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"ENTERING THE AGE OF BRANDS"
The 3rd Annual Presidents’
Forum of Excelsior College, held on March 28, brought
together a strong group of experienced educational leaders
and stakeholders from the distance learning community. This
year’s forum focused on regulatory changes necessary for
distance education providers to conduct educational commerce
in a knowledge-based economy. Last year’s forum was a
catalyst for formulating a number of important
recommendations for inclusion in the reauthorization of the
Higher Education Act. And the inaugural 2004 forum focused
on innovative online teaching and learning practices.
Peter Stokes, executive vice president of Eduventures, LLC,
a Boston-based research and consulting firm, was the keynote
speaker. Other presenters were Joseph Moore, president of
SUNY Empire State College; Diana Cordova, director of the
Center for Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity, American
Council on Education; Michael Offerman, president of Capella
University; and Jay Urwitz and Edward Tobin of Wilmer,
Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Door LLP.
Stokes’s presentation was titled “Entering the Age of
Brands: Growing Online Higher Education Enrollments in a
Maturing Market.” Eduventures conducts a good deal of
research that focuses on identifying demand and how to
improve operational efficiency for distance learning
providers, and it is currently working on a project that
examines how institutions can address “the key concerns of
those who are skeptical of the online learning value
proposition.”
Stokes noted that “recent growth in online learning has been
astonishing, with fully online enrollments growing at a 35.6
percent compound annual growth rate from 2002 to 2005.
However, Stokes also predicted that “the days of astonishing
growth may be over,” and those online learning providers
with brands based on strong customer service, faculty,
curriculum, institutional reputation, and, most importantly,
proven student outcomes, will wind up in the success column
of the future.
Stokes also referred to data gathered from an Eduventures
national survey conducted last year (“Assessing Consumer
Attitudes Toward Online Education”) that drew 550 responses
from prospective postsecondary education students. The key
findings of that survey, in brief, are:
- A significant
percentage of consumers interested in pursuing a
college program have some experience with online
education.
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- Consumers are
ambivalent about the quality of online
education.
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- A majority of
consumers would consider enrolling in an online
education program, despite potential quality
concerns, suggesting that there is a large
market opportunity.
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- Blended models
have the potential to expand the online
education market and generate a high level of
consumer interest.
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- Consumers choose
online education over on-campus program in part
due to flexible scheduling and price.
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- The primary
barriers seen by consumers who would not
consider online education are preference for
face-to-face instruction and concerns about
employer acceptance of online education.
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- In assessing an
online program, consumers rate accreditation,
technological elements of the online experience,
and price as the most important in their
decision-making.
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The Eduventures survey
predicted that “consumer’s decision-making criteria are
likely to shift over time . . . as online education
competitors seek to differentiate and position themselves in
a more competitive national market where the benefits of
online programs are positioned against each other, rather
than against the traditional on-campus model.”
Plus, as brand differentiation becomes an ever-increasing
concern for providers to succeed in the years ahead, Stokes
recommended that education marketers work within the
framework of four primary tracts:
- Focus on the
human element.
- Develop a
core competency in Internet advertising and
performance benchmarks.
- Be prepared
to demonstrate your educational ROI.
- Always
question the old model.
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For more information, see:
Presidents Forum of Excelsior College
http://presidentsforum.excelsior.edu/index.shtml
Eduventures
http://www.eduventures.com/ |
