Markets/Marketing

Distance learning is becoming increasingly market driven. In its early years, distance learning was conceived as a means to reach learners who had little access to education; public institutions served those needs through distributed programs. During the 1990s, private and for-profit institutions, and even many public and nonprofit organizations, began to see distance learning as a revenue-producing initiative. With increasingly more distance learning programs experiencing pressure to operate at break-even levels or even make a profit, the ability to generate and sustain enrollment growth is critical to ensuring a healthy revenue stream. Even in institutions where there is less concern about profitability, consistent enrollment growth is often one of the most important measures used to evaluate success. Marketing is playing an increasingly important role in ...