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Free Online Education Unwelcome In Minnesota
An anonymous reader sends this quote from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
"[Minnesota's] Office of Higher Education has informed the popular provider of massive open online courses, or MOOC's, that Coursera is unwelcome in the state because it never got permission to operate there. It's unclear how the law could be enforced when the content is freely available on the Web, but Coursera updated its Terms of Service to include the following caution: 'Notice for Minnesota Users: Coursera has been informed by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education that under Minnesota Statutes (136A.61 to 136A.71), a university cannot offer online courses to Minnesota residents unless the university has received authorization from the State of Minnesota to do so. If you are a resident of Minnesota, you agree that either (1) you will not take courses on Coursera, or (2) for each class that you take, the majority of work you do for the class will be done from outside the State of Minnesota.' Tricia Grimes, a policy analyst for the state's Office of Higher Education, said letters had been sent to all postsecondary institutions known to be offering courses in Minnesota."
I suspect there is a lot more to this story than anyone in the universities or legislature would ever admit publicly.
But I suspect the real impetus here is that the state legislators don't want anyone coming into their state without having to lobby (aka bribe) them first. Every state university has to come to them once a year with hat-in-hand, and they sure don't want anyone bypassing this system by coming in from out of state without paying their largesse. The patron expects his coin before you do business here, citizen.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Given that it's non-accredited and doesn't give you a degree or anything official, how is it really any different than any article on the Internet? Does YouTube need permission from each state because they have educational videos on a variety of subjects?
Except Coursera doesn't give out degrees. It's a topic-oriented class room where you can pick and choose what you want to learn. I don't believe they even give out certificates of completion, just a smack on the ass with a wink if you pass.
Minnesota institutions have the right to not recognize credits from any university they choose to ignore. That's where it should stop. They don't have the right to tell someone not to read or learn something...
Or they're sick and tired of fake online universities charging their citizens or occupying peoples' time for degrees that aren't worth shit.
A fake online university would be fraud, in any state. Thus, that argument is irrelevant.
Coursera is free, as in no charge. Thus, that argument is also irrelevant.
They don't offer accredited degrees. Thus, that argument is irrelevant.
So what we have left with is that you think the State should be in charge of making sure you use your time for worthwhile pursuits. And that any knowledge not backed by a state board certified degree is not worthwhile.
I suspect if they actually sat down with the state things would be fine, but for the moment they throw around the word 'university' and that has accreditation implications. It is a bit like going to someone who claims to be a doctor who will do exams, but then points out that they can not actually write referrals or prescribe meds because they are not a doctor, thus they shouldn't need a license to practice. It could probably be sorted out with the state pretty easily but, by default, if it walks like a goose but talks like a duck, anti-fraud regulation will probably treat it like a duck unless it shows it isn't one.
Except Coursera doesn't give out degrees. It's a topic-oriented class room where you can pick and choose what you want to learn. I don't believe they even give out certificates of completion, just a smack on the ass with a wink if you pass.
Unless Coursera are offering highly biased education or in some way poisoning the minds of those that take their courses the people that are opposing them are opposing the basic human right to knowledge.
Any law or rule that blatantly wrong should be ignored.