XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis posted on X that universities charge up to $300,000 for degrees covering skills now accessible through free large language models, framing the expense as a potential historic misallocation of individual capital and calling for an open discussion on the value of higher education.
Elon Musk#52
Hot take: Universities charge $300,000 for a degree that teaches you skills any LLM can do for free. At some point we need to have an honest conversation about whether higher education is the greatest individuals misallocation of capital in recent history.
No specific institutions, degree programs, or cost-of-attendance data are linked in the post, so the number functions as a round estimate rather than a verified average or maximum drawn from enrollment records or tuition reports.
The post does not name particular models, benchmarked competencies, or curriculum elements that free tiers currently handle at scale, leaving open how widely the substitution might apply across fields or career stages.
Many users labeled Peter Diamandis and Gary Marcus as grifters for arguing that LLMs can replace degrees or that only colleges provide essential critical thinking, while others advocated redesigning education with hands-on AI training.
Come on. No question pricing is ridiculous and extortionary. But, an LLM can't teach you the people and life skills that you gain in college. It can help with what you can learn, but it can't teach you how to learn. It can't teach you to stand up in front of a class and make a presentation, to show some semblance of responsibility and it can't hold you accountable for anything.
AI should definitely be part of every college experience. It can ampllify it in new and unique ways.
But, it won't ever hold your legs in a keg stand
Hot take: Universities charge $300,000 for a degree that teaches you skills any LLM can do for free. At some point we need to have an honest conversation about whether higher education is the greatest individuals misallocation of capital in recent history.
Hot take: Universities charge $300,000 for a degree that teaches you skills any LLM can do for free. At some point we need to have an honest conversation about whether higher education is the greatest individuals misallocation of capital in recent history.
LLMs do not teach people to think critically. Colleges do.
Hot take: Universities charge $300,000 for a degree that teaches you skills any LLM can do for free. At some point we need to have an honest conversation about whether higher education is the greatest individuals misallocation of capital in recent history.
@PeterDiamandis @elonmusk For adults, LLMs can do directed teaching WAY better than one-to-many teaching. It’s a matter of filling in gaps in understanding, and this is done far better on an individual level as one can’t explain a concept with 100% understanding without boring 80% of the students.
Hot take: Universities charge $300,000 for a degree that teaches you skills any LLM can do for free. At some point we need to have an honest conversation about whether higher education is the greatest individuals misallocation of capital in recent history.
Imagine what you could do with $300k of tokens instead... you'd learn far more and acquire higher quality custom knowledge *and* learn by building.
It's time to refactor the education stack entirely for the era of AI
Hot take: Universities charge $300,000 for a degree that teaches you skills any LLM can do for free. At some point we need to have an honest conversation about whether higher education is the greatest individuals misallocation of capital in recent history.
@PeterDiamandis Universities have lot of problems, but also:
LLMs do not teach people to think critically. Colleges do.
LLMs do not kill universities because they teach skills cheaply.
They kill the illusion that skill, credential, judgment, and status need to be bundled inside one $300k institution.
The degree was a compression layer for trust.
AI forces everyone to ask what part of that trust was real.
@PeterDiamandis We hope our tuition-free model, now licensed by the Florida Department of Education and internationally accredited by @ASIC_LTD will help change the conversation. http://degrees.saylor.org
@PeterDiamandis you overestimate people's ability and desire to learn on their own in an age of infinite distraction and entertainment
@PeterDiamandis @elonmusk Maybe.
But if there's one thing AI can't replace, it's compassion.
That's part of why the WISH mission resonates with me.
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Hotter take: Universities have curriculum put together by entire organizations of experts.
At some point we need to understand that self guided learning, while important, has it's limits and it's no substitute for a rigorous and complete education program.
If your strategy doesn't meet or exceed what that program provides then it's not good enough to supplant the universities.
@PeterDiamandis this is what @grok thinks:
@PeterDiamandis AI can not conduct psychological or even STEM research. It can help with writing - but not the research.
You need humans.
We dont have data that says stick your kids in front of computer and let them only learn from technology.
Absolute malarky.
I have actually used Google Gems to good effect on this (you could use others it’s just they’re simple to use). Our product org uses them for product cases.
It’s given a Socratic-style prompt, case facts, and criteria and then runs the virtual case very well.
It should be a drop down setting in @NotebookLM or similar. But you can definitely do it with the right prompt (it’s just that you need someone who knows the right prompt to set it up for you)
You’re not really buying “education” anymore you’re mostly buying an expensive signal that says “I can show up and follow rules.” Meanwhile the actual skills are commoditized, the admin bloat is insane, and half the departments are basically turning kids into activists with debt instead of employable adults. Sure, real STEM still has value. But the rest? It’s starting to look like luxury consumption financed by loans we all end up paying for one way or another. We’ve been gaslit into thinking this is “investment.” Nah. A lot of it’s just delayed adulthood with a fancy receipt.
Trade skills, self-taught portfolios, apprenticeships… they’re quietly eating the old model’s lunch. The bubble’s gonna pop eventually. Might as well start talking about it honestly now.
@PeterDiamandis if you are in college now definitely finish your degree, if you are 15 or younger I would just accept your fate as never having to get a real job
@GaryMarcus Colleges actually don't do this because we don't know how to teach people how to think critically.
@PeterDiamandis @elonmusk In my opinion, it's long overdue to consider why such drastic prices are charged for, say, some paid services in the Education and Health domains. These price lists are so detached from reality as to be unrealistic.
@JimDMiller I spent 26 years as a professor, plus 7 as a student (3 undergrad, 4 phd), and I have certainly, contra your note, seen it happen.
it’s not easy thing to teach, but it was my emphasis.
I have a doctoral degree and $90K in loans to prove this point.
The credential opened doors. The actual knowledge I use daily came from patients, and mentors…not professors.
There are fields where the piece of paper still matters.
But the $300K question is whether what's behind it does too.
