This article discusses the new for-profit venture established by Middlebury College which sparked various reactions from alumni and from people outside the college. Middlebury College has been around since 1800, and it has been long a leader in foreign-language education. In April 2010, it has entered a partnership with K12, the largest provider of online educational products for pre-college students, in order to create a new for-profit company, Middlebury Interactive Languages (MIL). This new company is explicitly designed to build on Middlebury's position as a highly respected leader in language teaching among U.S. colleges and universities. MIL will develop online language courses for pre-college students and also manage an expansion of their successful Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA). The announcement about MIL received a great deal of attention in the media. Some thought Middlebury was putting its reputation at risk, but others inside and outside higher education called it innovative and far-sighted. MMLA officers said they are optimistic that MIL will, overtime, lead to new revenue for the college. However, they are not pursuing this venture simply for the financial benefits, and their recently revised financial model--which through a combination of cost reductions and other revenue enhancements includes balanced budgets through fiscal 2015--does not include any expected income from this initiative.