Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, are free online courses which allow an unlimited amount of people to take a class, according to the Educause website. Currently, the University offers many of these courses for anyone to enroll in, and recently, the Senate Executive Committee recommended giving compensation to professors based on MOOC development at their March 30 meeting.

MOOCs are a good tool for people who want to learn more about various subjects, and giving people the chance to learn more is always a benefit to the world. But as of now, students do not receive college credit from taking a MOOC course.

Currently, MOOCs do not bring in much revenue for the University as they are free online courses allocated to an unlimited amount of people. There is some money that can come from a MOOC (a course participant can choose to purchase a $49 certificate, which verifies the user completed the course), but the University will only get half of the amount some participants may opt to pay.

With Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget cuts in mind and other programs at the University that are scrounging for funds, thinking and planning the next step for the University budget should be a top priority of the administration of the University. We should be focusing on more projects that will ensure more revenue to the school, but will also benefit a majority of students.

In an earlier statement from a Daily Illini article, Robin Kaler, University spokeswoman, said the MOOC program could provide good publicity for the University. It is also believed that these classes could bring in more applications to the University from students who enjoyed these classes.

While offering these free online classes would be a good service provided by the University, it seems unlikely the deciding reason someone would come to the University would be enrollment in one of these courses. Further, it is counterintuitive that this program would increase enrollment, as instead of paying thousands of dollars to take a course at the University, people could take it for free at home.

Keeping a successful MOOC program requires a lot of time, people and money. So, although offering easier and cheaper access to education is beneficial, the University should first be considering how to deal with the proposed budget cuts, which will drastically affect students, professors and faculty of the University in the near future.