What can higher education learn from four nascent online education developments?
January has been a challenging month for those seeking positive news about UK higher education. The news has been full of stories of financial crises, fears of what would happen if a higher education institution (HEI) goes under and jolly topics like fraud in franchised provision. It’s clear the UK higher education sector is in a bad way.
Many HEIs are compelled to undertake a variety of measures to tackle the severe challenges they now face. This involves exploring either new markets or those in which they have not previously been active in.
However, diversifying income streams should not be the sole focus during these times. It is also important to consider how components of the course offer might need to evolve to become more accessible, attractive, and relevant to contemporary needs.
I have identified four notable developments I’ve mainly observed in online education concerning access, admissions, and pricing of degrees that HEIs would do well to consider. While these practices are not entirely new and are already in place, they are far from being widespread or standard in the sector.
Open entry / multiple entry points
Traditionally, if you want to study a degree the only available start point is at the beginning of each academic year. This means that if, for example, you decide in February to start studying for a master's degree, you typically have to wait until September or October to do so.
This has somewhat changed for postgraduate master's degrees, with a second start date in January becoming increasingly common amongst UK HEIs. However, the idea of two start dates looks positively conservative compared to how many online master's degrees are now offered.
For instance, universities with online programme management (OPM) partnerships commonly have five or six entry points a year for postgraduate degrees. Some even offer open enrolment, allowing students to begin their studies as soon as they are accepted onto programmes. Heriot Watt University’s online MBA is one UK example of an open enrolment programme and there will be more on the way.
While some HEIs struggle to implement even two entry points a year for their postgraduate degrees, it is evident that others are advancing far beyond this. As universities navigate challenging times, this is an area worthy of consideration. In some cases, the traditional pre-scheduled enrolment approach might need to be revised in favour of a more on-demand model.
Although this may be beyond the capabilities and infrastructure of some HEIs, it indicates a direction for higher education delivery that could be more appealing to prospective students in the long term and might lead to better conversion rates for HEIs.
Performance-based admissions
There is definitely a growing sentiment leading to more questions about the adequacy of qualifications as the sole or strong indicator of a person's ability to undertake a job or a course of study.
The use of qualifications as gateways into education is being questioned in some quarters due to concerns about access to education, as this method risks excluding individuals who possess the abilities and capabilities to succeed.
Performance-based admissions procedures provide people with the chance to gain admission to programmes that might usually be out of their reach. For example, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign runs a few online masters programmes with performance based admissions.
This approach allows individuals without an undergraduate degree the opportunity to be admitted to a programme based on their successful completion of a number of courses to a specified standard. Importantly, the completion of these courses also contributes towards their degree.
Closer to home, the University of London & Goldsmiths also offer a performance based admission route for online BSc Computer Science degree offered via Coursera.
It's challenging to gauge how prevalent this practice is, but all the examples I have encountered appear to stem from online education. Nonetheless, this approach merits consideration across the educational spectrum. University admissions have perhaps been too focused on simply adjusting the metaphorical entry requirements line, but there are alternative methods that can enhance access and opportunities.
Geo-pricing
In the current climate, universities are eagerly pursuing international student recruitment, like children flocking to a ball in a school football match. The focus is largely on recruiting students for campus-based programmes, but recent government policy interventions have made this more challenging.
Now, there are alternative ways to reach international students through transnational education (TNE), and online education plays a significant role in this. However, the pricing of courses for international students is a tricky area. It is well-known that higher international fees have been a key method of subsidising university activities, and this is more critical than ever.
There are students able to pay these higher fees, but what some have called the "unjust mark-up" of fees for international students has been a topic of debate. In my review of online postgraduate courses in UK higher education, I noted this pricing practice among some institutions:
“The biggest price differentials for UK and international students I observed were all in larger and prestigious universities who in the main tended to fairly consistently price courses differently for UK and international students.”
On one level, it seems hard to justify significant price differences for online education. This can limit access and may be counterproductive to recruitment goals, especially considering that the average master's degree fee in some countries is significantly lower than in the UK.
This is where geo-pricing becomes relevant. Geo-pricing, for those unfamiliar, involves adjusting the price of a product or service based on the customer's geographical location. Programmes need to be cost-effective for HEIs, but geo-pricing is one way through which HEIs could reach more international students and widen access.
Geo-pricing is a strategy employed by the large US online education platform Coursera and lends itself to a global platform model. The University of London, which has the highest number of international online students of any UK university, also adopts varied prices for different regions, categorising them into bands.
It's increasingly apparent that reaching international students via online education is another strategy for universities to diversify and tap into new markets. One UK university with plans to significantly increase their online student body recently set the goal that over 50% of these students will be based overseas. More UK universities will likely seek to recruit online students internationally. However, this is a delicate area in terms of pricing, and the approaches used for on-campus education aren’t always easily transposed.
Flexible payment methods
One last notable development relates to the financing of study. This concerns not the price itself but the method of payment.
An interesting trend in other sectors is the emergence of companies like Klarna. Their shopping app, which enables consumers to spread the payment for products across three interest-free instalments, highlights the evolving nature of payment options.
In the realm of higher education, innovation in payment methods is less evident for on-campus education. However, online education is seeing more diverse approaches. Some HEIs, such as the University of Aberdeen, have adopted pay-as-you-go systems where students only pay for the credits they study each term. Others like Brunel University offer the option to pay in monthly instalments over a specified period. I have also noticed one online degree provider offering sales periods, during which overall tuition fees are discounted by 30%.
To some extent, none of these strategies is particularly radical in the broader context of sales, but for some HEIs and, more importantly, their systems, these approaches might seem revolutionary. Nonetheless, they represent critical aspects to consider in developing an attractive, affordable, and accessible offering for prospective students.
Wrapping up
While some continue the futile debate over whether online education is as effective as on-campus education, it's clear that on-campus education can learn much from its online counterpart in offering an accessible, appealing, and contemporary educational experience.
The emerging developments in online education that I have discussed provide examples for higher education institutions on how to make their admissions, pricing, and payment methods more appealing and supportive to a broader range of students. In times when income generation and diversification are crucial, there are more fundamental considerations than just launching new courses in new markets.
