Dive Summary: 

• In a recent blog post, Mathew Yglesias of Slate outlines the importance of large, relatively low-quality university courses to the traditional college business model and reveals how Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) could upset this model. 
• Colleges use the profit generated from large courses to invest in higher quality ones that increase the institution's overall academic quality. 
• If MOOCs were offered for credit, large college courses would be of lesser value to students and colleges would struggle maintain the higher quality courses that distinguish them. 

From the article:  

The key thing you have to understand about the threat that Massive Open Online Courses pose to the business model of traditional colleges is that traditional colleges have a business model. It's a bit of a strange business model because the colleges aren't organized as businesses, but it's a business model all the same. ...