Non-residential higher education and short non-degree programs would get a big boost if students could use Federal financial aid to pay for them. Some legislators are thinking about this. There is the risk that Federal money attracts unscrupulous providers and encourages schools to raise prices.

What about Federal and state scholarships for online courses for students who can show that they have exhausted the offerings at their high school?

Emerging Path to Federal Aid
Inside Higher Education
April 9, 2015
By Paul Fain

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A scenario in which a student can use a Pell Grant to help pay for a bundle of edX courses no longer seems so far-fetched.

Political support is building for a system to encourage and oversee higher education upstarts that don't look or act like colleges, such as online course providers and coding boot camps. And these emerging players soon may have a pathway to accreditation and even federal financial aid eligibility, albeit in limited or experimental form.

There are many differences among this group, which includes Udacity, General Assembly, StraighterLine and other noninstitutional providers. But none of these companies offers degrees or operates within the heavily regulated confines of traditional colleges.