if employers hire people with online degrees on the same level as those with ivy league degrees then they will matter.
I don’t think that is necessary. Already we know people can get hired without having any Ivy League degree. Thus, the issue is not competing against the Ivy League resident degrees but against all resident degrees period. And all of those state school and non-Ivy League private schools will water down the value of the Ivy League in that regard.
As college prices continue to skyrocket - with no end in sight - and more and more people poke holes in the “bubble” of higher education it is simply inevitable that online degree programs will fill the gap. The next generation of college students - glued to their iPhones, hating contracts and commitments, and loving portability - will demand it. The market will respond. Money will be made. The Ivy League will do fine anyway (with foreign students, minorities, affirmative action students, and legacy students).