[sigmoid10]

To be fair, while this works great for certain subjects like computer science, there are things you can't learn online. Medicine, chemistry, biology, experimental physics and most of engineering require labs and tools and a level of personal oversight or interaction that's just not accessible to young people otherwise. You might be able to get rid of lecture halls in the long run, but you'll never get rid of labs.

[anonimamente]

This makes a great case for community-based labs. There have been some startups doing this for mechanical engineering, at least. A big issue is the monopoly over labwork by the university system and then industry. The first requires your money, the second requires that you give money to the first.

[sigmoid10]

The thing is, these things don't generate money. A first year lab course in physics, chemistry or biology will only cost you money. It's all about the students learning and it will be years before they are able to do something that generates money. There's a reason why companies don't train their own chemists out of high school. Universities run these labs anyways and if a single student drops out they don't lose a huge investment. I'm all for more dedicated in-house training and less academic requirements, but the reality is that the economy is not suited to handle that.