Concentrated or Fragmented? The U.S. Market for Online Higher Education

Autor/inn/en	Cheslock, John J.; Jaquette, Ozan
Titel	Concentrated or Fragmented? The U.S. Market for Online Higher Education
Quelle	In: Research in Higher Education, 63 (2022) 1, S.33-59 (27 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Cheslock, John J.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0361-0365
DOI	10.1007/s11162-021-09639-7
Schlagwörter	Higher Education; Online Courses; Educational Demand; Enrollment Trends; Economics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Online course; Online-Kurs; Bildungsanforderung; Bildungsnachfrage; Volkswirtschaftslehre
Abstract	As the financial challenges facing the U.S higher education industry mount, colleges and universities seek new activities that can improve their financial situation. Online education programs are often viewed as a promising option due to growing student interest and the substantial net revenue generated by early entrants that leveraged economies of scale and scope. The number of schools that can experience similar outcomes will depend upon whether the online market is primarily concentrated, with a small number of higher education institutions enrolling most students, rather than fragmented, with large numbers of institutions enrolling meaningful amounts of online students. We examine this topic by providing the first detailed study of market concentration in online education. We first introduce a theory from economics, Sutton's model of endogenous fixed costs, to the higher education literature to highlight key dynamics that shape concentration levels. Using institution-level enrollment data for the population of Title IV postsecondary institutions, we then empirically examine concentration levels in online education. We find that relative to in-person education, national online enrollment patterns are heavily concentrated. The online market has a distinctive structure, consisting of a small number of large national providers and a large number of small local providers. Online enrollment patterns became less concentrated between Fall 2012 and Fall 2018 due to major enrollment declines of large for-profit providers. Concentration levels, however, plateaued by the end of the period due to rapid enrollment growth at large national nonprofit providers. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01