They Play by the Rules, Higher Education Wins

in Education by Richie Vega — June 9, 2011 at 4:32 pm | 0 comments

Online School Competition

A little friendly competition never hurt anyone. It adds spice to the dull meat of daily existence. Why should it be any different for schools? Online education has exploded over the last decade, and while there are many legitimate concerns over the quality of some programs, electronic educational innovation is adding an array of exciting new opportunities to meet an increased demand for higher learning.

There is considerable clientele ready to visit the online educational marketplace, many of whom find traditional community colleges and universities a poor fit for their needs. What happens when these institutions compete for new customers?

Good vs. Bad

The sheer number of online offerings (almost 30% of college students take at least one course online) means that both shoddy and quality institutions lurk side by side. But recent press critical of for-profit schools has attracted attention to quality, and it should make it easier for prospective students to identify which schools are poor investments.

Likewise, top schools have an opportunity to tout their own success. Boasting is one thing, but an increased spotlight on statistics allows quality institutions to back up the big words. Compilations of ratings like the one at Online Educational Database use a variety of metrics that help students separate the good from the garbage.

Answering the Quality Question

Many online schools are responding to quality concerns in innovative ways. US News highlights how in some schools, professors are required to respond to students within a given time frame, and some even have third parties contacting students to deal with concerns and complaints. Schools that fail to offer these benefits are clearly at a disadvantage when competing against schools that do. Couple these actions with the federal government’s regulations requiring for-profit schools to publicize rates of retention and loan default, and prospective students are even better equipped to make a quality-conscious decision.

“You Can See Price Competition Coming”

So says Clayton Christenson of Harvard Business School. As it gets easier to determine the quality of online schools, students can take advantage of the falling prices. Newer institutions offer prices significantly lower than long-standing online institutions, and while the track-record isn’t there for the newcomers, their entry into the education market portends falling prices overall. Free online schools like University of the People and Peer 2 Peer s offer courses for free, but gain credibility via a crew of volunteer professors. These cheaper offerings might not meet the needs of all, or even most students; nevertheless, as the more successful ones gain credibility, students can look for cheaper prices to result from the competition.

“Disruptive Innovation”

A disruptive environment is usually a negative in educational settings, but Louis Soares, at the Center for American Progress sees online education as healthy “disrupting” force in higher education. He points to the proliferation of high and low quality online schools as part a necessary part of progress driven by “for-profit energy.” He also warns, however, that for-profit schools need to be open with respect to program completion and loan default rates if online education is to continue to gain respect with employers and traditional educational institutions.

Quality Is Contagious

Online schools are even shaking up community colleges and universities, with more respected schools adopting online components into courses of study. A National Center for Postsecondary Improvement report sees quality for-profit schools as modeling an emphasis on customer service, employment support, and degree completion. These exemplars, they argue, hold the potential to inform how community colleges address the needs of their students.

Competition might not be so a bad. While the stellar and the subpar might grow side by side, experts see prices dropping and innovative practices permeating the higher educational landscape. As long as students have open access to information about online and for-profit schools, a little friendly competition may help everyone.

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Tags: competition higher education online schools