If you follow higher education, you will be interested in this article. You also need to know about Higher Ed Holdings, which is described as "a company selling distance learning support to universities." The article mentions Arkansas State University's relationship with Higher Ed Holdings. See also Inside Higher Ed for more background on Arkansas State's experience with HEH. Read the comments.

The future of higher education may include more for-profit institutions, and definitely more distance learning. We already have high-quality private schools K-12, and this trend will probably spill over into higher education. What students want today is online courses, which may be farmed out to private companies.