For a Good Education, You'd Better Shop Around

A revolution is coming in higher education and schools that do not lead or follow will have to get out of the way.


A generation ago, it would have been heresy for anyone to question the value of college. We still don't question the value of college but, increasingly, we question the cost. Is a degree that costs you $1,000 per credit superior to one that costs you $100 per credit or less? Because of the internet, the answer is no. The difference between getting an education today versus twenty years ago is that it no longer matters where you get your degree - even if it's online - because quality information is no longer the exclusive property of a few prestigious schools. It's all available online, often free of charge, for anyone to use.

Before the Internet, acquiring knowledge was an expensive proposition. The more prestigious schools could hire the best teachers and therefore charge more per credit. Today, schools don't need much of a budget to get access to even the most complex knowledge base - of the highest quality and in every field. And it's the same knowledge regardless of where you get it.

In the future, students and parents will therefore feel comfortable shopping around for the least expensive school from which to get their degrees. At this point, it may even be detrimental to consider the more "prestigious" schools like Yale and Harvard, for the simple fact that they are still mired in tradition and the past. Teaching students "the old fashioned way" may actually do more harm than good. Few people today "crack open a book" to do their research. They Google it.