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When will the Internet replace college?

Accepted submission by AnonTechie at 2014-06-02 07:28:24
/dev/random
College is one of the world's last institutions left largely unchanged by the corrosive torrent of digital data and Wi-Fi beams, but it's the one that needs the Internet's help most. In case you don't know how bad things are, here's a brief rundown: The average amount of student loan debt has soared to nearly $30,000, and an estimated three-quarters of all students accrue debt to obtain their degree. But those students are having trouble paying back their loans due to the abysmal job market for recent grads; more than half of student loans ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2013/02/01/alarming-number-of-student-loans-are-delinquent/ [forbes.com] ) became delinquent or entered deferral in 2013. Additionally, research shows that the net worth of college students with debt is 20 percent less than degree-less high school graduates with no debt. Does that mean all that hard work was for nothing?

That may just be the case. A Chronicle of Higher Education Study ( http://chronicle.com/article/Are-Undergraduates-Actually/125979/ [chronicle.com] ) found that many students fail "to develop the higher-order cognitive skills that it is widely assumed college students should master." Most degree-holders "can be accurately described as academically adrift," the study said. Even getting straight As is essentially meaningless.

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/when-will-internet-replace-college/ [dailydot.com]

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