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But Harvard provides incremental value over Khan academy by serving as a networking tool and a credentialing mechanism.

ramanujan 15y ago
For now, that's still true. But LinkedIn/github/etc. are starting to provide better networks. As an employer, I give more credence to a kid with a good github account than I do to even a CS major from Harvard. As for credentialing, that is the next big step. It is already the case that if you see a CV with Google or Facebook on it, it doesn't matter whether that person has a college degree. You know they've been vetted by an institution of comparable prestige to Harvard. Solving the vetting and credentialing problem is going to be important, but it's not insuperable by any means. For example, ai-class.org, db-class.org, and ml-class.org are providing certificates of accomplishment. Any kid who nails Andrew Ng's CS229 class is definitely someone to consider over a liberal arts major, or even most CS undergrads.
- ootachi 15y ago
  Ironic that you mention Google, because they famously care about degrees. A lot.
- andylei 15y ago
  on the question of credentials: ootachi's comment is spot on. big companies like google, microsoft, and goldman sachs get way too many applications to not care about degrees. yeah, if you filter by college degrees, you're going to miss out on some great candidates, but there are a lot of great candidates out there. you don't need all of them to find a great hire. its simply not practical to do in depth examinations of every candidate. a good github account? big companies get so many resumes that they don't even finish reading many of the resumes, so forget about looking at code on github. maybe in the future, certain online universities may get enough general recognition that merely the presence of that university on a resume will pick up the interest of HR people, but currently, that's nowhere close to true. and until that happens, most kids will prefer harvard to taking classes online. plus, its not like its mutually exclusive. a kid from harvard can have a good github account. on the question of networks: linkedin is a joke. i'm way more likely to get a job or start a business with someone i knew in college than someone off of linkedin. github is a lot better, but its a pretty restricted space. you can get interviews for lots of kinds of jobs by going to harvard. programming is probably all you can get with a good github account (and probably not at really big companies). maybe if you're 18 and you know that all you want to is programming, maybe you should take a bunch of classes online, but the majority of 18 year olds probably want more flexibility.
  - jimbokun 15y ago
    "good github account? big companies get so many resumes that they don't even finish reading many of the resumes, so forget about looking at code on github." They might be better off not accepting resumes and just recruiting people with outstanding github accounts.
    - xenophanes 15y ago
      A google recruiter emailed me and asked me to submit a resume after seeing my ruby talk list posts. So, they already do that kind of thing :)
- tryitnow 15y ago
  I second the other responses to this comment. However, I do think there is tremendous potential to create a company that facilitates this emerging process. Instead of a school what we really need is a company that does some of what a school does (guided education/training/ credentialing), some of what a recruiter does (identify and matching talent), and some of what an HR department does (onboarding company specific training). This is just based on my experience (not a pleasant one) in identifying and recruiting talent.
andylei 15y ago
why are people downvoting this comment? do people think that khan academy provides the same level of networking and credentialing that harvard does? or that networking and credentialing have no value?
- LargeWu 15y ago
  Thiel argues that the value of a BA from Harvard is almost ENTIRELY credentialing and signaling, and has very little to do with learning; and therefore, a BA from any school holds little value because it represents very little about what somebody actually learned in school.
  - tryitnow 15y ago
    I would say the top 10 schools in any area have enough "credentialing/signaling" value to be a good investment. Outside of that top 10, the value is only in certain subjects (e.g. engineering, accounting, nursing).
philwelch 15y ago
And for the millions of us who didn't get into Harvard, what's the point?

For now, that's still true. But LinkedIn/github/etc. are starting to provide better networks. As an employer, I give more credence to a kid with a good github account than I do to even a CS major from Harvard. As for credentialing, that is the next big step. It is already the case that if you see a CV with Google or Facebook on it, it doesn't matter whether that person has a college degree. You know they've been vetted by an institution of comparable prestige to Harvard. Solving the vetting and credentialing problem is going to be important, but it's not insuperable by any means. For example, ai-class.org, db-class.org, and ml-class.org are providing certificates of accomplishment. Any kid who nails Andrew Ng's CS229 class is definitely someone to consider over a liberal arts major, or even most CS undergrads.

ootachi 15y ago
Ironic that you mention Google, because they famously care about degrees. A lot.
andylei 15y ago
on the question of credentials: ootachi's comment is spot on. big companies like google, microsoft, and goldman sachs get way too many applications to not care about degrees. yeah, if you filter by college degrees, you're going to miss out on some great candidates, but there are a lot of great candidates out there. you don't need all of them to find a great hire. its simply not practical to do in depth examinations of every candidate. a good github account? big companies get so many resumes that they don't even finish reading many of the resumes, so forget about looking at code on github. maybe in the future, certain online universities may get enough general recognition that merely the presence of that university on a resume will pick up the interest of HR people, but currently, that's nowhere close to true. and until that happens, most kids will prefer harvard to taking classes online. plus, its not like its mutually exclusive. a kid from harvard can have a good github account. on the question of networks: linkedin is a joke. i'm way more likely to get a job or start a business with someone i knew in college than someone off of linkedin. github is a lot better, but its a pretty restricted space. you can get interviews for lots of kinds of jobs by going to harvard. programming is probably all you can get with a good github account (and probably not at really big companies). maybe if you're 18 and you know that all you want to is programming, maybe you should take a bunch of classes online, but the majority of 18 year olds probably want more flexibility.
- jimbokun 15y ago
  "good github account? big companies get so many resumes that they don't even finish reading many of the resumes, so forget about looking at code on github." They might be better off not accepting resumes and just recruiting people with outstanding github accounts.
  - xenophanes 15y ago
    A google recruiter emailed me and asked me to submit a resume after seeing my ruby talk list posts. So, they already do that kind of thing :)
tryitnow 15y ago
I second the other responses to this comment. However, I do think there is tremendous potential to create a company that facilitates this emerging process. Instead of a school what we really need is a company that does some of what a school does (guided education/training/ credentialing), some of what a recruiter does (identify and matching talent), and some of what an HR department does (onboarding company specific training). This is just based on my experience (not a pleasant one) in identifying and recruiting talent.

andylei 15y ago

why are people downvoting this comment? do people think that khan academy provides the same level of networking and credentialing that harvard does? or that networking and credentialing have no value?

LargeWu 15y ago
Thiel argues that the value of a BA from Harvard is almost ENTIRELY credentialing and signaling, and has very little to do with learning; and therefore, a BA from any school holds little value because it represents very little about what somebody actually learned in school.
- tryitnow 15y ago
  I would say the top 10 schools in any area have enough "credentialing/signaling" value to be a good investment. Outside of that top 10, the value is only in certain subjects (e.g. engineering, accounting, nursing).

philwelch 15y ago

And for the millions of us who didn't get into Harvard, what's the point?