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Comment by David | Hacker News Reader

Do we really want to eliminate the physical university?

One thing that a campus does, that would not exist with an online education, is create a community. Good universities get smart people together, which is invaluable in creating wealth.

For a better explanation of what I mean, see the "Universities" section of http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html

[edited for grammar]

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I don't, but I would like to eliminate the enrollment. I personally feel that universities should offer more ad-hoc participation and function like giant libraries rather than toytowns for those who can afford to make a 4 year commitment.

Agreed! Most of my real ah-ha insights came after struggling for many hours of doing physics problem sets with a small group of classmates. I think that this is one of the most difficult-to-recreate parts of college.

That's a very good point. I went to a state university - for the first 2 years I was a commuter and the last 2 years I stayed at a dorm. It was 2 different worlds. For the first 2 years, I felt it was more a continuation of high school (i.e. when you get your driver's license and you don't need to get on the yellow bus). The last 2 years were a partial step into the "real world" - deal with an annoying roommate who has the TV on all the time and negotiate, chat with professors after class without hurrying home, socialize beyond interaction in class.

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