Question

Some colleges now offer massive open online courses (MOOCs), where students do not need to be in the same classroom as their instructors. The fixed cost of an online course is relatively ________, but after the courses are placed online, the marginal cost of providing instruction to an additional student is ________.

Answer 1

The fixed cost of an online course is high, but the marginal cost of providing instruction to an additional student is low.

Step-by-step explanation:

The fixed cost of an online course is relatively high, but after the courses are placed online, the marginal cost of providing instruction to an additional student is low.

In the context of online courses, fixed costs refer to the expenses incurred in developing and setting up the course, such as creating the course materials and platform. These costs remain the same regardless of the number of students enrolled. On the other hand, the marginal cost refers to the cost of providing instruction to an additional student once the course is already online. Since online courses can accommodate a large number of students without significant additional resources, the marginal cost is relatively low.