How the internet disrupts prestige

the internet messes with the higher education business model

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-web-will-disrupt-higher-educations-most-valuable-asset-prestige/2016/02/05/6bddc1ee-c91e-11e5-a7b2-5a2f824b02c9_story.html

 

I like how they mentioned for-profits and then named dropped Southern New Hampshire University like its a for-profit.....clearly the lack of accurate info on the internet does mess with the higher edu business model....LOL

 

If exclusivity is the only reason they are prestigious, then they deserve to lose out.

 

Established universities have "prestige" because of reputations that precede the concept of "branding." But that doesn't mean they haven't been building institutional brands since their foundations.

The Ivys are generally regarded as having an unassailable reputation. They are elite. And if you look at what's happening on the campus of say, Harvard, compared to the University of Scranton, it's like night and day.

I'm not talking about fraternities and social activities. I'm talking about research. Small research schools sometimes have a fully respectable research program in place. But that can still be many miles away from the sort of cutting edge research coming out of the elite schools.

Take cutting edge research, a 100+ year reputation and an alumni network that has developed over the same time period (including the whole "angle" of the legacy family) and you have a pretty solid brand.

I know people who are pleased with their UPhoenix degrees. Yet, I cannot imagine any of them would push their kids to follow in their footsteps. So you're unlikely to ever see a third generation Phoenix legacy in the future.

There's also a huge difference between a full-time residential program and an online program. I had roommates at Scranton. I went to social events. I have fond memories of eating quesadillas with my stat professor, studying at a certain coffee shop just off campus, cramming for a math exam in this one particular part of the library etc.

I think part of the problem is that people confuse some of those social aspects with educational quality. When someone asks me to think about a moment from "College" I automatically go back to those scenes from Scranton. At CTU, I learned a lot. The academic rigor was comparable. But I was studying in my barracks room. I don't have nearly as many "college days" types of memories with CTU because my experience with them was purely learning.

And that's really where some interesting things are likely to happen going forward. Earning a degree from Penn State World Campus is not the same as earning a degree as a full time student at Penn State main campus. Earning the online MBA from the University of Scranton is not the same as sitting in the lecture halls of the Kania School of Management and grabbing sushi just around the corner. But as traditional schools enter the online space, people are going to feel different connections to their schools and, in time, that may change how people think of their "college days."

Good? Bad? I guess we'll see.