let's acknowledge that this is a completely absurd notion.
but for fun, let's say it did happen: this would be the end of harvard's good reputation, i guarantee it.
- faculty protests
- widespread shut-the-campus-down student protests, no doubt
- alumni uproar like no other
- kiss donations goodbye -- nobody ever donated a million dollars to Univ of Phoenix or General Assembly...
- research funding elibility in limbo at the very least
- research coming out of the institution would no longer be taken seriously (i sure wouldn't)
- etc
i would never send my children to a for-profit institute that, by definition, did not have interests aligned with my family's or society's, and i'm sure many others wouldn't either. it is not about reputation. i would rather they go to the tiniest po-dunk state college than attend a for-profit of any kind.