I worked with someone who used to be in the finance department of a SLAC. What they would do each year is estimate the cost increases for the next 12 months, divide it out by the number of students, and raise rates by that much. According to my former coworker, there was zero attempt at any cost cutting like you have in a typical business; they passed everything on to the students. With that type of attitude, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that tuition, fees, room, books, etc are getting up to 60k a year.

Do you know what is stopping higher education from truly being revolutionized? Shit like Griggs vs. Duke power.

Since companies can't institute intense testing, they use college as a quick and easy screen/signal.

As long as schools hold the keys to access to elite career paths/professions, and there is a lack of the apprentice-ship system like from century(ies) ago, brick and mortar will exist.

Anonymous wrote:Brick & mortar colleges & universities have endured for a long, long time in this country. I wouldn't write them off just yet.

Horse-drawn carriages endured for a long time, too.

College has already changed dramatically from when I went (mid-1980s). Today, lectures are simulcast in Boston and Singapore -- the students collaborate on projects online. As PP noted, students are assigned lectures to watch before they go to class, and class time is devoted to discussion.

Today's kids see no reason to be in the same room with other people in order to interact. Why should college persist in using that model?

Anonymous wrote:College is no longer what it once was, unfortunately. If your kid really wants to go, be wise, and spend as little as possible, and let your kid work for it, as much as possible. And I'm not talking about accumulating ridiculous debt. It's gotten absolutely insane. Most of the media is pushing this nonsense.

There are plenty of people with gobs of money who can afford to pay. There always have been and always will be these people. That said, most colleges are exploring distance learning and will likely supplement their brick and mortar students with distance learning students. Not sure I follow your reference to the media. What nonsense are they pushing?

^^^ Oops, didn't mean to sound so excited. That should have been "?" at the very end.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We wonder about this too, even as we prepare to spend $$$ to send DC to an ivory tower. The MOOCs still need to solve the problem of grading and making sure who is taking the test, but I assume these issues will get resolved over time.My guess is, the top schools will survive, but others will get edged out. Places like MIT and Stanford are already offering MOOCS. They can make $$$ just selling some sort of certificate for logging onto the courses. We might move to a system where kids spend the first two years taking the 101 courses online, then they spend the last two years living on campus and taking seminars with profs. I suppose this could even allow colleges to expand class size. Who really knows?

I just started a Masters program. I'm one of the few distance learners and I have to arrange to have a proctor for my mid-term and finals. The qualifications are very stringent. I can nominate them, and then they must be contacted & interviewed by the University. The majority of online programs from brick & mortar schools offer the exact same diploma and transcript. The only way you can tell it was online is if you knew where the person was living at the time.

They need to figure out how to do this on a large scale. Maybe conference centers in major cities!

Anonymous wrote:Please note that the MOOCs being offered at places like MIT and Stanford cannot yet actually be taken to count towards your degree.

There is abundant research out there that the large lecture is one of the worst learning environments for students. Since that's essentially what a MOOC is, I really hesitate to say that they definitely are the future of higher education.

There is change coming, yes. But there are a lot of technological "fads" right now in higher education - it is hard to tell what is actually going to endure.

Brick & mortar colleges & universities have endured for a long, long time in this country. I wouldn't write them off just yet.

And yet. Some colleges are requiring kids to do the online class before coming to the actual class, so the prof and students are ready to have a real discussion.

Anonymous wrote:We wonder about this too, even as we prepare to spend $$$ to send DC to an ivory tower. The MOOCs still need to solve the problem of grading and making sure who is taking the test, but I assume these issues will get resolved over time.My guess is, the top schools will survive, but others will get edged out. Places like MIT and Stanford are already offering MOOCS. They can make $$$ just selling some sort of certificate for logging onto the courses. We might move to a system where kids spend the first two years taking the 101 courses online, then they spend the last two years living on campus and taking seminars with profs. I suppose this could even allow colleges to expand class size. Who really knows?

I just started a Masters program. I'm one of the few distance learners and I have to arrange to have a proctor for my mid-term and finals. The qualifications are very stringent. I can nominate them, and then they must be contacted & interviewed by the University. The majority of online programs from brick & mortar schools offer the exact same diploma and transcript. The only way you can tell it was online is if you knew where the person was living at the time.

College is no longer what it once was, unfortunately. If your kid really wants to go, be wise, and spend as little as possible, and let your kid work for it, as much as possible. And I'm not talking about accumulating ridiculous debt. It's gotten absolutely insane. Most of the media is pushing this nonsense.

Please note that the MOOCs being offered at places like MIT and Stanford cannot yet actually be taken to count towards your degree.

There is abundant research out there that the large lecture is one of the worst learning environments for students. Since that's essentially what a MOOC is, I really hesitate to say that they definitely are the future of higher education.

There is change coming, yes. But there are a lot of technological "fads" right now in higher education - it is hard to tell what is actually going to endure.

Brick & mortar colleges & universities have endured for a long, long time in this country. I wouldn't write them off just yet.

The college landscape is changing rapidly. The days of traditional learning are done.

Look at what is happening slowly. Many top schools are now offering free online classes to the public. This is their market research into online education.

Just imagine hwo much the land some of these schools sit on will be worth when it is not needed.

My four year old got very upset when I told him he would probably go away for college and insisted that he didn't want to do that. So perhaps this is the answer he's dreaming of - for now.

I think there is something to be said for this. I've even spoken with a few financial advisors who suggest that the whole notion of paying for college will be drastically different in a few generations, for the better.

We wonder about this too, even as we prepare to spend $$$ to send DC to an ivory tower. The MOOCs still need to solve the problem of grading and making sure who is taking the test, but I assume these issues will get resolved over time.

My guess is, the top schools will survive, but others will get edged out. Places like MIT and Stanford are already offering MOOCS. They can make $$$ just selling some sort of certificate for logging onto the courses. We might move to a system where kids spend the first two years taking the 101 courses online, then they spend the last two years living on campus and taking seminars with profs. I suppose this could even allow colleges to expand class size. Who really knows?

Anyone following the emergence of online education and the outrageous cost of college can't help but wonder a new model will emerge based on online education. The experience of living away from home among a diverse group of peers can be replicated or improved for a heck of a lot less.