The online education market is hypercompetitive and the same affiliate vendors are selling leads to dozens of schools. Check out the list of business schools at allbusinessschools.com (owned by lead vendor All Star Directories) or the list of technology programs at earnmydegree.com (owned by lead vendor World Class Strategy).
So to survive, an online institution has to define its points of differentiation. In the past I have talked about the differentiators of price (Room for a Value Play in Online Education?) and local brand equity (Traditional Schools Moving Online). Another way to differentiate in the crowded online marketplace is by offering a program unavailable elsewhere. Two great and recent examples are:
- Western Governors University is offering accredited teacher licensure BA programs. WGU is the only online teacher education institution in the nation to receive NCATE accreditation. NCATE is a specialized accrediting body for teacher preparation that accredits colleges of education that produce over two-thirds of the nation's new teacher graduates annually
- Saint Joseph's College of Maine is now offering a Master of Arts in Pastoral Theology and a Bachelor of Arts in Theological Studies.
Other opportunities include focusing on ethnic markets (e.g. Hispanic market) and partnering with a large healthcare provider to offer Nursing programs (with clinicals at the provider partner site).
Five years from now, the competitive landscape will be far more defined. Those schools that are able to differentiate themselves to potential students will thrive - while others will struggle to survive.
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