How Capitalism is Making Education Free

            Living in a Progressive state one of the big talking points I hear a lot is how people believe education should be free. When I say education, I mean all education, k-12 and higher. These same people say the Government needs to be the one who pays for it. Despite the fact that the government does not have any money, they get all their money from people through taxes, they still do not care. Often the retort will be, I’d be willing to pay a little more so that everyone can have an education, the more educated someone is the more it benefits society. Instead of going down the moral and factual rabbit hole of everything wrong with that statement I have decided to go a different route. Specifically how capitalism is making education extremely cheap if not free.

            According to Collegedata.com “In its most recent survey of college pricing, the College Board reports that a "moderate" college budget for an in-state public college for the 2016–2017 academic year averaged $24,610. A moderate budget at a private college averaged $49,320.” After four years in college at this averaged rate you’d end up paying $98,440. To most of us this is a lot of money to pay back, especially since we did not land that six figure dream job we wanted.

            So how can we get the same education for cheaper? Welcome to the internet. Today most people in the US have internet access, either through our computer, our smart phones or even on our TV. If you have a problem with your car, a quick google search will provide you with several videos on how to do the repair yourself. To start a YouTube channel, posting and viewing videos is completely free. It is free because of ad revenue. Advertisers pay money for views and YouTube provides those views.

            What does that have to do with education? Lately I’ve been watching videos put out by Professor Jordan Peterson. On his channel he provides his college level lectures for anyone to view. Meaning you can get the same information that someone paid hundreds of dollars for, for the price of an internet connection. You can find several videos like his online covering a wide range of topics, from history to literature to science.

            Audible is also a great source for college lectures. At about $15 dollars a month you can download an audio file of the Great Courses series. This series provides lectures from experts and professors on a number of different subjects. You can also find the classics as well as educational books for download at Audible.

            Amazon, as well as other services, provides book downloads that are very cheap. Some older books, whose copyrights have expired are even offered for free download. It is not uncommon to find books in the $10 or under price range. This means you are able to access the knowledge in these books for a fraction of what you’d have to pay at a college book store. PDF versions of some books are also available online. This brings the library to you in a way a brick and mortar library never could.

            All of the information presented in a college course can be found online or even in a library. All it takes is dedication and a desire to want to learn. If you want to be a mechanic or just fix your own car, you can do that. If you want to learn about the Bronze Age Collapse you can find videos on that as well as published creditable sources. If you have a hard time with some subject, I am sure you can find a forum already discussing it. That forum will probably be more active than the ones you’d find at college because the people participating in it want to be there, instead of being forced to be there by class requirement.

            The only major way this free flow of education is lacking is there is no way to provide accreditation to prove you have the necessary education. In essence colleges hold a monopoly on selling accreditation. On selling a piece of paper backed by in institutional authority that says you are smart enough.

            So, are universities going to fall away as more and more people find they can get the same education cheaper online, or do the universities offer something more than education? Let me know in the comments below.