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Distance learning has always existed, it's not a new thing invented by internet people. The problem has always been that University branding matters, so a Camb
by ucee054 14y ago
Distance learning has always existed, it's not a new thing invented by internet people.
The problem has always been that University branding matters, so a Cambridge degree counts as real in a way that an Open University degree doesn't.
(http://www.open.ac.uk/ http://www.open.ac.uk/)
In the same way, the new online courses are not good enough.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovation)
This problem has been bad because some people are hardworking and talented enough but are excluded from places like Cambridge and Harvard for socially damaging reasons: the are from the wrong background, too poor etc etc.
It would always have been saner to separate the credentials from the expensive on-site-tuition, so the poor kid from Madras would find it easier to get his Cambridge degree
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan)
But the University prestige has allowed places like Harvard and Stanford to jack up the list prices of their fees, and their competitors nationally and internationally have followed along. The top US places have been able to do so, I have been told, because of the expansion of student loan availability, leading to a pricing level that may not be feasible.
(http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-has-alarming-level-of-pride-in-institution-tha,30853/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-has-alarming-level-of-p...)
The result is that colleges may have priced themselves out of the market
(http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2116059,00.html http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2116059,00.ht...)
(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-22/five-reasons-college-enrollments-might-be-dropping.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-22/five-reasons-colleg...)
I hope more Universities do the right thing, and respond in an accommodating manner, as Wisconsin has done, as a way to climb down from that tree. It's about time.
(http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/25/public-universities-use-moocs-steer-students-traditional-credit-pathways http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/25/public-univers...)
- jacques_chester 14y agoElite universities are priced like many other goods: the list price is not the price most people will pay. They set a very high list price and then offer "scholarships" because this allows them to efficiently segment the market. If they did it the other way around (cheap "base" price and then escalating prices), it would cause horrible brand damage and arouse regulatory interest. Financially, though, it's identical. Notice how many retail places offer "cash discounts" rather than having "credit card surcharges". Financially identical. Psychologically, worlds apart.
- ucee054 14y agoNevertheless, the price most people pay is some factor of the list price and that can be very steep. For example, here is the price page for the Harvard MBA: http://www.hbs.edu/mba/financial-aid/Pages/cost-summary.aspx http://www.hbs.edu/mba/financial-aid/Pages/cost-summary.aspx Harvard do not give more than 50% scholarships. So we are taking about 54K over a 2 year period, just for fees, excluding accommodation, food and health insurance. That is enough to keep all kinds of people out. And this is for MBA, a course that has a relatively high probability of leading to a job. The effect will be much more acute for Art History.
- wildgift 14y agoThe MBA is a profit center. To see what it costs for poor kids, just look at the undergrad scholarship policy. Odds are, they will get a free ride if they have great grades.
- Evbn 14y agoHarvard does not have a professional school of art history. Art History is leisure person's degree anyway, and has no relevance to personal economics. Space ship rides are expensive too, and similarly irrelevant to personal advancement.
- wildgift 14y agoThe pricing is simple. They have a lot of wealthy legacies - students whose parents went to the school - and those kids get in. They also want to get the top talent, and for them, there are scholarships. The model is simple - the massive capitalist economy requires intelligence and a lot of will. The fact is, genetics and chance, while favoring the rich, don't favor them that much, and can give you mediocre-performing offspring. Someone has to do the hard work - and it's going to be the ones who get in with scholarships, who will get hired by the children of the wealthy. I know, it sounds distasteful, elitist, and plutocratic, but that's how the system works.
- Evbn 14y agoYour last step doesn't follow. Scholarship students get great connections. Example: Sergey Brin.