Think health-care costs are out of control? Try paying for a university degree. In the past 25 years, while health-care costs have risen 250 percent, higher-education costs have skyrocketed 450 percent, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. But Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng believe the Internet should allow millions of people to receive first-class educations at little or no cost. The two professors, who both teach computer science at Stanford, have launched Coursera, which will make courses from top-tier universities available online, at no charge, to anyone. At the very least, universities will need to reconsider their business model and figure out what it is they’re selling. If it’s not coursework, what is it? In-person access to famous professors? Seminars with other smart students? Frat parties? One thing universities can’t do is pretend that things will stay the same. “Technology is changing education. This is coming whether we like it or not,” Ng says.
College presidents, you’ve been put on notice.
http://www.thedailybeast.com//content/newsweek/2012/05/06/cheaper-than-harvard-ivy-league-education-online-for-free.html
