http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north975.html Fun stuff, on the precipice of returning to college myself the CLEP function is a cost and time saving measure that is often overlooked as the thinking goes, if you are advanced enough to pass the class, then why not take it for an easy A to pad the GPA if there is another class that you may not do as well in? I also tend to agree with the writer that the actual worth of a college degree, in context of the 200k or 100k price tag is shaky, not as unsustainable as the writer claims but simple math shows if that money was invested in a retirement account, or into a successful business the return on investment can exceed the cost of not getting the degree. The time value of money at work.
If you would like to make a billion dollars, coordinate the service that lets students 'bid' on accredited online courses from various schools (orbitz style). That supply and demand dynamic and will make college cheaper. They can take Econ 101 from Middle Tennessee, Psych 102 from Northern Illinois. Use only brick-and-mortar 'known' (prestigious) institutions, none of the U of Phoenix crap. Move all these online courses into an iTunes type platform, let them download courses that expire at the end of the semester. Take your 20% cut off the top. Give them a degree from your umbrella institution. U of Padre31. Boom. That, I think, approximates the future of higher ed. No undergrad degree is worth more than 30K total IMO.
Well, believe it or not you actually could do that now using the Credit Bank service from Regent University via online courses, the problem is each institution does not simply let you take classes, you still have to go through registration and acceptance policies at each university but Regent holds the ultimate Degree and issues your transcript and credentials.
I disagree. I think if you earn the right degree it can be worth a lot more. A degree in computer science is absolutely worth more than $30k in my opinion. But, a degree in anthropology or psychology isn't worth very much IMO.
Funny thing is, most accounting degrees lead to jobs at first involve the grunt work of inventory control. I've talked to Personnel dept types and they are mixed on the value of a phoenix degree, some say it is fine, some do not like it as it requires less discipline as regular on campus degree.