Making study materials free could potentially allow students to take multiple units from different universities. It would also make higher education much more accessible.
As far as I’m aware, most of Coursera’s courses, which are offered by instructors from many different universities and organizations, are available in “audit mode.” You don’t get the accreditation toward a degree that you would if you paid and verified your identity, but you do get to go through the whole course. So if you’re into it for the sake of the knowledge, there’s that. I’ve done a handful of courses over the last decade or so in a wide range of topics (sound design, philosophy, astrobiology, paleobiology, etc), and it’s been pretty cool.
As far as I’m aware, most of Coursera’s courses, which are offered by instructors from many different universities and organizations, are available in “audit mode.” You don’t get the accreditation toward a degree that you would if you paid and verified your identity, but you do get to go through the whole course. So if you’re into it for the sake of the knowledge, there’s that. I’ve done a handful of courses over the last decade or so in a wide range of topics (sound design, philosophy, astrobiology, paleobiology, etc), and it’s been pretty cool.