of legitimate private colleges and universities are in the best interests of the people of this state. The legislature has found and declares that the state can provide assistance and protection for persons choosing private institutions and programs, by establishing policies and procedures to assure the authenticity and legitimacy of private postsecondary education institutions and programs. The legislature has also found and declares that this same policy applies to any private and public postsecondary educational institution located in another state or country which offers or makes available to a Minnesota resident any course, program or educational activity which does not require the leaving of the state for its completion.
So in the end, the beef is with universities, not with students or Coursera. And the state of Minnesota wants those universities to pony up. Fees to register with the state of Minnesota vary, says Roedler. “It can run from $250 for offering one course, but if a school wants to offer their whole catalog of programs, they could easily be looking at $10,000 to $12,000 in fees including a $1,200 annual renewal fee.”
You read that right. The state of Minnesota will have none of this free learning, ya hear?! Not until they collect on it.
Update, 10/20/12: Yielding to common sense, the state has revised its position stating that Minnesotans should feel free to pursue online learning and that legislators will work to update the 20 year-old statute, the Washington Post reports.
