Your idea around sustaining the lectures is intriguing. The notion of distance ed (certification or degree) has recently been raised by a group on campus, and I think free and paid can be complementary. The notion of a hybrid as you propose is well worth consideration. Thanks.

There was mention of being able to subsidize the costs. A year ago I took Dr. David Attwood’s Soft Xray and Extreme UV class through Berkeley Extension. Even though I did not receive any real credit hours, I was able to ask questions and submit homeworks to be graded. I am sure there are other people that would be interested in being able to participate in such a manner. So you can watch the classes for free, but if you want to be able to submit homeworks and have them graded you would need to pay.

This may not work for all classes(especially those with labs), but it could work for some.

I will also add that being able to take Dr. Attwoods class online motivated be to go back to graduate school to work on my masters degree.