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I would argue that the monetary cost to gaining an education has been, for quite a long time, near zero in much of the established world: You only had to make y
by randomdata 15y ago
I would argue that the monetary cost to gaining an education has been, for quite a long time, near zero in much of the established world: You only had to make your way to the public library. It is the opportunity cost of dedicating several years of your life to study that is significant, and that remains unchanged.
- AJ007 15y agoAgreed, education is cheap. It is credentials that are expensive today. Years ago when I was in college, I breezed through my business classes solely based on what I had read in magazines and a few books. In retrospect that knowledge was fluff, but that is another story.
- jseliger 15y agoIt is the opportunity cost of dedicating several years of your life to study that is significant, and that remains unchanged. More importantly, at least from an employers' perspective, it's the credential that signals your conscientiousness and other traits that remains unchanged. Online learning needs to leap the signalling hurdle before it becomes a real, mass alternative to conventional schools—despite the many problems of conventional schools. (Note: I'm not saying online learning won't clear the hurdle; it merely hasn't yet.)
- eli_gottlieb 15y agoI really radically disagree. You simply can't do cutting-edge scientific research in a public library.
- eru 15y agoUnless you are a mathematician.