Robert Ubell, vice dean emeritus of online learning at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, and author of the collection, Going Online: Perspectives on Digital Learning, writes:  In the wake of a recent series of small-college closings, the takeaway for small private colleges is that their days may be numbered. Since these schools are largely dependent on student tuition in a time when demographic changes mean fewer available high school graduates, they might as well be on an endangered-species list. To staunch the bleeding, many small colleges have cut things to the bone or, alternatively, invested in country-club style improvements to appeal to students and their families—strategies that may have saved some. But this may only delay the impact of relentless market forces.