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Inside Minerva, a Silicon Valley Bid To Start an Elite College Online

Posted by timothy on from the see-you-at-the-reunion dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this article about The Minerva Project, a for-profit company now backed with more than $95 million from Silicon Valley venture-capital firms. Its goal is both audacious and unprecedented in the recent history of higher education: to build a name-brand, elite, liberal-arts-focused university that would cost about half of what Ivy League institutions charge. There's no campus, and all the classes take place online, but the students all live near each other in San Francisco. As small liberal-arts colleges like Sweet Briar shut down, is this campusless college the future?

2 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. I hate online classes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Online classes follow the in person paradigm: lecture and then homework. Paying attention to video lectures on a computer is just impossible for me. There is no interaction - at least in an in-person lecture, the lecturer will ask questions or call on you.

    And then, getting feedback is difficult. My biggest bone to pick with Coursera is that you cannot discuss answers to homework or test questions.

    In one class, I got all the practice problems correct but on the exam, I couldn't get the correct answer - even after my 4 tries allowed. Others had the same problem and others didn't. Where did we go wrong? To this day, I do not know.

    If I couldn't get the exam problem correct, then I don't think I understood the concept.

    And then there are the snarky comments like, "You don't belong here!".

    After reporting it, nothing was done. I assumed that it must have been a TA that posted it. A snarky TA?

    Never happens! /s

    I have taken other online classes and they just don't cut it. Nothing beats having a real live person teach, for me anyway. I need that human contact.

  2. Re:Another diploma mill with a marketing team by joe_frisch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Another major difference between colleges is the interaction with other students. For example at Caltech you are in an environment where it is normal to study for a few hours every night, and where scientific discussions are common, you will get more mental exercise and learn more. An elite liberal arts school will likely provide equivalent benefits.

    Then, while less "pure", the contact you make at an elite school are very valuable in your future career .