Where to start? 

Even with the minimal value proposition of 16 by 256, the hurdle is pretty high before the whole concept can be proven. How can we get

• 16 people with active contributions to research in diverse fields, who can take the time to start this cooperative,
• 256 students who have other options,
• potential employers of these students agreeing to treat them as equal to regular college graduates,
• parents of these students who have never seen this system work, AND
• scholarships, grants, loans etc,. which require certain criteria to treat the cooperative as a college??

Maybe these can all be found based just on wide circulation of this blog and zealous converts to the cause. Yeah, right!

Instead, I  think we need one (or a combination) of two things:

1. A way to start with less than the minimum - part-time commitments from the professors, a smaller class, lower or free tuition, a two-year program.
2. Compelling value-added, such as a specific curriculum from a stellar core group of professors who can commit to provide a meaningful number of hours on small-group interaction with a selected cohort of students.

Creating the "stellar curriculum" might start with a list of things every graduate should know, before specializing. The goal is selective curation, not a smorgasbord. A good list starts the process of forming the core group of professors. Perhaps:

1. Economics (One intro, plus either "Micro" or "Macro" advanced)
2. History (World, plus one of multiple regions)
3. Philosophy (History of, contemporary issues in )
4. Linguistics (Intro, plus multiple semesters of a foreign language)
5. Literature 
6. Mathematics (Statistics, Linear Algebra, Calculus)
7. Physics
8. Biology (Human biology, ecology)
9. Art (Appreciation, Creation of any of music, fine arts, film)
10. Design (graphic or engineering)