Education helps a person to grow in life by imparting him with the requisite skills and knowledge. The importance of education makes young people spend a lot of money on getting a degree from a good university. The cost of education is rising all over the world. Students in developed countries like USA shell out thousands of dollars for getting a university degree. They take loans to pay the tuition fees and incur other expenditure. It takes them a number of years to clear their student debt.
As the demand for quality education increases in emerging countries, students in India are also incurring heavy expenditure on education. The problem of student debt might come to haunt students in developing countries too.
Given the increased cost of education, how can save on your education costs?
One simple way to save on your education costs is by opting for alternatives to conventional university degrees. Two of the best alternatives to conventional university degree are diplomas provided by vocational training institutes and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Diplomas Provided Vocational Training Institutes
Contrary to the popular perception, the number of students who opt for a conventional university degree in developed countries like the USA is very less. Many students prefer to get diplomas offered by vocational training institutes. Educational courses provided by vocational training institutes impart key skills required for practice and excel in a particular profession.
Diplomas offered by vocational training institutes are way cheaper than university degrees. The quality of vocational education offered in India was not good until a few years back. However, the quality of vocational education has been increasing due to the initiatives taken by some new start-ups in the field.
Some recent entrants into the field like Timespro and HR Spot offer quality vocational education. Timespro specializes in diplomas in banking, digital marketing, and data science. HR Spot offers diplomas in HR.
Since many of the courses are developed by these institutes in association with industry players, they also offer good placement assistance to their students. The fees charged by these institutes range from Rs. 25,000 ($ 400) to Rs. 100,000 ($ 1600). Opting for these courses will help you save on your education costs.
Given that many of the university graduates in India are not employable due to the poor quality of education offered by them, opting for a diploma from a good vocational training institute will help in landing in a job immediately after the completion of the courses.
MOOCs
MOOCs have evolved as a good alternative to distance learning courses offered by universities. MOOCs give a better experience to students through videos, online assignments, and discussion forums. Students can also get tutored by the best faculty in the respective disciplines. For example, the Machine Learning course offered on the MOOCs platform Coursera is delivered by Andrew Ng, one of the best in this emerging discipline. Most of the courses offered on the MOOCs platforms are free. They charge small fees (ranging between $50 to $100) if the student wants a certificate as a proof of course completion.
For-profit online learning platforms like Udemy also offer highly practical courses delivered by working professionals in the area for a small charge (usually $10 to $50).
Opting for any of the two alternatives elucidated above can help you save on your education costs and get a good job.
