In light of shortfalls and budget constraints, higher education institutes throughout the country are making difficult choices. Furloughs, hiring freezes, higher tuition rates and bigger class sizes reflect just some of the ways they are trying to cope with the effects of the recession and a stagnant economy. It also doesn’t help that a large number of college and university presidents are retiring. Now, more than ever, higher education needs leaders.

For-profit institutions, especially, should be careful with the cards they play in this environment. Yet one surefire bet seems to be online learning. The number of students taking online courses has grown substantially over the last five years. For military students, learning from a distance in a virtual classroom is particularly appealing because of flexibility and scheduling. Of course, nowadays, cost is also important.

StraighterLine, an online education company based in Alexandria, Va., only charges students $39 per course in addition to a fixed monthly fee. Could this be a new model for the higher-education industry? Burck Smith, the company’s founder, seems to think so. One student who took a course from StraighterLine claims to have paid only $100 for four credits.

“Some scholars think Smith and his business model could seed a movement that reorders the higher education industry, with students shopping online for individual courses rather than enrolling in one bricks-and-mortar school for four years. Tuition would decrease as technology lowers the cost,” wrote Daniel de Vise last month in the The Washington Post.

Given the need for more cost-effective and accessible systems of learning, could this lead to a paradigm shift in higher-learning? And is it really a win-win for both school and student? “Education is no longer a monopoly of larger schools that are going to cost a lot of money,” pointed out Robert Levine, a StraighterLine student.

But what happens to the quality of learning if the cost of it drops dramatically?

I welcome your thoughts.