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Sunday, November 25, 2012

The Price of a Quality Education

Harvard University
In America today, a college education has a continually growing importance and a continually growing price tag. Many argue that a degree from the Ivy League schools is becoming virtually impossible for most of America to afford and prosper at.

Just this week, I saw that Harvard University, one of the top schools in a country, is offering a free, extension program online. While the courses, such as Computer Science, Shakespeare and the World Wars, cannot be taken for credit towards a degree, they can regardless be taken. As part of the school's "learning initiative", they want to encourage education all over the country.

I think this sounds like a nice opportunity for those who cannot afford any type of education otherwise. The school also offers evening and online courses for a less expensive price tag for a Bachelor's degree. What do you think? To what extent do you think this program is worth the time of the faculty and its participants even though its not for credit?
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3 comments:

  1. Maddy BNovember 26, 2012 at 12:31 AM

    I agree with you that it is nice of Harvard to give this opportunity to people who want it. However I think that it would only be helpful for people who just want to learn for fun. This is because the online course gives a student no credit and that is not good when it comes to the student searching for a job. So, these online courses are great but, they are no where close to being equivalent to a real college degree or experience.

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  2. UnknownNovember 28, 2012 at 9:03 PM

    Real college degree? No. But real experience? That depends on how the online course is built. Especially compared to schools that focus on a everyone-listen-up-and-take-notes-on-what-I'm-about-to-say style of education, some online courses hold their own. And in the "real world", your credentials only get you through the door. After that, you have to stand on your own knowledge base. I would think most successful online education programs provide a reasonable amount of information.

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  3. Tom FawcettDecember 2, 2012 at 6:19 PM

    I agree with Maddy in that this is a great opportunity, but there is not much to benefit to further ones credentials. This seems like a very good tool for people who are possibly older, or who just want to master a certain subject for the sake of knowledge. Although, overall it does not seem too beneficial, and I would be curious as to how many people actually use these types of courses?

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