Distance and other education for Katrina refugees (college/high school)

Colleges and universities all over North America are offering a few places each to Katrina refugees, at negligible cost.   A second option, and perhaps more accessible to many, is distance education.   Here's what Harvard is saying and offering, per Dean William Kirby; scroll down for the most interesting parts (emphasis mine):

First, we are contacting our undergraduate and graduate students who live in the region to offer any assistance we can in helping them arrive safely for the fall term.  We also stand ready to lend support to any member of the Faculty or staff who has family members displaced by the storm.


Second, Harvard College will admit 25 additional students from colleges and universities that will not reopen this term due to the storm into our Visiting Undergraduate Student Program for the Fall Semester.  Applications will be processed on an expedited basis.  No tuition will be charged.  On-campus housing will be provided on a space-available basis and priority will be given to students rendered homeless by the storm.  Students interested in being considered for the Visiting Undergraduate Program should send e-mail to vus@fas.harvard.edu.


Third, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will admit into the Special Student Program for the Fall Semester, 25 additional students from colleges and universities that will not reopen this term due to the storm.  As in the case of Visiting Undergraduates, applications will be processed rapidly, and no tuition will be charged.  Students interested in being considered by the Special Student Program should send e-mail to swood@fas.harvard.edu.


Fourth, the Harvard Extension School, which has led Harvard's outreach efforts for more than a century, will allow enrollment in up to four of its fall courses to those students living within commuting distance who would normally be attending college in the flooded areas.  For those students who are not within commuting distance of the campus, HES will make available enrollment in any of its 36 fall online courses.  In either case, HES will waive the tuition for these students and require only the $50 registration fee.  Scholarships for online courses are limited.  Further, high school students from the flooded region who can come to the Boston area and live with relatives may enroll in Extension School courses that meet AP requirements, such as Introduction to Calculus, introductory science course, and introductory language courses.  Students interested in these opportunities should send email to santos@hudce.harvard.edu.

The Harvard Extension School is not to be sneezed at.  Many of its courses are more demanding than (or exactly the same as) regular Harvard courses.  The average quality of teaching may be better than that at regular Harvard (although this is an admittedly low standard).   Home-schooled teenagers take advanced biochemistry lab courses alongside 50-something career-changers.   The distance courses generally work as distance courses.

36 courses from one university doesn't give a lot of variety, but I'm sure there are opportunities like this at other good institutions all around the country.  Distance education is NOT just on the University of Phoenix level; you can also get serious, interesting, well-taught, meaty classes.