Ivy League For Free

By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, September 8, 2009.

Let’s say you’re in the market for a college education. You could go to a state or community college for between $5,000 and $10,000 a year, or shell out as much as $40,000 a year for an Ivy League education. Throw in books, room, and board, and you’re looking at decades in student loans.

What if you could get many of the benefits of a college education online, for free? Colleges across the country are putting their courses on the web and making them available to anyone who wants to learn. There is a catch: you don’t get a degree and you can’t interact with the professors. That didn’t dissuade writer Josh Dean. He tried out a few of these courses, and wrote about his experience for Popular Science.

A list of free online courses

(Photo via Sarah Stewart via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.