Why are there no free online high school diploma programs for adults?

Answer 1

ANSWER 1: First of all, it's not necessarily true that there are no free programs. They are, however, rare. Any given city, county or state, though, may offer an either very low cost or entirely free distance learning high school diploma program; or, if not, then sometimes a GED program. One must simply make good inquiries to discover them.

The reason they're so rare, though, is because everythingcosts money... especially education. Even if it's an online program, there still need to be teachers/instructors; and they need to earn adequate salaries. Granted, online programs allow a single teacher/instructor to handle more students at a time than would be possible in a brick-and-mortar classroom (because many lectures are pre-recorded, leaving the teacher/instructor to the task of conducting online discussions, grading papers, etc.); however, there are still not-insignificant costs associated with paying the teacher/instructor, and providing benefits. Such teachers/instructors also have good educations which cost them no small amounts of money; and many are paying-off student loans. They have also paid to obtain teacher certifications and licensure... all of which costs money for both up-front and periodic renewal fees. So the salaries that teachers/instructors are paid must be both competitive and adequate.

Additionally, it costs money to design courses, determine which textbooks and/or workbooks to use, develop lesson plans, etc., etc.

Also, if the diploma is to be worth anything in the real world, then the online high school diploma program must be accredited by an agency approved by the US Department of Education (USDE). When it comes to high school diplomas, the best kind of USDE-approved accreditation is called "regional" accreditation, meaning that the online high school has been accredited by one of the six USDE-approved "regional" accreditors. Accreditation costs a lot of money! It's very expensive for a secondary (high school) or post-secondary (college) educational institutions -- regardless whether it's online, or in the real brick-and-mortar world -- to get "regionally" accredited. Though there are other kinds of USDE-approved accreditation for high schools, most colleges and employers tend to accept only high school diplomas which have been "regionally" accredited; so it's a good idea to ensure that whatever high school diploma program in which you enroll is "regionally" accredited. And never take the program's word for it, by the way: Always, always, always check with the claimed accreditor and make sure that the school really and truly is accredited by it.

All that money, in any case, to launch and then run any high school -- online or otherwise -- has to come from somewhere. If the community (city, county or state) believes that all of its citizens should have, at the very least, a high school diploma, then it will have the political will to establish an either very low cost, or free, high school program of some kind... hopefully both in physical classrooms, as well as online. However, if the community does not believe that everyone having a high school diploma is important, then it will not have the political will, and so such programs will not be available. It pays, then, to pick a community in which to live that believes in taking care of its residents.

Free GED programs are more common than free high school diploma programs, so it may pay to search for one of those. Getting an actual high school diploma, though, is better. Colleges and employers, both, tend to prefer an actual high school diploma over a GED. That said, many people with GEDs are able to go on to get wonderful jobs, and to also be accepted into "regionally" accredited colleges and universities. So I don't mean to disparage GEDs. But it really is true that if colleges and employers had a choice, they'd prefer that their applicants had actual high school diplomas instead of GEDs; and that said diplomas are from "regionally" accredited high schools.

Whether or not the program is online, or in a physical brick-and-mortar classroom, however, makes no difference. Do not believe those who say that "online" is worthless, or that "if it's online, then it must be a diploma mill." Nothing could be further from the truth. Even Harvard and Yale now offer entire degrees entirely online. It's an "all thumbs are fingers, but all fingers aren't thumbs" sort of thing in that all diploma mills are online (because, after all, it's cheaper to build an impressive website than it is an impressive physical campus), but all online schools are not diploma mills. Simply make sure that the online school is accredited by an agency approved by the USDE, and you'll be fine.