“UMass, with their acquisition of Brandman, is entering what is a very mature online learning landscape that looks very different from ten years prior, where it was a little bit of the Wild West,” said Michael Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute, where he writes about the future of education and online learning.

In addition to Southern New Hampshire, Horn points to other well-established players with strong track records and large enrollments. From Purdue University, which purchased Kaplan University in 2017, to the University of Arizona, which acquired Ashford University last year, several public institutions already have big online footprints.

“UMass is now entering that landscape as another of these public entities, looking to make a big splash in the online world as a state institution,” he said.