Having spent quite some time in the Industry right from a learner, to a executioner and to an Educator, what i have realized is that there is no one size fits all notion in this aspect as well. Back then , while we were stepping into analytics, there were hardly any avenues to learn in a classroom in India. Well outside India, obviously it was available as an option , but indeed , very expensive. In-fact we stepped into analytics, by accident or so by a discrete DNA of our learning. Having completed a Bachelors in Statistics, was a good parameter for any boss to hand pick you as a resource in the tech team for a data science role. Point to be made is there was no Data Science as a position then. It was mostly application based, a forecaster, analyst and so on. These days , every one calls himself a data guy, because we are all working around data in some way or the other.
 
In one instance, there was a Digital Marketing resource in my company , who used to say that he has to do lot of analytics. He was unaware that, i do this stuff of Analytics myself. So i asked him which models he has used, the answer was, none. So right from definition to explanation there is a lot of ambiguity. We would love to help you clear this.
 
As a learner, today you have so many options, lets say the one which is used widely is Google. You can define what you want to learn and then it will push so many links right from Videos on you tube , some paid websites, some free sites. Then you have a lot of websites which offer you self paced courses with defined learning path. A more engaged version would be Virtual Classroom trainings where the trainer would train you and others in the batch , although i would consider the value proposition between the self paced and virtual classroom training to be in inverse direction. Lets build the points here for comparision.
 
A self paced course would be having no time of consumption, while a virtual classroom would have a definite time of consumption, you miss it and you will have to watch the recordings. But in the end you are actually watching a video, a self pace course is pre recorded with all the assumption of question, queries and possible explations programmed , also its standardized , edited with pre and post production cuts. While a virtual class room has no standardization, every trainer does it his way. While we assume that answers would be given at real time, it doesnt happen as in a batch there are quite a number of students. Offline chat based query resolution is same for both the versions of delivery. 
 
Then the question arises that why do we pay 10x to around 100x price for similar course. I would say , dont go for the Virtaul classroom , rather stick to the self paced. The cost of getting in and out of the course is low. 
 
If its a classroom, then its a good investment. But be careful , dont jump into it without understanding that is it the best course for you. We dont buy a 750 Cc bike without learning on a 110 Cc bike. Point is dont jump on an actual plane without using the simulator. Self paced courses , are in this case a simulator. They tell you whether you can cope with the complexities and gives you confidence before onboarding.
 
I get a lot of students who know the skills , but still want to go to US or Canada or UK to do a Masters , well if learning is our search , we have already got that, then why camouflage that with an opportunity to a better market using a university call as a Visa inviatation. Its like buying Insurance as an Investment. When we evalaute a Insurance product, it should be more for Risk Coverage rather than Tax saving or Investments. Priorities should be very clear.
 
Sometime getting a relevant job and adding 2 years of experience in the same time period as a Masters , would take you a long way. Experience is more expensive than Degrees. 
 
  
Now , while i have a lot to talk, time is a constrain as well as the thought that , are people really looking for answers to these questions. So if you want more guidance. Do click on our business whatsapp on the bottom left corner of the web page. We will love to clear your doubts.
 
Happy Learning....
Yours Truly 
Mohan Rai