News & Insights

Perspectives on Higher Education

Analysis, commentary, and insights from the Lighthouse Education Consortium team on the forces reshaping colleges and universities today.

Articles

When Syracuse Stumbles: What the Business Model Crisis Means for Every Institution

Article

EnrollmentJul 2, 2026

When Syracuse Stumbles: What the Business Model Crisis Means for Every Institution

When Syracuse, a well-resourced national brand, misses enrollment targets and posts its first deficit in years, it's a signal that volatility has moved well beyond the tuition-dependent small colleges everyone expected to feel it first.

Lighthouse Education ConsortiumRead Article

Online Learning's Moment: Why Demand Outpaces Institutional Readiness

Article

Online LearningAug 27, 2025

Online Learning's Moment: Why Demand Outpaces Institutional Readiness

Nearly nine in ten colleges plan to expand online programs, but most chief online learning officers admit their institutions are structurally unprepared for that growth.

Lighthouse Education ConsortiumRead Article

Insights

What Presidents Should Be Asking About Online Growth

Insight

Online StrategyAug 19, 2026

What Presidents Should Be Asking About Online Growth

Few issues occupy the attention of college presidents today more than enrollment. Yet one of the most common mistakes leadership teams make is treating online expansion as a technology project or an enrollment initiative rather than a strategic institutional decision.

Roger OttRead Insight

Beyond Tuition Dependency: Rethinking Institutional Sustainability

Insight

Financial SustainabilityJul 15, 2026

Beyond Tuition Dependency: Rethinking Institutional Sustainability

For many colleges and universities, the greatest challenge over the next decade will not simply be declining enrollment. The deeper challenge will be whether institutions can adapt their academic and operational models quickly enough to preserve institutional mission, maintain academic quality, and remain financially sustainable.

Josh WilliamsRead Insight

Beyond the Traditional OPM Model: Rethinking Online Growth for Institutional Resilience

Insight

Online LearningJun 2, 2026

Beyond the Traditional OPM Model: Rethinking Online Growth for Institutional Resilience

Online Program Managers helped many colleges launch online degrees, but are traditional OPM contracts still sustainable? Explore the pros, cons, and alternatives as institutions reassess long-term revenue-sharing arrangements.

Roger OttRead Insight

Why Christian Colleges Are Closing and What Academic Leaders Can Do About It

Insight

Faith-Based InstitutionsJun 12, 2026

Why Christian Colleges Are Closing and What Academic Leaders Can Do About It

Christian colleges are not closing because there are too many of them. They are closing because many are still running an operating model built for demographic, economic, and technological conditions that no longer exist.

Roger OttRead Insight

Beyond Competition: How Shared Courses and Services Are Reshaping Higher Education

Insight

CollaborationMay 31, 2026

Beyond Competition: How Shared Courses and Services Are Reshaping Higher Education

Financial pressure, demographic decline, and growing student expectations are forcing institutions to reconsider whether every college must independently build and maintain every academic and operational function.

Janice P. Tucker, Ph.D.Read Insight

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