In part, that is because Internet access can be quite expensive due to high local phone charges. Students' attitudes toward the tutorials are hard to generalize. John Williams, a computing administrator for the Bank of England and a candidate for an M.B.A. degree, says he skipped many of the tutorials, though he knows plenty of students who swear by them. On a lunch break during a three-day residential session for his final business course, Mr. Williams says he considered other M.B.A. programs. But the Open U. seemed a better choice.
Students do have their gripes.
For one, many want more feedback on their final exams, says Alison Kirk, the president of the Open U.'s student association. And some students feel the access to tutors is inadequate. That is an especially touchy subject because students from outside Britain and Northern Ireland pay a surplus that can more than double their fees over what residents pay. Fees for a typical Open U. undergraduate course run about 325 to 425 pounds, with additional charges if a residential school is required. Officials estimate the average Open U. undergraduate degree takes six years to complete, at a cost of about 3,600 pounds.