Context:
Non-credit enrollments, whether professional development or personal interest courses and programs, account for a significant share of many higher education institutions' revenues; However, this market is oftentimes neglected in the presence of its counterpart, the for-credit market. The non-credit market is viewed by many as fragmented, competitive, and difficult to serve profitably. Certainly adding to the challenge is its poor tracking, making the market hard to understand, even by some of the market's most successful players. Yet noncredit may prove a very significant contributor to meeting the Obama Administration's 2020 goal of all Americans receiving at least one year of postsecondary education. Non-credit suggests potential to address core challenges in higher education by focusing on shorter, lower cost and often more outcomes-oriented courses and programs.
A key factor in increasing accessibility to non-credit programming has been online delivery. The market opportunity has been taken advantage of by new players including third party online vendors, which is reflective of the continually evolving competitive landscape. To investigate the potential online delivery has to transform the non-credit market, Eduventures commissioned a study to identify national trends in the non-credit market: including competition, best practices, and emerging challenges. The study explores how the non-credit market's adoption of online delivery is contributing to the transformation of programmatic offerings.
Questions:
What are current trends in the non-credit market? (e.g. programmatic offerings, delivery modes, and enrollment patterns)? What is the size and shape of the market?
Does online delivery have the potential to transform the non-credit market?
The Obama Administration's 2020 goal of all Americans receiving at least one year of postsecondary education is well-intended but is it plausible? Can non-credit online opportunities help achieve this goal?
Methods:
The study makes use of multiple methodologies including interviews with postsecondary institutions and third party providers. Secondary sources will be leveraged to estimate the size and scope of the non-credit market.
Results and Discussion:
The non-credit market is often overshadowed by the for-credit market despite its potential to provide prospective learners with new skills, often in a timelier and less expensive manner. Although competing in this market can be cumbersome, many industry players are achieving great success in meeting the diverse and rapidly changing student demand. Opportunities appear most promising in the professional development non-credit market as this market can be more amenable to online delivery. The advent of third party vendors has allowed postsecondary institutions to augment their portfolios to offer more diverse learning opportunities for prospective learners. The advancement of online delivery by new market entrants and longstanding non-credit providers may be a vital factor in achieving the Obama Administration's 2020 goal.
