Off to college. Online.

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Next to a home the largest purchase a person makes in their lifetime is their college education. College tuitions with room and board cost between $10,000 and $40,000.  Multiply that by 4 and add in loans, which may double or triple the amount over the life of the loan and you see where I’m coming from.  Colleges have never been questioned as a pursuit after high school. But there is a generation of students graduating with loans that may not have been obvious to them freshman year, who are looking askance at the higher dot edu price tag. Enter MOOCs. And other online alternatives – which in some cases are free.  In some cases they are taught by Princeton and MIT professors. 

This is what once might call a market discontinuity.  A market changer.

Is anyone in higher ed smelling this coffee?  Put your pipes and iPads down people. This online alternative to college is going to create a shizz storm.  University endowments will begin to diminish. Professor pay will stagnate. Dorms will be sold. Teacher’s aids will grow more powerful and though college and universities won’t go away, there will be a lot less of them. It is the future.  Half the kids in college are reading their smart phones in class anyway. And Googling the assignment in class.

Higher education leaders need to get ready for this one.  They are already behind. See the future. Be the future. Peace!