Chuck Welch, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and former president of the Arkansas State University System, argues that the online vs. on-campus learning debate asks the wrong question. In a recent op-ed for University Business, he makes the case that program quality and student outcomes matter more than delivery format, drawing on his experience growing A-State Online in partnership with Risepoint. An excerpt follows.
Originally published in University Business on September 29, 2026. Read the full article.
I saw first-hand the power of building online learning that worked during my time leading the Arkansas State University System, when we grew A-State Online to reach the students our traditional campus structure couldn’t fully serve: especially working adults who needed flexibility to hold a job while earning a degree, as well as first-generation students and transfer students who fell through the cracks between two and four-year institutions.
We built this with faculty first and foremost, and we also partnered with Risepoint to offer in-demand programs that deliver a high ROI. We were deliberate in leading with quality—rigorous curriculum developed by faculty, strong student support, and intentional design at every level.
[…]
Third-party partnerships can help [regional public universities] build programs that connect to real labor market demand, but only when the incentive structures are right. Too many provider contracts have been built around enrollment numbers, which means the institution absorbs the reputational risk when students don’t make it through.
The field needs to demand better: partners whose success is tied to the same outcomes we expect students to achieve—persistence, completion, and meaningful employment after graduation.
[…]
Getting it right will require action on multiple fronts—not just from institutions and their partners, but from the policy and accreditation systems that design the rules of the road.
Read the full article in University Business.
About the A-State Online partnership
Arkansas State University launched its first Risepoint-supported online program, a graduate degree in education, in 2007, making it one of the longest-running partnerships in the Risepoint portfolio. By July 2023, A-State and Risepoint offered 139 online programs together, from associate degrees to graduate certificates. The university’s accelerated online MBA grew from 65 students at its May 2022 launch to 285 a year later.
That growth has continued. In spring 2025, A-State reported a record headcount of 16,073 students, and A-State Online enrollment rose 16.2% from the year before. Those are the students Welch describes: working adults, first-generation students and transfer students who need a path to a degree that fits around a job.
