21 Low-Cost Online Master's Degrees from Coursera and edX

We may be on the cusp of a postsecondary revolution in master's level credentialing for professional programs. 

It is a revolution, however, that few seem to be taking note.

Both edX and Coursera are partnering with top institutions to offer high-quality/low-cost graduate programs.  These online programs, as they evolve in quality and reach and employer acceptance, have the potential to shift the marketplace for master's degrees. 

To get a handle on the development of low-cost online master's degrees, I spent some time on the edX and Coursera websites. 

The table below provides my estimate of the costs (out of state) and the length of online master's programs.

The winners will be students, families, companies, and the broader economy.  The creation of a new category of online master's programs will create winners and losers. 

A master's degree is now a required credential for individual career mobility and resiliency.  The availability of low-cost online master's programs from universities with national/international brands will prove hugely attractive to adult working professionals. 

I also expect that these online low-cost master’s degrees will further consolidate the brand reputations of the institutions that run these programs. 

The losers are likely to be colleges and universities that depend on master's programs to compensate for losses in undergraduate programs. (Due to the need to increase tuition discounting in response to demographic, cost, competitive, and other funding pressures). 

Are low-cost/high-quality online master's degrees (if they really are high quality) yet another threat to the financial resiliency of  (master's) tuition-dependent institutions?

If so, what responsibility do the Coursera's and edX's of the world (if any) to non-elite institutions - one's that are unable to develop and market these programs?

My understanding is that edX and Coursera, and their partner institutions, can drive down the student costs by creating programs that scale.  Instructional costs are covered by spreading those expenses over a larger number of students. 

I am exceedingly curious about the quality of these low-cost online master's degree programs. 

My hypothesis is that they follow an 80/20 rule, of delivering 80 percent of the quality of a brand-name residential master's degree, at 20 percent of the cost.   But that is just a guess.

Do you have information on the quality of these programs that you can share?

If I'm right about my 80/20 guess, do you see as much trouble for standard full-cost master's degree programs as I do?

How will Coursera and edX impact the OPM market, with their ability to offer students lower price points with an alternative model of master’s level credentialing?

How come we are not talking more about the evolution of the low-cost master's degree?