As I have written here and elsewhere, the commodification of higher education (i.e. the creation of an academic marketplace) represents the end of education as we have known it. It is not coincidental that this process occurs in tandem with the development of new media. This does not mean that new media is anti-educational or anti-intellectual, but rather that it alters our notions of thought and information to such an extent as to make schools impractical. Obviously part of this transformation has been the commodification of information as part of the information economy. Colleges are now a segement of the information service industry.
What has been lost/is being lost in this transformation is not all to be lamented.