For Have-Nots, the Rockier Road to a College Degree Increases the Appeal of Alternatives - Jeff Selingo, Chronicle of Higher Ed

In public forums about the drastic changes that higher ed may undergo in the coming years, one question inevitably gets asked of those advocating market disruption: Would the alternatives to the traditional degree pathway be good enough for their own children? The answers are always nuanced, and I have never heard anyone say they’d surely send their kids to Western Governors University or choose a certificate from MITx over a degree from nearly any four-year college. The underlying concern in the question, of course, is that disruption in academe could worsen the divide between the haves and have-nots that already exists in higher ed. Traditional colleges would be reserved for the wealthy and gifted, and everyone else would navigate what is now a confusing and sometimes difficult road to a degree from various providers.