Will "the college experience" become less important when choosing a college?

[ucbalumnus]

@msdynamite85

I am imagining a world where the Ivy league and other top colleges offers an online only option, including, video lectures and zoom discussion seminars with the professor and other students. The entry requirements are identical to the standard residential college option but price is much cheaper.

I think that this option would attract an older set of applicants than those that currently attend those schools ( almost all 18-22). People who need to still work basically full time around their studies to cover their living expenses. That’s not a bad thing. Society benefits when education is easily accessible to everybody. I would love to see more older career changers go to the top schools and not just the mostly lower rank ones that offers the flexibility and affordability that they need to succeed.

If the entry requirements are the same, then there will be few older career changers at those “Ivy League and other top colleges” compared to the number who will go to other colleges, simply because most will not get admitted to “Ivy League and other top colleges”.

Now, if the “Ivy League and other top colleges” greatly increase the volume of students educated through distance education, then there may be the effect you suggest. To the extent that B above is something unique about them, that could be better. But they would dilute C above by becoming less exclusive, so they may not want to do that to a large extent. Of course, if they did do such a thing, that may be trouble for other colleges that are less attractive in terms of B and C.