The article hardly even mentions a very real risk to Ivy league Universities - that they will be challenged from below by Khan, Coursera, and Udacity and the like. Ivy-covered buildings and in-person lectures cost a lot to keep going. As the article states, Universities are typically in debt and student fees are rising.
"Disruption" is an overused buzzword but it may apply in this case. Universities trade of the fact that their expensive product is important and exclusive. What happens when it isn't exclusive or expensive any more?
The Ivies are actually selling exclusivity by attendance along with acting a filter for employers: only the absolute top students have any chance of being admitted and physically attending.
The quality of education obtained at the Ivies is not part of that.
An interesting question to consider is whether admissions to Ivies followed by independent, autodidact study can work around the actual attendance. "Here is my online coursework portfolio, research, and my admission acceptance letters to Yale and MIT . . . "
Disruption happens from the low end up. MP3 players supplemented but didn't challenge CDs because they didn't have the same sound quality ... until they did challenge CDs, and now CD sales are in steep decline. It turns out that people valued having 10 000 tunes in their pocket more than the audio quality, and the audiophiles could use FLAC or high-bitrate MP3.
There's nothing stopping the online-U's from eventually working on reproducing or circumventing the Ivies' specific advantages.
Another outcome to look out for would be for cash-strapped Ivies to be hollowed out. i.e. become a cluster of buildings where students log on and do work online in exchange for an attendance certificate. That would preserve the quality of education and the social advantages of the university, while costing less. It would work, at least for a while until the next generation sees through the archaic model.
"Disruption" is an overused buzzword but it may apply in this case. Universities trade of the fact that their expensive product is important and exclusive. What happens when it isn't exclusive or expensive any more?