Today I continue my feature on universities, crediting them as a key part of the United States’ economic future. But that future will likely look different from the present.

As we are seeing the price of information plummeting for news organizations, information from universities is seeing a similar albeit slower disruption to their century’s old business model.

Higher education costs have skyrocketed over the past few decades, jumping almost 10-fold since 1978, far more than the 3-fold increase in cost of living and the 6-fold increase in the cost of healthcare. What’s more surprising in recent years is technology is pushing the cost of providing education down while the costs of receive the education continue to skyrocket.

The Washington Post published a analysis of the business model turmoil in store for universities. Online universities still possess a stigma of being inferior to brick-and-mortar colleges, but as more and more students attend, that stigma will decrease (see online dating or online retail).

Thus far online courses have remained as expensive as their terrestrial counterparts, sometimes more expensive with additional “technology fees” added on even though these classes cost a tiny amount to offer. But a new company profiled by the article called StraigherLine aims to toss the higher education model for a whirl.  The company offers all-you-can-study for $99. If you can take four classes in two months like a woman did, it will only cost you $200 compared to thousands upon thousands for the same education at a regular university.

This is not good or bad – it is basic economics. Just like the newspaper or music industry, technology is making it cheaper and easier to spread and share information. Professors and experts are offering open source, free, or cheap textbooks online in addition to blogs and interactive teaching materials that work in and outside of the classroom. Collaboration tools allow students and teachers to be fully engaged even without being in the same room or even state, saving money and time.

Universities (and certainly textbook publishers) have been timid to adapt amid growing demand for cheaper education. While several universities offer free online courses, these are not for actual credit. Other universities that offer online courses in addition to their regular offerings do so with similar or more expensive pricing (the technology fee). But these classes cost the university less and can lead to more, not less, efficiency. There is no limit to the student space and professors have more time to respond to student’s questions, allowing for more students and more questions. These online courses can easily handle introductory classes or  even small writing seminars (just email other students your essays) and in-person classes can focus on more complex, discussion or debate heavy classes (as wonderful as Twitter and Skype are, a rousing round table is still best in person).

Top universities offer something more than knowledge. Much of their value comes from reputation and the quality of their student body, a key scarce good that allows them to now and for a long time charge a premium for their service.  State and middle-tier schools face the most threat as competition from online universities convince more and more students (and employers) that their education is as good but significantly less costly. And as society requires more and more students to complete higher education degrees, the need for affordable education will become more in demand – and more affordable because of the greater supply.

I’m starting graduate school and the horror of textbook prices are draining valuable video game money (and playtime). Several stories have commented on the digital future of textbooks which looks bleak.  Publishers have a loyal clientele in students who must buy overpriced books to keep up in class. Universities and professors are complacent, keeping this archaic system going instead of looking for alternatives.

Wired Campus writes about surveyed students demands for digital textbooks, from costing less than the printed versions and allowing them to be printed.  Many digital textbooks cost the same as their print versions, but limit what you can print and expire after 180 days (with no resale value like the book).

The problem is textbook publishers have little incentive to innovate.  Students spend the money, but only universities and professors can sway what books get assigned (and thus sold).  As long as universities keep assigning expensive textbooks, publishers will continue to gouge students without consequence.

Piracy is starting to nip at the textbook market, but students, like me, who like printed versions find piracy a last resort. Pirate Bay and Textbook Torrents offer surprisingly large supplies of required texts that have only recently caught the eye of publishers.  Instead of recognizing an opportunity, textbook publishers are pushing digital supplements to their textbooks, requiring expensive subscriptions to supplement “losses” to piracy.

Textbooks could thrive in the digital space. Some writers and professors are experimenting with free, open-source e-textbooks to letting students write their own textbook on Wikibooks.  To encourage publishers to conduct their own experiments, professors and universities must unite to represent their students. Students can’t do anything (except file-share) as long as professors assign expensive textbooks.  Schools should screen books for pricing and reward publishers that sell books at fair prices.

Congress has passed the Higher Education Act with special provisions requiring universities to push the content industry’s agenda on its students.  In order to get funding for students, universities will have to advertise commercial downloading services to students and educate them on a one-sided view of file-sharing and piracy.

The controversial provisions were added partly on the basis of the MPAA’s admittedly flawed research that claimed 44 percent of piracy occurred on college campuses - the number the MPAA later admitted was 15 percent.

So why are universities suddenly mouthpieces for a specific industry?  Even with flawed research, what makes universities responsible for the content industry’s obsolete business models.  The fact that these companies can’t track all the file-sharing makes me wonder how universities are expected to do better? Some artists want their content shared, others don’t, so leaving filtering up to a third parties will lead to overzealous blocking and can also affect educational uses for file-sharing tools.

Universities and consumer groups were able to block this bill last year when the MPAA included requiring filtering technology in its wishlist. William Patry points out that the content industry likely postponed filtering technology - doing it all at once caused too much backlash.

What concerns me is the silence among academic, from administrations and students.  College campus are the front line in the content industry’s Save Our Obsolete Business Model campaign simply because it’s easy to pick on students. There’s a reason the RIAA avoids suing students at Harvard.  Unfortunately, most universities are letting a lone industry and the government turn places of education into propaganda mouthpieces with a rare few standing up for their student’s rights.  Regardless of your position on file-sharing, universities should not be responsible for doing what the content industry already can’t do itself.

And universities need to stand up for themselves and student’s rights. What better way to educate than to lead by example.

Grand Theft Auto has become the poster child for everything wrong with video games. From glamorizing criminal activities to shooting cops to abusing women and engaging in every kind of illegal activity, GTA does seem pretty bad. But as the book Everything Bad Is Good for You points out, there are many benefits missed when you judge a game by its box. I’m not making a judgment about whether 4-year-olds should play GTA (maybe a really really mature one), but I think parents and even adult gamers should look at what GTA really offers.

7. Fantasy is good

Imagination is healthy and rewarding. Video games help bring that fantasy to life. Sure it’s a morbid twist on good ol’ cops and robbers, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. GTA is a chance to pretend to be something most of us could never be. The key is to…

6. Learn right from wrong

And hopefully parents, or adults, can us GTA as an example in right and wrong. Specifically, anything you do in GTA is wrong. Easy to understand, right. So go crazy, enjoy yourself, but remember, don’t try this at home…without a game controller.

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Picking the right college affects everything. It decides whether you get a good job, good money, get married, and now, whether you’ll beat BioShock before the summer.

The Global Gaming League ranked the top 10 best colleges for video gaming. They ranked schools based on student population, techiness, and the quality of internet connections. Surprisingly, no Ivy Leagues made it in to the top 10 which I can only blame on prejudice against rich, white kids.

Ironically, Digipen Institute of Technology, with one of the best video game programs in the country, was number five. Other schools like UCLA (#4) and University of Southern California (#6) are also very well regarded academic schools. So I say this is proof video games is good for education. Yes, is. (For the full list, check after the jump).

Compared to further research by Anderson Analytics and Pew Research, half of students surveyed admit gaming cuts into their studying. Only nine percent use games to avoid schoolwork, and 83 percent play less than six hours a week. Not surprisingly, male students played for fun while female students played cause of boredom.

For now, I doubt schools will be advertising their attractiveness to gamers. But I wonder if, much like party schools, students will care about which schools care about its student’s tech geekiness. Just always remember. Independent studies are your best friend. Study the history of Grand Theft Auto. Your homework: beat Grand Theft Auto III over the weekend. Complete 100 taxi missions and get extra credit.

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Okay, so I wasn’t going to write about Halo (again), but this was too hilarious to ignore: geeks pranking geeks. Students from MIT upgraded the statue of John P. Harvard at Harvard Yard with a Master Chief helmet and assault rifle. I can’t wait for the spin-off.