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Is Self-Learning the New Master’s Degree? [infographic]

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This infographic examines the growing phenomenon of self-learning using free online courses. These video lessons may come from recognized institutions of higher learning like Stanford and MIT or startups like Udemy, a platform that enables users to create classes and set their own per-class fees. Is this the future of education?

Graduate degrees at traditional brick-and-mortar institutions no longer have the perceived value they once had due to skyrocketing tuition costs and stagnant salaries. At Carnegie Mellon, for example, the total cost of a master's in business administration has risen 102 percent from 2001 to 2010, but the increase in pay for MBA graduates is just 8 percent. Adding insult to injury are the growing ranks of college dropouts who've gone on to become household names in business, like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, David Geffen and Bill Gates.

In fact, Gates is a vocal advocate of self-learning. He's quoted as saying, "The self-motivated learner will be on the Web, and there will be far less place-based [college] things… College — except for the parties — needs to be less place-based." Check out the full Udemy infographic below. Has it changed the way you view higher education?

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Udemy-online-education

(Photo credit: Udemy)

Marissa Brassfield
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