What's the value of an online course? The market says $0. There are plenty of free, online courses. What is the value of an online degree? Well that depends who is awarding it, but that value is unrelated to the value of courses offered. It's the value of a status symbol. Attending online courses will make sense financially only if that status symbol is really amazing, given the current prices of even cheap public universities.
If I was a student, I'd do anything to take a year off. Even at high status schools, or perhaps especially at high status schools, missing out on the socialization and experience just to get status a year or two earlier is unlikely to pay off better.
If I was a student, I'd do anything to take a year off. Even at high status schools, or perhaps especially at high status schools, missing out on the socialization and experience just to get status a year or two earlier is unlikely to pay off better.