Professor Elam

New Year's Day January 1 2014

US students now have over a trillion dollars in college debt, more than the credit card debt in the USA. At the same time MOOC classes are offered for free. Now comes Codeacademy.  Headed by a Columbia junior drop out, the firm offers free coding classes for computer programming. The classes are designed by students themselves. As Zach Sims observes, students seeking vocational or associate degrees and avoiding debt may be on the right track. 

Clearly the future as Zach sees it, is to attain a skill set in programming at minimum cost. My students are aware that I constantly emphasize the importance of obtaining a certification. Now let's assume our student completes a low cost associate's degree in computer tech, then learns programming at codeacademy, then starts gathering various certifications. My bet is that he or she is quite employable. 

Again we are transitioning to new models and platforms. Years ago it was not necessary to obtain a college degree to become a CPA or an architect. One simply had to pass the required exam. I suspect we are slowly headed back to that model. Too many colleges are pricing themselves out of the picture.