Will education become cheaper or more expensive in the future, and is that fair?

[thegreenyogi]

And if you think it's going to become more expensive, do you think it's fair or not? And why?

[Taurus_Woman]

It’s likely to go both directions depending on the type of education.

Traditional university education in many countries has generally been getting more expensive, especially where funding is reduced and costs (staff, facilities, housing) rise.

At the same time, online learning, courses, and AI-based tools are making parts of education cheaper or even free.

So the future may look more like a split system: expensive formal degrees, but cheaper or accessible alternatives for skills and learning.

It can feel unfair if basic education becomes too expensive and limits opportunity.

But it can also be seen as fair if high costs reflect better resources, research, and quality.

The real fairness issue is whether people still have equal access to opportunity, not just the price itself.

[Zack-Bann]

I think the gap between low end and high end education will keep increasing
For various reasons:


The increased access to education through online programs make the business itself very competitive.
Basically a traditional low end school now has a thousand new and cheaper competitor so they need to cut back on tuition to keep their students.


Now the higher end schools have a sales pitch that is unaffected by competition.
They are expensive, and exclusive not because the quality of the education itself is superior but because they boast the best alumni rosters in the world.
and most of them are like private clubs, alumni all have access to one another and give eachother privileges wherever they can.


So having a degree from such a place means you’re on the fast track to success and that will always be expensive.

[indissoluble]

Anything you can lean in college, you can learn outside of college generally for free if you are willing to put the time in. There are exceptions when dealing with hands on experience with specific types of equipment that has a high entry barrier due to exorbitant cost like Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy instruments, but "Education" is about acquiring credentials which can be used to help convince potential employers to give you a job. In reality many companies are trying to automate jobs and hand them over to AI right now. So the value of an "education" has dropped significantly. If value drops, demand will likely drop, and then universities will put more content online for cheaper prices and employ less professors in order to stay profitable.

[purplepoppy]

Cheaper. As AI takes more and more jobs governments will want to massage unemployment figures and that'll involve getting people on to courses rather than claiming welfare.

I think that there's also an argument that if education benefits society as a whole then society should pay for it.

[AI Opinion]

Advisor Smith here.

In my experience, the answer is “both”:

- Cheaper: Access to *content* (online courses, AI tutors, open textbooks) will keep getting cheaper or even free. Skill-based micro‑credentials will also be relatively affordable.
- More expensive: Brand‑name degrees, especially at elite universities, will likely become more expensive because you’re paying for status, networks, and selective admission.

Is that fair? Partly. It’s fair that high‑touch experiences cost more, but it’s *unfair* if price blocks capable people. That’s why scholarships, income‑based repayment, and strong public options are essential.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Private education will undoubtedly become more and more expensive as time goes on. The taxation for public education probably won’t change that much

[HawkPerception]

Education is primarily free RIGHT NOW, with all the free YouTube content and AI. College and universities are only required for more practical applications where you need to be there in person to experience something.

https://www.tiktok.com/@jakevsthestate/video/7501951279770373383

[HawkPerception]

I realize I didn't answer the question properly. Education will eventually become completely free, as it should be. Education only strengthens a region in the long term, for the economy and pretty much everything.

[OneViewpoint]

Education will become unavailable to the majority of people in the US. Cost will become irrelevant. The people behind project 2025 have an agenda to destroy the US public education system and replace it with private Christian schools teaching religious dogma and revisionist history to dumb down the population into a docile pool of economic slaves.

It will cost our children everything.

[Miristheiss]

College?

Unless you are a doctor, nurse, scientist, engineer, accountant... or some other field, college is a waste and indoctrinates activists and leftists.

Less people should go to university.

More people needed in trades. Not lesbian studies, liberal arts and millions of psychologists.

[Anonymous]

Should become cheaper because most of it can be done at home on the Internet.

College education is a real scam, with my degree I could have done the majority of it with a library card and so many that go to college aren't academically capable enough to be doing a degree and are just allowed to run up a huge student loan they will spend years paying off on minimum wage.

[Agape93]

Expensive and not fair but that's what you get when the government education sucks, if it even exists because they push for private education so the boards of those schools make more money and prestige

[FunkyMonkee]

It's not fair at all if the teachers aren't gonna teach your kids what you want them to learn! And, I don't see why anybody that has no kids in school has to pay school taxes!

[Nikki1989]

It will always become more and more expensive in the USA. The USA thrives on producing dumb people.

[BCRanger10]

I think it will become much more expensive and much less valuable. And more importantly, much less efficacious.

[lilBigPotato]

I don't think much will change here. Don't know about the US. Any competent government will try to keep the education costs low.

[DryGermanGuy]

I see no changes coming up in Germany or most European countries.

[exitseven]

AI will put most teachers out of a job. It will not make it any cheaper. The administrators will all get fat raises.

[AgentG111]

Cheaper for trade schools because we need that more expensive for people that have nothing better to do than waste their time and money on supposed ideas. Not facts.

[Surely]

Who needs to be educated when we have AI?
Just kidding!

[Shiprex]

Should not become more but probably will.

[jahaims]

More expensive. The way it has been going.

[oldman26]

More expensive, not fair