Homeschooling Grades 13 to 16

[selenite0]

An article on the high cost of college suggests an alternative:

There are thousands of under-employed Ph.D.s in America who could be paid to offer college-level courses in your living room. If 10 students banded together and put up $10,000 each . . . they could hire two high-end intellectuals, pay them $50,000 each and get personal instruction.

This sounds like what I've heard of the old Oxford/Cambridge education. Could work very well for learning the liberal arts, and even sciences such as mathematics or economics that don't require much equipment. Engineering and biology would still need an institutional set-up.

The big problem would be that you'd get a good education and not come out with an accredited degree, so employers would be wary of you. There might be good synergy with the online colleges. Have tutors in person under the aegis of an online school. The school does final exams and awards the degree, but you don't have the problems of getting your schooling through an Ethernet port.

Comments

[kishiriadgr.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I would LOVE to do that! A chance to actually use my soon-to-be PhD!

[faxpaladin.livejournal.com]

OK, it may be that I come from a part of the country (and a state-run school in that part of the country) where college is relatively cheap, but... $10K and you only get instruction in (at best) two subjects?

This sounds like something, though, that might be suited (at cheaper rates and for a shorter term) to continuing ed, where you don't have to worry about a degree and just want the knowledge.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I'd expect more than two subject per tutor. I can do classes in math, history, and engineering, as well as lower-level physics and literature. Now I grant getting a PhD might leave me unable to talk about anything but my dissertation topic . . . but that's a different problem.

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

This sounds like what I've heard of the old Oxford/Cambridge education.

That also included an examination, right? So if we had a general examination facility, we could do that. In fact, certain professions do just that, although some want a degree, too.

The thing is, does one wind up with well-educated people or good test-takers?