[codeonfire]

Institutions are beholden to political pressures. While idealistically their goal is to provide the most raw education, failure makes them look bad. They don't operate in a vacuum. Just like the rest of society, they are influenced by good people that want the most education for the most people and by complete shitbags that want to take the resources they consume. Institutions, unfortunately, have to provide education in a way that is defensible from criticism. The mere perception of failure is an avenue for attack even though everyone knows that most MOOC students will be casual and not fully committed.