Sebastian Thrun: Free MOOCs just don’t work

Great interview with Sebastian Thrun.  I particularly found fascinating his candid response to this important question.

That doesn’t sound like democratizing education, if only the affluent can afford the version that works.

I would be careful to say this is not democratizing it. Any alternative path is actually much more expensive. We managed to lower the cost by a factor of ten. Going to the extreme and saying it has to be absolutely free might be a bit premature. I care about making education work. Everything else being equal, I would love to do this at the lowest possible price point. Where we’ve converged is right. You don’t need a college degree anymore. I would be careful with the conclusion that this is the end of democratization. We still have the free model for students. It just doesn’t work as well — it’s just a fact.

via A Q&A with “Godfather of MOOCs” Sebastian Thrun after he disavowed his godchild | PandoDaily.