Online Curriculum Trends Among For-Profit Postsecondary Institutions

Inquiry Overview

A leading custom curricula developer was interested in conducting exploratory research on the types of online curricula being developed among for-profit institutions, and what will likely be developed within the next one to two years given demographic and socio-economic trends.

Key Questions

• What general demographic and socio-economic trends affect postsecondary online education and/or online curricula?


• What is the breakdown of total online students and student growth targets by general degree category in general and in for-profit institutions in particular?


• What is the breakdown of online programs offered among institutions surveyed?


• What is the program distribution among institutions surveyed by general program area?


• What online programs in general and at for-profit institutions had the highest student enrollment in 2005-2006?


• What online programs in general and at for-profit institutions are perceived as best performers going forward?


• What type of outsourcing is used by institutions in their online programming?


• What are the expected changes in spending and outsourcing in the coming year?


• What were the development costs, processes, and timelines for current online programs at for-profit institutions?


• How do for-profit institutions measure the success of their online program?

Methodology

For this custom inquiry, Eduventures conducted secondary research to collect information on various demographic and socio-economic trends that may affect online curricula development and enrollment. Eduventures also analyzed available in-house data to examine online education trends among for-profit versus all institutions. Finally, Eduventures conducted interviews with online curricula developers at eight for-profit institutions regarding their product development processes for online programs.