People who don’t graduate from high school still have the opportunity to take a high school equivalence exam, the GED.

Why is there no equivalent standard for a University equivalence certification?

This would be a low cost education pathway for people to learn at their own pace, and to focus on topic areas of vital interest to their career and livelihood. Lecture videos on the Internet and electronic books make it extremely affordable to distribute the best teaching from places like Harvard and USC, even if someone can’t afford or can’t get into such an institution.  The papers and materials generated, as part of this independent educational pathway would be reviewed by an Equivalence Standards Panel.  And, you could even join with other like-minded people in virtual learning clusters, to produce group projects etc.

Thoughts?