If you still aren't convinced by my posts about how higher education is broken here and here, then let's talk about the 99 Percent. Out of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement here in New York came the Tumblr "We Are the 99 Percent". The blog shows photo after photo of people holding their handwritten story, like the picture above. Ezra Klen wrote a very poignant post on WashingtonPost.com about the "99 percent" of this country who played by the system's rules and wound up in tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and still struggle to get by each day.

“I did everything I was supposed to and I have nothing to show for it.” 

I hope we are in the midst of an education revolution and the system changes soon, but I have some ideas for what you and I can do in the meantime. Education is still plays a big part in your career and fulfilling your potential. It's just that our idea of education is too narrow. We think education = schools and degrees. A new model for education has quietly been brewing under the radar the past couple of years: DIY education. Who says you need to spend half of your life paying off loans in order to get the professional development and skills you need to get ahead? There are so many resources out there that are free or cheap, effective, and level the playing field. Sure, they require some self motivation but if you're not motivated, then you have no right to complain. Here are some ideas for you to pick and choose from. Don't get overwhelmed, just get started.

FREE EDUCATION

The internet is your teacher - You're already using it everyday. Why not put those internet research skills to good use? Practice and play around with software you need to learn. Subscribe to a podcast and teach yourself Spanish. Fill in your knowledge gaps with Google searches and YouTube videos. You'd be surprised how many free tutorials are out there. (Ever found a question Google couldn't answer?) Massive amounts of information are at your fingertips. It can either give you knowledge and power, or waste half your waking hours on meaningless web browsing. The choice is yours. Need more structure? Here's a bunch of resources for free classes:

• Khan Academy is an amazing website with a library of over 2,600 educational videos on just about every subject.
• Open Courseware Consortium offers free notes, lectures, and exams from 200 institutions. Check out MIT's Opencourseware which is one of the oldest and best courseware sites out there.
• Stanford Engineering Everywhere offers some free notes and lectures. 
• Einztein finds free online courses from different sources and lets users rate them.
• Flat World Knowledge offers textbooks that are free online, affordable offline, open-licensed, and customizable.
• Codeacademy teaches you how to program.
• Layers is the "How-to Magazine for Everything Adobe" with tutorials for Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamwearver, etc.
• I'm not exactly sure how Hangout Academy will work, but if you're an early adopter, the platform launches soon and will use Google+ hangouts for education.
• For more ideas, check out The Edupunk's Guide: How to do Research Online. Be sure to read the rest of the Edupunk's Guide series, lots of good stuff in there.

I've mentioned Stanford Engineering above, but wanted to make a note that they've taken it to another level this Fall with an experiment in distributed education offering free online, interactive courses to student worldwide. Right now they have Intro to Databases, Intro to Machine Learning, and Intro to Artificial Intelligence. Let's hope Stanford, as well as other universities, expand programs like these.

Audit classes - This might be a tricky one to pull off, but definitely worth looking into if you're already a student or employee at a college, or know professors. If you're granted permission (or sneak in), informally auditing a class is awesome. You don't get credit, but you get to learn for free in a classroom setting and not have to worry about grades.

CHEAP EDUCATION

Read like a maniac - Hold off on the romance novels and latest John Grisham for now. Pick up a book on something that will teach you something, may it be high level management concepts, or a practical guide to learning a software you don't know. As much as people make fun of self-help, a personal development book and can do wonders for your productivity and career too.

Play with new technology - Ever met those old-timer computer science people who were programmers a while back and now somehow don't know how to use Outlook or Word? It's so important to keep up with technology. It's a game that will constantly change. If you don't learn how to adapt, you lose. I always try to at least play around with or familiarize myself with new software, hardware, and media. I use a PC for work and Apple at home so I know both platforms. Don't become a dinosaur.

Hit up your friends - Do you have friends with a skill you want to learn? Take advantage and ask if they can teach you at a discounted rate (I wouldn't suggest demanding it to be free). If you have no money, barter. Trade web design classes for yoga classes, for example, or offer a service like dog walking or mowing their lawn.

Lynda.com - Lynda.com isn't super cheap but if you can afford $25 a month, you'll have access to 67,000+ really high-quality software tutorials. It's $37.50 if you want the exercise files too. 

Save on your undergraduate degree - This is great for people who want an undergraduate degree. I came across this article about Straightliner--a company that offers online courses and partners up with universities that accept their transfer credits. The best part? For $99 per month, you can take as many college courses as you like for $39 per course. You'll still have to finish up at a college but imagine how much tuition money you'll be saving, plus you can complete Straightliner's courses on your own schedule.

HANDS-ON "EDUCATION"

Stop being stubborn and do some unpaid work - Gen-Y is notorious for thinking they're above everything. This isn't the time to complain that you deserve to be paid. If you can't get the work you want, get some experience in the field by offering to do unpaid work. You get to learn, you get to network, you'll have more references for your job search, and you'll have work experience for your resume. If anything, unpaid work is really cheap, effective professional development.

Volunteer - Aside from unpaid professional work, volunteering for not-for-profits is a great way to show you are active in your community and meet a lot of people. If you do it for long enough, you can even gain leadership experience you may not get in your professional life.

Freelance or be a slasher - Really can't afford unpaid work right now? Freelance or be a "slasher" (e.g. actress-slash-waitress, marketing analyst-slash-barista). Use your skills and hustle on the side. Not only can you earn more money, you also gain experience and expand your network.

Network, network, network - Forget networking events. Just get in the habit of talking to and meeting people everyday. It doesn't matter where or how. It can be on Twitter, it can be at a party, it can be at a 5K race. You can make great connections is the strangest of places. The more you expand your circle, the more you can learn from others, hear about opportunities, or be able to ask for help.

Get involved - Change your attitude and participate in life to the fullest extent that you can. You never know what may come out of doing something. Follow organizations and publications you like and interact with them. Don't lurk on websites-- comment or offer help. You'll be surprised at what you can learn from things that didn't seem to have anything to do with your professional life, and that end up helping your career. Less hesitating, more doing. That's the best education of all.

What are your favorite ways or learning without enrolling in school? Please share in the comments!