Successes and failures: retreating from DL

In the success has a thousand fathers; failure is a orphan department, DL programs come into being with much fan fare but their retreat is often a quiet administrative decision.
The more public one (on this board at least) is the Open U of the US. I have noticed also TechBC, Leeds Metropolitan, and some of the offerings of Sheffield Hallam.

Anyone else have examples?

 

Columbia recently pulled the plug on its DL efforts, having spent millions of dollars and delivered zero degree programs (and few classes at all).

Not very many DL-only schools that have become RA have gone out of business, and only a few candidates for RA have failed to get it. Prometheus College went out of business as an RA candidate around 1980. International Graduate School did the same in 1987. Beacon College was fully RA when it collapsed in the late 1980's. As far as I know, all three (along with USOU) were not-for-profit. Wonder what happened to their students?

I'm trying to think of any DL RA for-profit schools that have gone out of business, but I can't come up with any. Probably selective/defective memory on my part.

Rich Douglas

 

Two to watch are Michigan Virtual University and Western Governors. Both were conceived of with great fanfare. Neither has lived up to the hype, IMHO.

Regards - Andy

 

California Virtual, part of the Cal State system, is basically a dumbed down portal instead of a separate on-line campus.

 

Is this really correct? Fathom still exists (though its focus has been modified). And Columbia's other DL program (CVN, on the tech side) has been going since 1986, and seems stronger than ever.