"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

How Much Will You Owe On Your Future?

Do you buy into the rhetoric that you will make X # dollars more over a lifetime with a college degree? Is that really true today? Maybe it was ten, twenty or thirty years ago, but perhaps that is changing. As a larger percentage of the population obtains four-year degrees, basic economics dictates downward pressure on wages. At the same time, the American Institute for Economic Advancement calculates that college tuition and fees have risen 248.4% since 1990 (from their 2009 Cost-of-Living Guide, which tracks the purchasing power of the dollar).

Some talented filmmakers are documenting the effects of student loan debt, and they deserve support to complete their movie, Default: The Student Loan Documentary. Check it out at http://www.defaultmovie.com/