There is plenty of free access to materials and papers.
It's incredibly cheap and fast to communicate with pretty much anyone in the world.
All that is really required is motivation, discipline, and curiosity.
When there wasn't cheap access to global communication networks and near-zero cost to duplicating data then it made sense to go to university because that was where everyone who you would be interested in talking to would be. That's where the libraries and books were. I don't think that is the only option anymore. And that's a good thing.
You can learn anything you want on your own and still have all of the benefits of a college (access to knowledgeable people, peer review, etc).
There is plenty of free access to materials and papers.
It's incredibly cheap and fast to communicate with pretty much anyone in the world.
All that is really required is motivation, discipline, and curiosity.
When there wasn't cheap access to global communication networks and near-zero cost to duplicating data then it made sense to go to university because that was where everyone who you would be interested in talking to would be. That's where the libraries and books were. I don't think that is the only option anymore. And that's a good thing.
You can learn anything you want on your own and still have all of the benefits of a college (access to knowledgeable people, peer review, etc).