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Diving certificate:
- About two-thirds of colleges place a high priority on creating virtual versions of in-person courses and programs, according to an annual survey of online learning leaders..
- According to the report, university officials likely find it easier to create online versions of existing programs than to introduce entirely new academic programs.
- However, 48% of online learning leaders said that launching new online programs without a campus equivalent was one of their priorities.
Diving insight:
The ninth report “Changing Landscape of Online Education” — by Eduventures Research, Quality Matters and Educause – provides insight into how universities approach online education.
“While institutions have different approaches and priorities in their online strategies, there appears to be general agreement on the driving forces behind the expansion of online offerings and related marketing efforts.: Recruiting new students and meeting the needs of existing students”, wrote the report’s authors.
According to the survey, 69% of respondents said that providing online versions of face-to-face classes was a priority.
A slightly smaller proportion, 65%, said the same about the introduction of virtual versions of full on-campus courses.
This finding suggests that adopting online programs may be an increasing priority. In last year’s CHLOE survey, 42% of online learning leaders said they were focused on creating virtual versions of popular in-person programs.
The vast majority of respondents (92%) said that online offerings enable them to recruit students within their university’s region, while 87% said that they use them to reach students outside their traditional borders.
Nearly half of respondents (46%) said that online enrollment at their universities is growing faster than in-person programs.
The survey asked respondents to predict their top three online student markets for the future. More than three-quarters of respondents (78%) said they are adult students pursuing a college degree.
Adult students are generally defined as people ages 25 and older. Colleges have stepped up efforts to recruit this demographic to prepare for the demographic crash—a sharp decline in the number of high school graduates expected to graduate around 2025 due to lower birth rates during the Great Recession.
Another focus is on graduates who are completing a degree program. More than half of those surveyed (53%) – including universities that do not currently offer graduate programs – consider this group to be an important future market. Only 23% of respondents said the same about traditional-age students interested in purely online degree programs.
The survey was conducted in January and February and included responses from 324 institutions.
The report also provides insights into online program management companies (OPMs).
These companies help colleges launch and run online programs, often in exchange for a share of tuition fees. But critics of the sector say these deals force OPMs to aggressively recruit students and drive up the price of online education.
Attention to OPMs has increased after 2U – one of the best-known companies in the industry – Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.
2U has stated that it does not expect the Chapter 11 proceedings to affect its services to colleges and their programs, but student representatives are Pushing for political action to protect students in case an OPM collapses completely.
In the new survey, 68 senior online learning leaders answered questions about their relationship with OPMs.
About 15% of respondents said they currently work with one OPM, while 9% said they work with at least two OPMs. More than half of respondents (52%) said they have never worked with any of these companies and do not plan to do so. Another 15% said they have worked with one or more OPMs before and would not consider working with them again.
