Everyone wants their children to have the best education possible, right? I saw an article about advanced degrees and it got me thinking about my 2 and 4 year old. (I look a lot further forward than most people.) The education of our 2 and 4 year old has been rolling around in my mind for the last several months. That’s why I’m writing about optimizing the FAFSA lately.
To get the best education, some people move to better school systems. Other people are crazy enough to consider private school. (Hello mirror, nice to see you!)
In the old days, the question was largely about if a child would go to college. Nowadays, that seems like a foregone conclusion (at least in my bubble). The biggest concern has turned to the cost of college. Again, since I look further ahead than most people, the idea of the potential cost of an advanced degree is rolling around in the back of my head.
This sounds the ultimate example of a first world problem, like a baseball team have 7 ace starting pitchers. We should be so lucky if our children (or ourselves) are in a situation where we can advance after college to get more education. And if you said, “Hey the cost of that advanced degree is up to the child”, I wouldn’t spend a second arguing with you.
I feel that many of us that don’t have master’s degrees probably could get them. I considered it for a long time, but it always failed my cost/benefit analysis. It amounted to losing a year of income earning, while paying a year of income… sometimes more.
So when I read this NY Times article about a $7,000 Master’s Degree, it really got my attention.
Yes, it’s an online degree. Stick with me because it is far from a typical one.
A $7,000 master’s degree flips the cost/benefit analysis. It is a fraction of a year of income. You might have the flexibility to work while you earn it. (I have to look into the details more.)
I know what you are thinking around now… online master’s programs are common and anti-prestigious. No one considers a masters at the University of Phoenix to be the same as one from Harvard Business School. One has to consider the value of the degree as well.
What if the $7,000 online degree was from a top school? That would change your mind, wouldn’t it? The $7,000 master’s degree is in Computer Science from Georgia Tech, a very good computer science school. You get prestige at a fraction of the price. Other universities make you pay full price (or near it) for the prestige.
According the NY Times article, the students are more engaged online. They ask more questions. They work together more. This makes a lot of sense to me. When I was in college, I didn’t take advantage of office hours very often, but whenever I tried to, the professor wasn’t around. It suppose it was because it was so rare of people to show up they just gave up.
Many of the students in Georgia Tech’s online program are Gen Xers who can’t uproot their family or income situation for a master’s degree. (Hmmmm… sounds like me.) It’s serving a very different audience. I’ve seen a lot of business school degrees, but I’m not sure they were nearly as reputable or as cheap.
What Does This Mean for the Future?
Back in 2006, Intel’s Andy Grove had a saying, “A fundamental rule in technology says that whatever can be done will be done.” Georgia Tech has paved the way and proven, “Yes! We can deliver great education online at a fraction of the cost.”
Today, we’re seeing more and more trusted and respected universities turning to online offerings. Schools are realizing the rapidly changing demands of today’s working world and the importance of affordable and accessible education for higher-level positions and career growth. Not everyone can afford a traditional college education and older students (often those with a family) need access to higher education in a way that they can still work full-time and support a family. Take Maryville University, for example. They’re a traditional college that has been around for over 150 years, but in recent years they’re turned their attention to online offerings. Recently, Maryville University’s online programs placed in the top top 15% in the nation for “economic value.” I think this is just the tip of the iceberg for colleges and the cost could be driven down even further.
I think the cost could even go down from there. There’s no reason to think that Georgia Tech’s curriculum wouldn’t work elsewhere. Another fundamental rule of technology is “once the software is written, distribution is cheap (or free).” It costs a lot for Microsoft and Google to write the first version of their software, but very cheap to copy it or run the servers. A third rule of technology is that “You generally get more value and/or the cost goes down over time.” Think about the power of your cell phone over the years. I’d say that Amazon’s $50 tablet is at least as good Apple’s original $500 iPad. (Though that would be a fun debate.)
Meanwhile, the costs of on-campus universities will probably still go up. They may only go up with the costs of inflation to repair buildings. Still, I believe prices online go down while offline will go up.
This is why I think an advanced degree can be 1/10th the cost… it’s almost there. It can extend to all areas of education, including undergrad, but I went with advanced degrees in this article to fit with the proof of it working.
I wonder if it will be common to see Doogie Howsers enter the workforce. I’m envisioning people who completed high school level in middle school and who then went to compress online bachelor’s and master’s degrees during the high school years.
I’m not suggesting that’s ideal or the right path. There’s a lot more to life and growing up than education.
I simply think some students have the mental capacity, and perhaps more than ever, they’ll have the means. Maybe “whatever can be done, will be done” is a fundamental rule of people too.
I went to the fully-accredited (regional accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission) for-profit University of Phoenix and I can honestly say I received an exemplary education and it was much better than any education at any not-for-profit state public universities I have attended. The curriculum at the University of Phoenix was meaningful, relevant, rigorous, and applicable. I learned amazing skills and consider myself a scholar who is published and notable in his field. Not all for-profit schools are “bad” and many schools learned their lessons and are changing and adapting to the new rules, for the better! Oh, and let us not start a new form of discrimination where we discriminate against for-profit graduates. These are some of the hardest working Americans I know! Finally, stop undermining people’s education. I love the University of Phoenix and so do its 1,000,000 alumni. Finally, do not forget that the University of Phoenix educated the non-traditional students and I thank the University of Phoenix! The University of Phoenix filled a demand where “traditional” academia would not. Fyi: loans all paid off! So, STOP vilifying my school.
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The University of Phoenix gave me an amazing education. I can honestly say I received an exemplary education and it was much better than any education at any not-for-profit state public universities I have attended. I learned amazing skills and consider myself a scholar who is published and notable in his field. The University of Phoenix’s curriculum was rigorous, meaningful, relevant, and applicable.
Gabriel, I feel that was a strong take given that I simply focusing on the reputation. I didn’t write about the quality of education.
I’m very certain I didn’t even attempt to undermine anyone’s education with this article. Your response didn’t fill me with confidence in University of Phoenix’s ability to teach reading comprehension.
You sound like a paid spokesperson (or a computer program gluing together seentences) rather than an honest University of Phoenix graduate.
One of the things that has been interesting me in the MOOC classes that are available for free. I think it will be interesting in the future if you can take these classes to sample for free the different majors. For instance if my child can take a gap year and take a bunch of different classes he will be able to potentially have a better feel for what interests him if he is undecided. Thanks for sharing this awesome info!!!
Definitely, MSM. I haven’t had a chance to look too deep into them, but it seems like Khan Academy and such probably already have the foundation. The difficulty might be more in them getting them accredited. I hope we don’t run up against red tape or colleges paying off politicians to preserve their tuition/college debt structure.
Hey LM,
Very interesting read, but I’m curious about your take on this type of education affecting the social aspect of younger people growing up. I haven’t looked into the online education too much, but my wife got her masters from an online school and she had some interesting issues.
For one, the teachers were not as sympathetic to the student’s needs, and the other students did not add a certain level of camaraderie that you would expect when taking a class together. Also, there is a certain level of intimacy and accountability when a student is learning from a teacher in person. I understand that skype and other programs make the teacher as life-like as possible, but it still isn’t the same.
I always thought the whole “college experience” thing was a bunch of nonsense, but I am more concerned than ever about my generation becoming isolated from one another. If the cost of online education goes down, and the quality goes up, I believe we can achieve amazing things, but I don’t know if it is worth the social cost.
Thoughts?
I don’t think it will be a positive thing for social interaction. I started to read yesterday (didn’t get too far) that adolescnence is gone.
I do believe in the “college experience” and I think it’s important. I simply don’t know how to quantify in terms that would fit inside of a general money-related article like this. That’s why I tack it on as a footnote at the end.
I think we’ll see dorm-like apartments such as these become more prevalent and there will be social interaction during the hours that learning isn’t taking place (kind of like how it works today). I think there’s a way to solve the social aspect without it being a necessary evil of online learning.
There’s also nothing that says all learning must be done online. Maybe schools can require some hands-on elective skills to graduate.
It’s an interesting problem, but I think it’s solvable.
i’m currently in an MFA equivalent program. it is a minimum of 240 hours of class time [up to 400, you can repeat sessions at a minimal cost] with approximately 500 hours of home study and portfolio preparation. if i were enrolled in a traditional MFA program, there would be about 60 hours of seminars and the balance online, skype, virtual sessions. been that way for years for MFA in creative writing. thanks to the internet there is no need to be face to face. and yes i COULD be pursuing a traditional MFA but it would cost a fortune and not give me the sub-specialty i am pursuing. so for some it works, for others, not so much.
on a side note: i am vehemently opposed to online education for grade schoolers [except as a supplement to regular classwork]. it is bad for their eyes, it is bad for their bodies, it promotes a singular view of the world and discourages diversity. it is too easy for a parent to cloister a child away so they have minimal interaction with the world.
I’m against online education for grade schoolers except in a limited capacity. I had Oregon Trail and Lemonade Stand in school when I was a kid and I felt I learned a lot from them. It was probably around 45-minutes, twice a week.
I think there’s some number of online education hours that could be helpful as it could be tailored to the student. A teacher of a class has to be “all things to all students.” I just feel that learn-at-your-own-pace can be helpful for some students… one of them being my oldest son.
Business school cost is notoriously expensive and cost prohibitive. It makes sense that it would take computer programmers to design a “hack” or “algorithm” to fully embrace the master’s degree at a reasonable cost. The concerns over “status” of education should probably come secondary to quality of education per dollar. Another great post, lazyman.