Fifty Thousand Reasons to Root for New College Models

摘要

You may not realize it yet, but the battle lines for future generations' college education are being drawn right now. On the one side, the old school is defending the traditional college experience-and all the costs associated with it. The new school is convinced that technology will transform learning: increasing productivity and making higher ed more accessible, all while maintaining, or even improving, the quality of the educational experience. The universities' Achilles' heel? Ever-increasing costs. Tuition, fees, room, and board exceed $55,000 ayear at Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale, and top $20,000 annually even at state schools like Indiana and Ohio State. That pricey cost of admission puts a traditional college degree-and the access it gives to the American dream-nearly out of reach for all but the privileged few. Enter the disrupters, like Udacity and Coursera.