EDUCATION | TECHNOLOGY | SOCIETY
Free College is Already Here
Technology has solved a problem that politics can’t
I went through a phase where I used to pay a lot of money for outdated, mediocre, marginally interesting courses. I call it “college”.
That’s ironic for me to say, given that as a lifelong college employee I still depend on an institution for a paycheck. But it’s true.
And it’s hardly a secret. One video compilation has 11 minutes and 25 seconds of the most admired and successful people in the world describing what a waste a bachelor’s degree is. It got over 7 million views.
Rethinking College
I agree with critics who point out that a lot of what you do in college is not directly applicable to employment. And if a course can’t be justified by its ability to increase your income, then why is it treated (and priced) as an “investment”?
But before you get the wrong idea about this article, no my objective isn’t to talk myself out of a job.
As a matter of fact, I am very proud of the work we do in my corner of Higher Ed, because I’ve seen time and again what a life transformation it delivers. That’s especially true for high paying vocational programs in fields like cybersecurity, electrical power generation, or ophthalmology. Work in those fields requires direct training by skilled professionals, and so I believe our programs are an incredible bargain. With a marketable skill and certification from a trusted institution, you put yourself in a position of strength in labor markets.
But unfortunately, most of the 7.75 billion people on Earth just don’t have physical access to a place like Palm Beach State College.
So whether you’re living in a remote village with no colleges nearby, or you’re just reluctant to pay tens of thousands of dollars getting indebted so early in your life, I still have good news. Thanks to technology, there are incredibly good options for self-education now. I’ve used many of these firsthand, and can’t wait to share. And if there’s anything I didn’t mention that you want to recommend, please leave a comment!
My Own Transformation
Fundamentally, education is an enlightening experience about transforming yourself. Institutions can be a catalyst for this process, but are not a requirement. Some of the most brilliant people in history have been self taught (autodidacts).
After getting my bachelor’s degree, instead of paying more money to get a masters or doctorate, I’ve been using free resources to learn about whatever I’m interested in on my own.
The first Harvard course I took was back in 2009 — Michael Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? Since that time, I’ve taken many others. My favorite has been Yuval Noah Hirari’s A Brief History of Mankind, which for whatever reason I love to listen to when jogging.
My favorite computer science course has been Harvard professor David Malan’s CS50. I’ve also enjoyed learning from the current SEC Chair Gary Gensler as he explains Blockchain and Money at MIT. Right now, I’m studying machine learning with Andrew Ng, as well a more applied course with Andreas Mueller. You can follow along with me here.
The most valuable content isn’t even necessarily associated with universities, as you’ll notice if you watch the Black Swan Group’s free negotiation trainings. Before embarking on any of this, I learned how to learn from Jim Kwik. Going back even further, one of my first and most impactful teachers has been Tony Robbins.
I’ll admit that independent study isn’t perfect. You don’t get the credits or degrees on your transcripts and in most places you still need that to advance through the ranks in most organizations. Also, the overwhelming majority of people don’t finish all of the content in a course. Certification rates are probably only about 2–10%.
But degrees don’t matter if you’re planning to start your own business, which a whopping 63% of people under 30 want to do according to Inc.
The autodidactic approach requires a ton of self-discipline, internal motivation, and genuine curiosity to truly learn something. Most people just aren’t there. As corporations compete ferociously for our attention, the mental equivalent of junk food is everywhere. For most people, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Netflix are simply too effective at stimulating our synaptic receptors for us to be able to stay focused on effortful learning.
But if you’ve got an internet connection, a basic device that can play video and download pdf files, and most importantly if you’ve learned how to focus your attention, then there’s truly nothing to hold you back from learning. You can learn anything. Anything.
Only Learn STEM?
The humanities may cover fascinating topics, but they’re much harder to translate into gainful employment than STEM topics or vocational training like HVAC or nursing. So does that mean I don’t think anyone should study art appreciation, marine biology, gender theory, poetry, or ancient literature?
No, that’s not at all what I’m saying.
It is precisely because I do study history that I know exactly how America’s second president, John Adams, thought about education.
I could fill volumes with descriptions of temples and palaces, paintings, sculptures, tapestry, porcelain, etc., etc., etc. — if I could have time. But I could not do this without neglecting my duty. The science of government it is my duty to study, more than all other sciences: the art of legislation and administration and negotiation, ought to take place, indeed to exclude in a manner all other arts. I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.
If you’ve had the good fortune to be born into fabulous wealth and privilege, then great. You are able to study anything you want, and can do it at any institution you like. Parents who have millions of dollars can easily pay $80k for your Harvard bachelor’s degree in ancient Greek philosophy and not even flinch.
But for the rest of us who aren’t in that luxurious situation, we need to be much more strategic. Our predicament may not be as extreme as John Adams’. But if we don’t already possess generational wealth then there’s no use complaining. It’s up to us to go learn what we need to learn and then take action so as to build it.
That said, once again, I do spend an enormous amount of my free time researching things that I’m interested in. There are things I believe to be incredibly important to improving the quality of life even if they can’t be translated into income in any obvious way.
My point isn’t to avoid studying the humanities. Again, I’m saying that instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars to a formal institution, you can and should learn the humanities on your own for free (or maybe even at a profit… read to the end to find out more).
Don’t spend thousands of dollars on a degree in a non-employment major. My advice is to simply learn about topics such as health, history, geopolitics, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art from the myriad of free resources that are available to you online.
Seriously, you don’t need to pay. Even if you don’t have a library nearby, you can download the Harvard Classics FOR FREE.
But here’s how to really level up. Over the past year, I’ve become a writer on Medium. The journey has taught me that it isn’t a coincidence that the most brilliant people throughout history have been writers. It wires your brain in a way that helps you put the pieces together in increasingly more useful ways. As you write, you not only learn how to communicate effectively with others, but you figure out what actions you need to take next in order to turbocharge your own goals.
The cherry on top? Instead of paying thousands of dollars for professors to teach me how to write, I’ve earned about $500 (minus the $60 annual subscription) and built my own small audience! Simultaneously, it’s pushed me to do a deep dive into topics that I find interesting, from NFTs to nuclear energy.
So if you want to have full access to thousands of the very same writers who taught me the craft, and if you also want to become eligible to be compensated for what you write, then sign up for my email list and subscribe here.
A Medium subscription is undoubtedly the best $5 per month I’ve ever spent. But like anything in education or in life, what you get out of something depends on what you put into it.
