4 ms·

My preferred solution is to establish an open university in the US (or make it borderless), through which anyone can earn a degree remotely for as little cost a

My preferred solution is to establish an open university in the US (or make it borderless), through which anyone can earn a degree remotely for as little cost as possible -- like $5000 per year or $20k per degree. Georgia Tech and others have shown this is possible (see their 13 MS degree programs in engineering). Certainly by enlisting the growing set of tools used for remote professional collaboration, it should be possible to cover a wide variety of subjects, especially if the staff is also remote (and not overpriced). Compared to the $240K of almost all private colleges in the US, a viable alternative that costs only $20k should quickly reset the cost of advanced education to be a LOT more reasonable. In addition, a cheap remote-only college system be a great resource for many people who want to take college courses but live nowhere near a full-time school, or who need retraining as they change careers or advance professionally. Really, this solution is long overdue.

notashillthrow6 3y ago
See: - Western Governors University (WGU) - Open University (OU) Both online; both relatively cheap. N.B. Georgia Tech’s online masters programs are professional masters and not research/thesis masters — so unless you are getting paid by someone else to get them, they are almost certainly a waste of money (and there is negative selection pressure during hiring for people with these sorts of degrees).
- peanuty1 3y ago
  > there is negative selection pressure during hiring for people with these sorts of degrees This is a great point.
- randcraw 3y ago
  My 35 years of experience after a comparable part-time MS in CS says otherwise. Professional masters are often compared to a BS curriculum, which is in no way a disability to hiring or advancement since most people in engineering don't have research degrees nor need them to thrive. In fact, the presence of a research thesis in lieu of taking a couple more courses in useful subjects would be more of a waste in the real world than the reverse, IMHO.

notashillthrow6 3y ago

See: - Western Governors University (WGU) - Open University (OU) Both online; both relatively cheap. N.B. Georgia Tech’s online masters programs are professional masters and not research/thesis masters — so unless you are getting paid by someone else to get them, they are almost certainly a waste of money (and there is negative selection pressure during hiring for people with these sorts of degrees).

peanuty1 3y ago
> there is negative selection pressure during hiring for people with these sorts of degrees This is a great point.
randcraw 3y ago
My 35 years of experience after a comparable part-time MS in CS says otherwise. Professional masters are often compared to a BS curriculum, which is in no way a disability to hiring or advancement since most people in engineering don't have research degrees nor need them to thrive. In fact, the presence of a research thesis in lieu of taking a couple more courses in useful subjects would be more of a waste in the real world than the reverse, IMHO.