[fiatmoney]

I see an interesting parallel of "crowdfunding" to MOOCs. The original (private capital / high-prestige colleges - or their synthesis in Harvard, a hedge fund with a university attached for tax purposes) is a clubby self-dealing arrangement designed to preserve a certain level of oligopoly profits. The cheap substitute gets held up as a way for the average person to buy into that system, when it's really a way to dump an inferior product on the public with the same brand and none of the private advantages that make it worthwhile in the first place.

[ig1]

That's a straw man arguments, I don't think anyones claiming that doing courses on Coursera is the equivalent to a Stanford degree. Certainly the universities aren't.

[shubb]

But they are charging plenty of money for University of Phoenix Online courses.

The statistics, that a disproportionate number of graduates from Phoenix and places like that are unable to make student loan payments, tell you that they are not returning on investment for those students.

If you are poor, and study very hard, it is possible to win a scholarship at a reputable college, and achieve social mobility that way. Pretending that people who have not worked hard enough to win a scholarship can become middle class by taking out a loan is a dupe. They would do better to join the army for that purpose.

[lukev]

I disagree that a scholarship is the only way to earn achieve social mobility.

A college degree is a necessary but not sufficient condition for breaking into the middle class. If a loan can help someone meet that condition, great.

This is not to say that colleges aren't horribly overpriced (they are) or that more scholarships shouldn't be available (they should, including government grants; one of the best long-term investments in the economy the government can make).

[ig1]

MOOC != University of Phoenix

[dvanduzer]

MOOC == Hey, those guys might be on to something?