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The $6,600 Master's Degree.

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Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#21

Post by oblique63 »

bayesianhorse wrote: post #4

I'm in favor of furthering online education, moocs, educational content in general and even certification programs along these lines. But I also have to ask: If this degree costs 20% of a traditional Master's education, is it even worth 20% as much? The degree clearly states "Online Master". We might see a value developing here, but there is an equal chance that the early students get ripped off big time. They might…

The fact that this:

> They might learn a lot

does not imply this:

> "additional skill marketability"

really troubles me, but in this case you're unfortunately right.

I should note that I'm ignoring the instance of "might" here because I've encountered many 'traditional' masters students that haven't exactly "mastered" their material by the end of their studies either, so I'm assuming the differences in this aspect will be negligible. Either way, the traditional application process students have to go through is largely what bases the perceived weight of degree, so this course still keeping that 'metric' in-tact should help with its 'marketability'. However this program will still face an uphill battle regardless, simply because its biggest problem is it being 'non-traditional'; which is unfortunate.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#22

Post by anonymouz »

mtgx wrote: post #19
jval wrote: post #12

This is completely right. Most of the commenters here keep thinking about it from the perspective of people in countries that already have great access to education, but disruption begins with people who don't already have access to a product or are struggling to afford the existing alternatives. In the case of education, these people are most likely to reside in the developing world - there are billions of people in…

I agree with your general theory, but I don't think $6,600 is "reasonable" for a college degree in BRIC nations. I think even in the more developed countries in Europe that's at the high-end of what it costs to get one. It only seems reasonable for an American, who usually pays what - $100,000-$200,000? $2,000 is what I'd call "reasonable", although if we're really thinking about truly revolutionizing education for t…

Speaking as someone living in a country with no to low tuition, when I read the the title of the submission my reaction was "$6,600, wow that's expensive", while probably the opposite was intended.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#23

Post by rhoua »

I live in a country where I know the language well to laugh with drunks in a bar, but not well enough to get a masters.

If one could get a college education from a distance in a language I know well, that would be amazing.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#24

Post by ghshephard »

Just to put this in comparison - I recently took a two-week networking course (in the United States) for $7300. While this was in-person, with labs/instruction from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day, and the class was limited to twelve students, it does put things into perspective.

The real cost, as always, in getting a degree is the students time. Someone capable of getting a Masters degree, can, without too much effort, make $100K/year pretty quickly (If income is what they are interested in).

This is why education is normally inexpensive in other countries - students are having to forego all that income, so it's in the interest of the country, to encourage their populace to become educated - so they subsidize.

I think part of the reason why Education is so expensive in the United States, is they have a fairly regressive tax system, with poor social systems (in comparison to other first world countries). Health Care is expensive, Education is expensive. It's a very difficult country to be poor in.

I'd love it if the $6,600 Master Degree started a disruptive trend.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#25

Post by aethertap »

p4bl0 wrote: post #17

As a French person my first reaction to the title was "that's awfully expensive!". Then I thought about the US education system and thought "Oh, the title must actually imply that it's cheap…". I still had to go read the article to make sure. And then I learned that it's actually an online master. So my (second) first reaction was that it's cool to be able to get a master's degree from a top university from almost an…

It's not necessarily as bad a picture as it seems from outside - I have a Master's degree in Computer science that I'd estimate cost me about $8000 (just for the MS part, the BS before that was mostly free due to scholarships). I didn't go to a prestigious university, but I do think I ended up with a good education. At least in my case, the fact that my university is mostly unknown has proven pretty much irrelevant in terms of getting a job, so I don't feel that I was disadvantaged by not getting my degree from a place like MIT.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#26

Post by Surio »

waps wrote: post #8

Well in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5757226 a lost of posters were arguing how brain work could never be replaced, nor could technology be used to lower the need for highly-educated creative professionals. Professor/teacher is pretty much the quintessential example of highly-educated brain work, isn't it ? > He estimated the school would have to hire one full-time teacher for every 100 online students as opp…

I re-read it, to see if the metaphor has been stretched a little too far. Nope. You seem to have drawn your Historical lessons correctly, and kept the narrative to the point (Chilling read though!). However, begs a few questions:

1. Are we doomed, as a species with sentience and recall, to repeat the same historical mistakes over and over again?

2. This is the only "flaw" that I could find, really: While organised religion has definitely been a stranglehold over humans during the European dark ages, right now, in many parts of the World, it is not Atheism, but fundamentalism that is more and more prevalent (N.B: Lest people be mistaken, I am not talking about Islam only, or singling it out here). So, that one fell slightly off the mark for me.

3. We are also moving towards a post-peak, energy-scarce, capital-scarce, World scenario, so perhaps, these trends might themselves reverse, or die-out before reaching the kind of critical mass it reached during the Roman collapse?

But, in general, yours' is a very lateral observation, radically different from the "celebrate all things technology" article linked. Enjoyed reading it, although its suggested implications left a very bad after taste in the mouth.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#27

Post by Surio »

alan_cx wrote: post #20

Has no one out side of the UK heard of The Open University? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_University

Ha ha, had to chuckle at that one. It's one of UK's "best kept" secrets, I suppose ;) . The course materials are bloody fantastic, and in terms of value of money, spot on :)

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#28

Post by glurgh »

Looking back on it now, this experience had far more in common with the Middle Ages than the world of 2013. What's the difference between watching a lecture in an auditorium and watching HD-quality video in one's living room or beach cabana?

There's no difference at all but for any even mildly ambitious undergrad in a STEM field, physically attending a research university is an opportunity to get involved, however peripherally, in such research. For someone pursuing a graduate degree this seems more like a requirement rather than a serving suggestion.

Georgia Tech is not a respected engineering school just because it does a decent job of fielding 500-person classes.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#29

Post by nicholassmith »

There's always going to be a place for University's to exist, there's certain amounts of skills that require a practical experience that they can provide, but for most courses shifting it online makes more sense. The costs are lower, it's easier to manage, it encourages more people to gain a formal education and hopefully strengthen their careers.

It's going to be interesting seeing which ones will offer an actual bit of paper at the end that says 'I'm educated in X by Y' and how much it's going to cost. $7k for a degree from a prestigious school is going to be a popular option, so whilst they lose the high amount per student, they gain it back in larger student numbers.

Re: The $6,600 Master's Degree.

#30

Post by johnbellone »

ghshephard wrote: post #24

Just to put this in comparison - I recently took a two-week networking course (in the United States) for $7300. While this was in-person, with labs/instruction from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day, and the class was limited to twelve students, it does put things into perspective. The real cost, as always, in getting a degree is the students time. Someone capable of getting a Masters degree, can, without too much effort,…

I have been contemplating between getting an MBA or a PhD in software engineering (because I want to teach) for the past few years.

For the latter it would be strictly because I want to create something, be innovative, and give back to my industry. The former - you're really paying for the connections - and possibly a few lessons on economics that have grown dry in your head.

I am justifying the price tag on a two year (night) MBA because I feel like I am getting into that "club" that most of the bigwigs are in.

Am I wrong?

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