MOOCsAre Not Cheaper Than Conventional Courses

The Linux Foundation is offering the course "Introduction to Linux" (LFS101x) starting 3rd Quarter 2014, through edX. The course is free to "Audit", or $US250 with a Certificate of Achievement. While that may sound cheap for a course, consider that the completion rate for MOOCs is about 10%, less than one fifth that of more conventional online courses. Factoring in the student's chance of completion, MOOCs may be no cheaper than conventional on-line courses.