https://www.bloomberg.com/news...ain-financial-future

With a quote from someone familiar.

There were going to be a lot of closures in the next 5-10 years even without the corona virus, this is going to make it happen a lot more quickly.

The genie is out of the bottle. Once people realize that learning can happen (in certain fields) online, it’ll be hard to go back. And the funders (aka parents) may not want to pay for the social experience.

A tiny bit of thread drift....

I ran into someone when I was out walking yesterday and they said they knew of some kids whose school had been doing online learning one day a week even before the coronavirus showed up.

Not sure what level the school was or whether it is private or public. I am pretty sure it was what we used to call "grade school", namely primary/middle/junior high level, as opposed to high school. Definitely not college.

That school clearly had a leg up when it came to five day a week online.

Online learning has its place, but it also has significant drawbacks. It is not the panacea that many think it will be.

Two quick issues of the top of my head:
1) Not all courses are suitable for online, even "entry level" courses

2) Not all students will do well in an online course for a variety of reasons

And to Jodi's point, yes--many smaller colleges (and some big ones) were due for a financial reckoning in the next 5-10 years. This is just accelerating things.

I fear a perfect storm of people who think that online learning can replace all education, and those who also want to cut funding for education. I worry that the era of US domination in higher education is going to end quickly as other countries, with different philosophies and well-funded national education will quickly take over. There is no group more poachable, and more willing to relocate, than the higher end of America's education and research universities. The brain drain has already started.

But what about sports programs and "the greek system"?