

An Ivy education without the debt? Minerva Project non-profit to figure out how - iProject
http://gigaom.com/2013/01/14/an-ivy-education-without-the-debt-minerva-project-create-non-profit-to-figure-out-how/

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rayiner
The concept is absurd. Harvard isn't valuable because you learn from special
Harvard-only textbooks. It's valuable because you're immersed among peers that
have all passed the selection process, you work with Harvard's incredible
faculty, and most importantly because at the end of the day your degree says
"Harvard" on it. You can't reproduce any of these things in an online format
that isn't backed by Harvard itself.

I think online education is barking up the wrong tree. There is no value in
online Harvard's and online Stanford's. The real value is going to come from
online DeVry's. Programs to help people get skills and certifications without
paying a lot for college.

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patmcguire
If you're an American who actually has to worry about costs the Ivy League is
almost always going to be one of your cheapest options. I find it incredibly
irritating that the typical debate over college cost lays the tuition price
out there and claims that's the cost for a normal person.

I'm not from a poor family, but I payed less than a thousand a year for
Columbia. You'd have to make a quarter million dollars a year and have no
other siblings in college (I think they even take into account medical
expenses) to not qualify for something. I'd imagine most of the other schools
that do needs-blind are about the same: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-
blind_admission#U.S._insti...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-
blind_admission#U.S._institutions_that_are_need-blind_and_full-
need_for_U.S._applicants)

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danielweber
There are only a limited number of Ivy League slots available, though. And
they aren't really making any more, so it's only going to get harder and
harder to get in.

The Ivy League works pretty well but it doesn't scale.

 _EDIT_ : "needs-blind admission" doesn't mean that it's cheap. It just means
they'll admit you without regards to your ability to pay. They might still
require you to take a boatload of student debt in order to get through.

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kyllo
Ivy League is not supposed to scale, it is supposed to be scarce. Its purpose
is credentialing for differential social status. If an Ivy League education
were widely accessible and no longer scarce, it would lose its value as a
credential. And then the companies that hire only Ivy League grads would need
to choose another indicator of pedigree. (Actually they are already starting
to do this, by asking applicants what prep school they went to, a more
reliable indicator of social pedigree than what university they went to.)

I would consider this a highly desirable outcome, as it would help finalize
the divorce between access to higher learning and social pedigree, putting the
lie to the official fiction that we are living in a "meritocracy."

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Suncho
I'm surprised. The trend in education seems to be MOOCs. Charging tuition
feels like a step backwards. There are plenty of bright people in the world
who wouldn't be able to afford to pay $500 let alone half of a typical Ivy
League tuition.

I suppose exclusivity in the form of curating and moderating could help ensure
quality of the content. But is there any reason why the general public
shouldn't have read access at the very least?

I'm curious to see what this turns into. Education is important, so I hope
they find a way to put that $25 million to good use.

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wwkeyboard
They kinda tried this a hundred years ago.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics>
<http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics_(Bookshelf)>

