"If it's digital. . .it's going to be free."

An opinion is brewing just under the surface in the minds of millions of American students and parents, a.k.a. consumers of higher education: the current price of a college degree is no longer worth that set price. I predict that within ten years, tuition prices will be driven down drastically, as consumers choose other (many digital) options.

Thanks to Chris Anderson, here is a quote from his new book (see right and below):
"If it's digital, sooner or later it's going to be free." - one of his "free rules" that I believe we can now apply to higher education. So start today, by refusing to pay the exorbitant prices for current college tuition and fees. Why? Because equal quality offerings exist online today, and the market is pushing those prices ever downward online.

Anderson says, "In a competitive market, price falls to the marginal cost. The Internet is the most competitive market the world has ever seen." Free is "not just an option but an inevitability. . .so psychologically attractive that marketers will always find ways to invoke it by redefining their business to make some things free while selling others. . .In the digital realm, you can try to keep Free at bay with laws and locks, but eventually the force of economic gravity will win."

Anderson's Free: The Future of a Radical Price is a dense, well-written 256 pages that will especially appeal to those interested in economics. His anecdotes and graphs increase the readability of heady subject matter. And it is available, of course, for free, online (see below).

Chris Anderson Makes a Good Case

I just picked up Free: The Future of a Radical Price at my local library, and can't put it down. I'll post again after I've finished reading. In the meantime, you can read it for free online at multiple locations, including googlebooks and as an audiobook on itunes

Howard Gardner Told Me I Have a Gift (We All Do - What is Yours?)

Gardner termed them multiple intelligences, but I prefer the term ability, talent or gift. And whether it came from God or evolution is really irrelevant, but the point is we all have valuable contributions to make as human beings in this world.

In 2006, my daughter entered high school, and I really began to give deep thought to what her post-secondary future would look like. What I discovered alarmed me. I have always encouraged my child to be open-minded, and tried to teach her to think critically, but it appeared that the soft rhetoric of “you must go to college” pushed gently on my generation had erupted into a hard-line, no-other-option available, edict from every adult in the school system. Not just in high school, but from the very first days of kindergarten, all students are being told that they should plan for college. Period. Well, I believe that is fundamentally wrong.

There are actually school personnel, parents, and experts who also disagree with this college-for-all model. But they are often intimidated by their peers, or even worse, directed by their supervisors, to remain silent when they encounter a student who might succeed on another path. I have slowly found a few who are willing to admit it, especially among parents who see their own children's talents, and let love triumph over “teacher knows best” and a one-track system driven by a false edict that true success and happiness is only achievable with a four-year (or more) degree.

Another proponent I admire is the well-known author Charles Murray. In his 2008 book, Real Education, he posits that if we truly encourage students in developing their natural talents, along with some fundamental changes in degree components and other training/certifications, we might actually create a system that is just, fair, and creates an educated populace that adequately serves societal needs.

Why does our society now seem to accept that “everyone should go to college”? When you really stop and ask yourself this question, what do you believe? Could it be that Big Education is reaping financial benefits the likes of which no industry has ever experienced?