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"On Tuesday, Virginia is joining a group of 12 institutions that plan to open their courses to the world, free of charge, through an online platform created by the start-up company Coursera."

"Now that Stanford, MIT and other brands that "no one's going to question" have ventured into the online territories, one could propose that "the traditional brand pecking order" will "reassert itself online," says Garrett. Especially since the most desirable brands are offering their product for free."

"Private companies, like Phoenix, have been offering online degrees for a fee for years. And schools like M.I.T. and Stanford have been offering lectures for free online. Coursera is the next step: building an interactive platform that will allow the best schools in the world to not only offer a wide range of free course lectures online, but also a system of testing, grading, student-to-student help and awarding certificates of completion of a course for under $100. (Sounds like a good deal. Tuition at the real-life Stanford is over $40,000 a year.) Coursera is starting with 40 courses online - from computing to the humanities - offered by professors from Stanford, Princeton, Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania. "