Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of Udacity, provider of MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) on the eroding monopoly of traditional colleges and universities in credentialing higher education:
The common denominator is that there is an interest in finding credentials that don’t require a student to buy the entire degree.
Big employers such as AT&T and Google are helping to design and fund the low-cost courses, reports the Wall Street Journal, opening the door for students to earn inexpensive credentials in the job market. Meanwhile the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in partnership with edX, is starting a course sequence called the XSeries. For up to $700 students will be able to take a test and earn a “verified certificate” in subjects like computer science and supply-chain management. Companies such as Yahoo Inc. have begun reimbursing employees who take certified MOOCs.
Message to university boards: Be afraid. Be very afraid. After a decade of jacking up tuition and fees remorselessly and without conscience, you have made higher education unaffordable for many young Americans. Employers and their would-be employees don’t want you, don’t need you. Your value proposition is shot. Your entrenched interests and bloated bureaucracies will prevent you from responding effectively to the challenge. Many of you are doomed. And no one will miss you when you’re gone.
— JAB