I have this idea? A Self-Guided Master?s Degree. At its most fundamental core, A SGMD (self guided Master?s Degree) is a complete change of the legacy Higher Education Paradigm. It is changed from a paradigm of winning, to a paradigm of maximizing your potential. The entrance criteria, the goal, and the completion of a SGMD is maximizing one?s own potential without comparison to an other?s accomplishments. It would be just like the self-guided program on the Bachelor?s level at Evergreen but on the next level up. It would require certain things to be accomplished that would qualify it for Master?s work, but would be different in certain ways from a traditional Master?s Program. At the core of this idea is Trust. Trust in people to do well if they are allowed the freedom, support and positive affirmation to do so. I believe that this particular implementation of a higher educational goal is not about money, prestige, power, or domination; it is about achieving your own personal fulfillment and becoming someone better able to do no harm to others and have a part in reducing suffering in the world. Becoming someone with more skills in solving problems with a better ability to see the world than one had before embarking on this particular journey. I believe people have an innate desire to learn and improve. Also at this idea?s core is inclusion, not exclusion, or not even inclusion based on competition. It is already hard enough to become a Master, to do the work of this quality and caliber, without having to overcome an unnecessary resistance within an educational hermeneutic that puts value in proving trustworthiness or potential by only allowing a small predetermined number of people into a program. The real attraction to higher learning is not the higher, it is the learning. No matter what level the learning is on, the idea that one can keep going, that the adventure is not over, that the quest continues just around the next corner, that?s what makes learning, and yes, life wonderful. It is our gift in being alive that we can explore and discover and in the process grow, mature, and gain abilities and skills and become capable of contributing more; of being significantly helpful to others. This should be available to everyone as far as anyone wants to go. Giving through becoming a more educated person is meant to be open ended. We can take the first, fundamental step in helping the world and individuals by making this educational opportunity as easily available as possible and making it as supported and affirmative as possible. Let?s create, support and develop an inexpensive self-guided Master?s degree available at Evergreen. It would not require a certain completion time. The progress rate and amount of work, just as in a true self-guided program would be up to the student. The student would be trusted to have the desire and drive to do the work. The motivation would reside entirely in the student, not in the teacher or the program or any other student, teacher or administrator in the program. Once a pre-determined amount of work was accomplished, then the student would receive the credits for that work. It would not have an overall time limit in years. People have their own built in desire to complete a goal, especially one that is genuinely born within the heart and mind of an individual. This type of inception tends to carry its own desire and excitement and to only increase over time. I would not have a core program that was required. But it would require a certain minimum number of skills demonstrated to be on the Master?s level. The depth of pursuit would be more profound than that of a Bachelor?s program. There would be a certain feel for the hours of time invested into study and output. Although the student would be free to work as slow or fast as they desired, a certain achievement would be