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The $6,600 Master's Degree.

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

#61

Post by josephhardin »

insertdisktwo wrote: post #38
tseabrooks wrote: post #9

Maybe this depends greatly on the particular discipline you're in. In the US it's not that difficult to get your Master's degree in C.S. for free + monthly stipend, at least in my experience. I know a number of people across the natural science disciplines who TA'd / RA'd their way through Grad School. I might be misunderstanding how common this is but it seems any discussion of Grad School cost should discuss the fa…

Please let me know if this applies in the case outside of being a PhD student. The US educational system has a tradition of issuing a Masters as a consolation price to PhD dropouts who've done enough of the coursework/research. Bona-fide Masters programs with scholarships/stipends are very hard to find. If there's counterexamples I would like to know about them. From my experience, these are very rare.

My (Terminal at that institution) masters was paid for completely, as well as being paid a salary. In STEM fields I'm not sure I know anyone who didn't have their MS paid for. Sure, some professors will push you to get a Ph.D. but you always have the option of just writing your thesis and finishing.

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

#62

Post by josephhardin »

jmduke wrote: post #43
insertdisktwo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

re: Second-class degree Geogia Tech's engineering program ranks extremely high in the U.S. and the United States' academic institutions rank extremely high on various world-wide charts. Having spent a long time on the inside track of the Silicon Valley hiring processes, I can vouch that getting a degree from a prestigious institution really does fast-track your interview, at least when it comes to the screening or pr…

Re: FAFSA -- If you go into any community with a lot of college students / new grads you'll hear a lot of complaints about how its impossible to qualify for FAFSA, scholarships, financial aid, etc. I'm a middle-class white male and was incredibly worried that I'd hit FAFSA's 'blind spot': our family has a home and a stable middle-class income, but not enough to comfortably afford even a public college education (for…

I was middle class(maybe lower middle class), and my entire education end up paid for. Not only that, but after work study, I actually made enough money to live on without having to get an outside job. Students taking out these huge loans should just consider a state school, or to put in for scholarships.

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

#63

Post by legulere »

melvinmt wrote: post #53
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…

You have to realize that European college education is heavily subsidized for their citizens. If a student from a developing country comes to Europe to study, they'll have to pay the full prize, which often comes down to €10,000+/year.

Do you know in which countries it's this way? The information I found about Germany I found says that they also don't have to pay tuition fees. I guess most countries don't need extra fees for foreigners because of the language barrier.

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

#64

Post by btian »

legulere wrote: post #63
melvinmt wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to realize that European college education is heavily subsidized for their citizens. If a student from a developing country comes to Europe to study, they'll have to pay the full prize, which often comes down to €10,000+/year.

Do you know in which countries it's this way? The information I found about Germany I found says that they also don't have to pay tuition fees. I guess most countries don't need extra fees for foreigners because of the language barrier.

UK for example. International tuition fees are more than twice the rate for EU citizens.

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

#65

Post by tephra »

legulere wrote: post #63
melvinmt wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to realize that European college education is heavily subsidized for their citizens. If a student from a developing country comes to Europe to study, they'll have to pay the full prize, which often comes down to €10,000+/year.

Do you know in which countries it's this way? The information I found about Germany I found says that they also don't have to pay tuition fees. I guess most countries don't need extra fees for foreigners because of the language barrier.

I can only speak for how it is in Sweden.

We used to have free university education for anyone in the world. But that's now changed so that anyone not in the EU, European Economic Area or Switzerland have to pay tuition.

A three year Bachelor program would cost about 63000 USD for anyone not in those countries that are part of the above organizations.

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

#66

Post by pnathan »

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…

Interesting comment. In my readings on the late Roman empire I've never come across this perspective. Can you provide some sources to back it up?

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

#67

Post by pnathan »

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…

I would personally not consider an "online" masters as worth more than a certification. Taking classes ain't the point of grad school.

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

#68

Post by abraham_s »

legulere wrote: post #63
melvinmt wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to realize that European college education is heavily subsidized for their citizens. If a student from a developing country comes to Europe to study, they'll have to pay the full prize, which often comes down to €10,000+/year.

Do you know in which countries it's this way? The information I found about Germany I found says that they also don't have to pay tuition fees. I guess most countries don't need extra fees for foreigners because of the language barrier.

Even universities in USA has two tuition rates, the in-state tuition being 1/3 of the "normal" rate, but non-citizens can also avail the in-state tuition if they have residency.

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

#69

Post by zanny »

tephra wrote: post #65
legulere wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know in which countries it's this way? The information I found about Germany I found says that they also don't have to pay tuition fees. I guess most countries don't need extra fees for foreigners because of the language barrier.

I can only speak for how it is in Sweden. We used to have free university education for anyone in the world. But that's now changed so that anyone not in the EU, European Economic Area or Switzerland have to pay tuition. A three year Bachelor program would cost about 63000 USD for anyone not in those countries that are part of the above organizations.

My bill at my school in the US was 57,000 USD a semester. Albeit I didn't actually pay any of that (besides the required stafford loans).

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

#70

Post by codeonfire »

gambiting wrote: post #57
codeonfire wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are no answers to the difference in tuition prices that don't lead to uncomfortable social comparisons of two countries. It depends on if you believe education markets are efficient or not, meaning the true value will be reflected in the price. Two things that would make a degree worth less are limited access to education and limited social mobility for degree holders. Free also does not mean unlimited access.

What do you mean by unlimited access? Sure, there is only a limited amount of university places, but it does not matter what is your social situation or how much money you currently have - you can study law or medicine just the same as a rich guy, as long as you have good grades that allow you to get into the university in the first place. But if you did study hard and got good grades, any degree you could choose is…

By unlimited access I mean discrimination. Two key tools used to hide discrimination are extra-curriculars and subjective entrance interviews, both of which can be present in totally free schools.
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