Eduventures Unveils Trends in Institutional Priorities and Expectations when Partnering with Online Program Management Providers
Boston, Massachusetts (PRWEB) May 31, 2015 -- Eduventures, Inc., the leading research and advisory firm that is focused exclusively on analyzing the forces that are transforming higher education, today announced findings from research aimed at uncovering user expectations of performance and their satisfaction with Online Program Management (OPM) providers. This work is based on survey data and extensive interviews with higher education leaders at colleges and universities across the country, and demonstrates product and service needs, institutional priorities, contracting expectations, and satisfaction ratings with OPM partners.
Online Program Management providers deliver colleges and universities an end-to-end bundle of services to fund, develop, launch, and support online education programs. Through research and advisory services, Eduventures offers guidance to institutions seeking to launch new online programs, accelerate their online growth, or expand their online footprint with an outsourced provider.
In many cases, colleges and universities look to an outsourced partner (an OPM provider) to increase enrollments and tuition revenues by developing new online programs or by tapping into a new market. Not surprisingly, according to the survey, three-quarters of current customers and another 94% of prospective buyers cited “increasing enrollments” as a key driver for developing a relationship with these companies.
When current customers were asked to rate their satisfaction with the outcomes of their current OPM partnerships, however, results didn’t always match expectations. Despite citing increased enrollments as their top goal for their OPM relationship, only 50% of current OPM customers said they were satisfied with this as an outcome. In fact, 22% of OPM customers said they were dissatisfied with their enrollment numbers. Instead, course quality, student satisfaction, and student support—all secondary drivers to increasing enrollments—had the strongest satisfaction ratings.
According to Max Woolf, Senior Analyst at Eduventures, “These findings demonstrate a clear misalignment between desired and actual OPM performance. Higher education leaders must reassess how they evaluate their OPM partnerships at the outset of the relationship. Colleges are looking to OPM providers to increase enrollments when perhaps they should instead ask them to develop high-quality online courses with high student satisfaction rates. OPM providers must also ensure that they are setting realistic enrollment targets and retention goals in order to ensure the ongoing success of their OPM partnerships.”
About Eduventures
Eduventures is the leading research and advisory firm that is focused exclusively on analyzing the forces that are transforming higher education. Building on twenty years of success in working with education leaders, Eduventures provides forward-looking and actionable research based on proprietary market data, and advisory services that support both strategic and operational decision-making. Our recommendations and personalized support enable clients to understand the top traits of leaders in critical disciplines and to evaluate the opportunities presented by new technologies. For more information about Eduventures research, practice areas, and team, visit us at http://www.eduventures.com.
Members of the media who wish to speak to the author of this research can contact Ellen Slaby, Vice President of Marketing at eslaby(at)eduventures(dot)com.
Ellen Slaby, Eduventures, Inc., http://www.eduventures.com, +1 617 532 6051, [email protected]
Share this article