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Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

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Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#11

Post by sachinag »

pg wrote: post #10
petercooper wrote: post #2

I have a duty to my namesake to bring this up :-) Peter Cooper (the 19th century industrialist and Presidential candidate - not me) pioneered the tuition-free education concept in the United States with the Cooper Union, which is still running today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Union - online universities are cool, but the Cooper Union is a full-on bricks and mortar college.

There is also Olin College, outside Boston. In fact that's what I thought this article was going to be about. It's only a few years old but it has a good reputation already.

Sadly, Olin's endowment took a rather major hit and is no longer tuition-free. It's actually almost $39,000: http://olin.edu/admission/costs.asp

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#12

Post by gommm »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #5
m_eiman wrote: post #4

that would be free to students all over the world, one of just a handful of tuition-free universities. One of a handful? All higher education in Sweden is tuition free for all students regardless of where they come from. Maybe he means "one of a handful in the US", but the "students all over the world" part suggests he's talking worldwide?

Swedish schools won't be free for foreign students starting next year. http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/12821/a/140013

Hopefully the French government does not take inspiration from that... Some of the best students at my universities were from poor countries and would have a hard time paying a tuition.

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#13

Post by m_eiman »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #5
m_eiman wrote: post #4

that would be free to students all over the world, one of just a handful of tuition-free universities. One of a handful? All higher education in Sweden is tuition free for all students regardless of where they come from. Maybe he means "one of a handful in the US", but the "students all over the world" part suggests he's talking worldwide?

Swedish schools won't be free for foreign students starting next year. http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/12821/a/140013

Hm, I wonder what the opposition thinks about this. Currently it looks like they'll win the election this fall, and might reverse this (in my opionion) bad decision.

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#14

Post by petercooper »

sachinag wrote: post #11
pg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also Olin College, outside Boston. In fact that's what I thought this article was going to be about. It's only a few years old but it has a good reputation already.

Sadly, Olin's endowment took a rather major hit and is no longer tuition-free. It's actually almost $39,000: http://olin.edu/admission/costs.asp

Despite that, it was cool to learn about Olin. They have some interesting practices and I enjoyed reading their Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_W._Olin_College_of_Eng...

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#15

Post by teuobk »

petercooper wrote: post #2

I have a duty to my namesake to bring this up :-) Peter Cooper (the 19th century industrialist and Presidential candidate - not me) pioneered the tuition-free education concept in the United States with the Cooper Union, which is still running today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Union - online universities are cool, but the Cooper Union is a full-on bricks and mortar college.

Stanford, too, was founded as a tuition-free school. Sadly, they were forced to begin charging tuition in 1920.

The good news is that, a century later, the school is returning to its roots by offering free tuition to students whose families make less than about $100k per year.

And of course, there's the excellent free online material offered at Stanford Engineering Everywhere: http://see.stanford.edu/default.aspx

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#17

Post by glen »

This is a great concept and Shai is to be applauded for his efforts here. It is a bit of a bummer that they need 5 MM in funding to keep it going. Anyway, even here in the states, you can cut the cost of education significantly by testing out of courses. Through the College Level Examination Program you can test out of most of your freshman and sophomore year courses for $75/per test. Most private colleges are now b/n 30-50k/year, so saving can be pretty significant. If you go to a state school saving can be really considerable as well. e.g., 1200 vs. 8k. +++ you don't have to take 15 weeks of a course to test out of it. More info can be found here: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html. Education inflation is insane. We see this as one way to keep educational costs down.

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#18

Post by dustingetz »

glen wrote: post #17

This is a great concept and Shai is to be applauded for his efforts here. It is a bit of a bummer that they need 5 MM in funding to keep it going. Anyway, even here in the states, you can cut the cost of education significantly by testing out of courses. Through the College Level Examination Program you can test out of most of your freshman and sophomore year courses for $75/per test. Most private colleges are now b/…

My private college would have made me pay for the credits even if i tested out.

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#19

Post by rms »

sachinag wrote: post #11
pg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also Olin College, outside Boston. In fact that's what I thought this article was going to be about. It's only a few years old but it has a good reputation already.

Sadly, Olin's endowment took a rather major hit and is no longer tuition-free. It's actually almost $39,000: http://olin.edu/admission/costs.asp

That's quite pricy... The tuition-free thing served its main point though, which was to attract students before accreditation.

Re: Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

#20

Post by derefr »

Jim72 wrote: post #7

It's a great idea. However, until they become accredited here in the US, the education is pointless. I talked with the head of transfers at my university, and was told they wouldn't even accept these classes for credit. Also, I don't know how many establish companies would take you seriously if your resume education listed a Bachelors from The University of the People. Might be fine outside the US, but it has some BI…

Why do education and accredidation have to go together? I'd much rather learn on my own (through these online courses), then take a one-month intensive series of accredited projects and tests (a bit like a Google interview) to get a diploma.
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