Ethical dilemmas in planning adult education programs

Education

Planning Adult education programs is full of ethical dilemmas, simply because the needs and abilities of adult learners are often far different from other learners. One very difficult aspect of program planning is the fee structure. A programmer can be faced with offering programs that are extremely expensive for large sections of the student population, and many of those students are the students that would benefit most from the programs they offer. Do they reduce the fees, and the institution's profit margin to gain more students? Do they charge more for "big ticket" programs that can command higher prices, and then pass those savings on to the programs that are less affordable for many students? These are some of the fee-based ethical dilemmas programmers face, and how they deal with them indicates both their understanding of ethics and its role in adult educational programming.

If a programmer chooses to charge more for big-ticket programs, they are acting unethically, because essentially they are "taxing" the students who can afford to pay higher prices to subsidize programs for less affluent students. A better case scenario would be to lower the prices on the programs that are hard for students to afford, in an attempt to gain larger enrollments, thus fill the classes, and still make a profit. Another solution would be to offer scholarships or some sort of funding, through donations and grants, to help offset the costs for students who are less able to pay for certain programs. Instead of raising the price on the big-ticket programs, try to keep costs down in other ways, such as bringing in free speakers and other elements that keep the costs down, so they are able to offer programs that meet the educations needs of the students but still turn a profit for the institution. Another idea would be to produce more big-ticket programs that appeal to a broader audience, so they produce more of a profit without raising prices, which would help fund the other programs, as well.