I don't mean to imply that schools should be in it for the $$$. I get your point. But costs are an issue. A big issue. And right now student tuitions shoulder a large part of that burden.
Stanford's total enrollment is about 20,000 students. $35,000 per year = $700,000,000.
Offer 16 new online courses which yields 20,000 students per course taking a $99 final exam. $31,680,000. Less than 5% of annual tuition-based revenue. That's a new library without hitting the endowment fund, underwriting existing salaries, funding pension obligations, or adding a new facility dedicated solely to the production of online educational content.
I think Leland and Jane Stanford would be proud to know that the memorial they built to their son is today moving in the direction of educating millions worldwide.
It's okay to "be strong and stay strong and while being of benefit to others."
The problem is providing a questionable education and then selling a meaningless certification to make money.
These classes are also highly vulnerable to cheating and you can be sure that a large number of people will take advantage of this to pump up their resumes.
I think that's why MITx plans to use a third-party for their certification exams. Similiar to testing centers for standardized exams like the LSAT, GMAT, GRE, etc.
Stanford's total enrollment is about 20,000 students. $35,000 per year = $700,000,000.
Offer 16 new online courses which yields 20,000 students per course taking a $99 final exam. $31,680,000. Less than 5% of annual tuition-based revenue. That's a new library without hitting the endowment fund, underwriting existing salaries, funding pension obligations, or adding a new facility dedicated solely to the production of online educational content.
I think Leland and Jane Stanford would be proud to know that the memorial they built to their son is today moving in the direction of educating millions worldwide.
It's okay to "be strong and stay strong and while being of benefit to others."