The language of crisis is nothing new in higher education-for years critics have raised alarms abaout raising tuition, compromised access, out of control costs, and a host of other issues. Yet, though those issues are still part of the current crisis, it is not the same as past ones, for the first time, distruptive technologies are at work in higher education. For most of their histories, tradition universities and colleges have had no serious competition except from institutions with similar operating models. Now, though, these are distruptive competitors offering online degrees. Many of these institutons operate as for profit entities, emphasizing marketable degrees for working adult. Traditional college and universities have valuable qualites and capacities that can offset those distruptors’ advantages- bt not for anyone who aspires to higher education, and not without real innovation. How can institution of higher education think constructively and creatively about their response to impeding distruption?