Reminded why I prefer independent study

[Leherself]

A good university instructor will introduce you to material outside of the textbook and in a way that makes you think, and will facilitate discussions that enlighten the participants. In the two dozen or so courses I've taken at a b&m university, I've had two instructors like that. In taking online courses from any school, I've never had that experience. Many of my b&m undergrad courses followed a similar track - lectures, textbook, three exams, and maybe one paper. A lot of times those exams were multiple choice. Frequently, if we had essay questions on the exams, the instructor would let us take them home to work on. In my experience, the odds of getting a truly excellent instructor are just not high enough to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars per class - especially at the undergrad intro/survey course level, when a lot of times you're taught by a TA anyway. If most of your undergrad courses are going to consist of reading textbooks and taking tests, and not much else, it makes much more sense to test out. Save your time and money for better things.

I feel this way even more strongly now that we have so many other options. If you're feeling nostalgic for the college experience, there are just too many cheap or even free things available. You can get hours of lectures from excellent professors on a wide range of subjects from the Great Courses (very cheap with an audible.com subscription), and companies like Coursera are expanding their options constantly. If you're disappointed with a lecturer from one of these companies, at least you didn't spend two weeks pay for the privilege.

There are times when I see the benefit of a b&m school. Things like lab courses in hard sciences for STEM majors, advanced undergrad and grad courses in specialized fields, and hands on training in vocational or professional schools are all worth your time and money if they help you towards your goal. I don't see the point in *anyone ever* spending thousands of dollars and three months at a time taking courses like "intro to psychology" or "western civ". And I don't think it's right for anyone who graduates with a BA in a liberal arts or social sciences field to also graduate with dozens of thousands of dollars in debt. A liberal arts degree is just not worth that kind of money in today's job market.