Price tag for a college education: $43,980 per year

An article in New York Times today reported that Princeton will not raise tuition in the coming year. Then it said that the total annual price for an undergraduate with a full-meal contract is $43,980. Over dim sum yesterday, my wife and I were wondering if a university eduction is over-priced, especially when you consider that you can learn anything online, either at a small price or no cost at all. If you'd like to have hands-on experience, then find a job on the side. If you have a soft spot for things like moral reasoning or philosophy or eighteenth-century literature, then download the great books from Google Books. If you'd like to have peer experience, then join a discussion group, online or offline. OK, a university will give you a certificate that may lead you to a good job. And a university seems like a daycare beyond high school, or a sheltered environment for young people to interact with one another.

How long can our leading universities carry on by dispensing certificates and daycares and knowledge that is freely available for anybody who cares to learn? Will there be a cheaper solution to what we want for our children? What do we really want any way?

I have no expertise to judge the value of a college education. More knowledgeable people have asked the above questions in more interesting ways. Here is a collection of essays on general education in harvard college written by colleagues at Harvard concerning general education. Be sure to read the particularly perceptive essay written by Whitesides. I'd be curious to learn your opinion on the value of college education, and how we can make it more valuable for our children.