Building Quality Online Bachelor’s Programs That Students Want: What the Data Say

A 2022 RNL survey of more than 1,600 prospective online students indicates that the greatest under-tapped opportunity in the online education market is at the bachelor’s level. While many institutions have focused their online offerings at the graduate level and are now considering non-degree (but credit-bearing) offerings, the single largest proportion of prospective online students plan to enroll in an online bachelor’s program.

Online bachelor’s programs present a strategic opportunity for institutions to increase their enrollment and remain competitive in a market shaped by several converging factors. The number of adults in the U.S. with some college but no credential reached 40.4 million in July 2021 and continues to grow (June, 2023; The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2023). Online bachelor’s programs can also fortify institutions against the fast-approaching “enrollment cliff” which will bring a sharp decline in the number of the traditional college-age population in 2025 (Barshay, 2018; Kline, 2019). Furthermore, due to their experience with remote learning during COVID-19, undergraduate students have a greater appetite for online courses, although this comes with heightened expectations for quality online learning and engagement (Robert, 2022).

The RNL study asked prospective online students a series of questions regarding their plans and preferences associated with course length, program structure, synchronicity, the number of credits they have previously earned, and ways to collaborate with classmates, as well as the most important aspects of their search processes and enrollment decisions.

In this session, we will explore first what prospective students said in the survey about a number of critical aspects of their preferred online program and then discuss how institutions can be responsive to these demands while maintaining the highest academic quality. We will also discuss how the expectations of prospective students may differ from their “lived experience” once enrolled. Our discussion will be wide-ranging, but will be built around 10 data points: 

1. 30 percent of the entire online market plans to enroll in a bachelor’s program. How should institutions respond, and with what program subjects?
2. All but 27 percent of prospective online bachelor’s students apply to more than one program. What are the most important competitive implications of these data for institutional planning and strategy?
3. More than 75 percent of prospective online students expect nearly instantaneous responses to their questions and queries. What are the most important implications for institutions as they plan their online programs?
4. 70 percent of online bachelor’s students plan to enroll in courses of less than semester length. How should institutions meet these expectations?
5. More than 80 percent of prospective online bachelor’s students bring some previous college credit with them. How should institutions structure online bachelor’s programs to reflect these realities? How can a generous credit acceptance policy help an institution get its share of the 40 million students with “some credit, no degree” (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2023)?
6. Nearly 40 percent of online bachelor’s students want to enroll in three or more courses per semester or term. How can institutions make online course schedules work for both those who want to enroll full time and those who prefer part-time study.
7. 43 percent of online bachelor’s students seek a highly structured online program, while the rest seek programs with few periodic deadlines. How should institutions structure online bachelor’s offerings to meet the needs of both students who need structure and students who indicate that they do not?
8. 71 percent of prospective online bachelor’s students indicate that they prefer programs that engage students with periodic synchronous convenings. How do these prospective student preferences compare with those of students once enrolled? What do these pre-enrollment preferences tell us about the concerns of online students? 
9. 75 percent of prospective students watch videos during their search, and they want authentic and organic video content. What does this mean for their expectations once enrolled in online classes? 
10. Cost, time to degree, and the match between content and the student’s interest are all more important than institutional/program reputation as enrollment decision-making factors. How should institutions apply these findings in the creation of their online programs and in their positioning of these in the online education market?   

As part of the framing of our dialogue, we will reference a ground-breaking McKinsey and Company study (Diaz-Infante et al., 2022) which identified eight Key Dimensions of the online learning experience which are particularly adept at capturing student demands and preferences. These dimensions include:

1. Clear education road map
2. Seamless connections
3. Range of learning formats
4. Captivating experiences
5. Adaptive learning
6. Real-world skills application
7. Timely support
8. Strong community

Some of these key dimensions align closely with data from the RNL study. Other key dimensions are critical but not covered in the RNL study, given the limited focus of the research. By blending RNL study findings with the McKinsey study learning dimensions, we will be able to have a data-informed and expert-driven conversation with attendees. 

This session is designed to promote thoughtful engagement from attendees. Attendees will be invited to participate in a brief online poll about the state of online bachelor’s programs at their institution and their top concerns. Poll results will help guide the session. Throughout the session, the speakers will pose discussion questions at several key points. These brief discussion opportunities will encourage peer-to-peer learning (turn-and-talk, think-pair-share, etc.) so attendees can share how the findings do or do not resonate with what they are experiencing on their respective campuses. The last 8-10 minutes of the session will be reserved for small group discussions centered on implementing strategies. Attendees will join a small topic-specific discussion of their choice. To close out the session, each small discussion group will share their best ideas with the larger group.

Following this session, attendees will be able to:

• Interpret key data points that define prospective online student expectations.
• Assess how well-positioned their institution is to meet these student expectations.
• Examine strategies to enhance key dimensions of the student experience in online bachelor’s programs.
• Identify potential barriers to building online bachelor’s programs and options to overcome these barriers.

References

Barshay, J. (2018, September 10). College students predicted to fall by more than 15% after the year 2025. The Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/college-students-predicted-to-fall-by-more-than-15-after-the-year-2025/

Diaz-Infante, N., Lazar, M., Ram, S, Ray, A. (2022, July 20). Demand for online education is growing. Are providers ready? McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/demand-for-online-education-is-growing-are-providers-ready

June, A. W. (2023, April 25). The number of U.S. adults with some college but no degree keeps growing. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-number-of-u-s-adults-with-some-college-but-no-degree-keeps-growing

Kline, M. (2019). The looming higher ed enrollment cliff. College and University Association for Human Resources. https://www.cupahr.org/issue/feature/higher-ed-enrollment-cliff/

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. (2023, April 25). Some college, no credential student outcomes annual progress report – academic year 2021/22. https://nscresearchcenter.org/some-college-no-credential/

Robert, J. (2022, October 3). 2022 students and technology report: Rebalancing the student experience. Educause. https://library.educause.edu/resources/2022/10/2022-students-and-technology-report-rebalancing-the-student-experience 

RNL. (2022). 2022 online student recruitment report. https://learn.ruffalonl.com/rs/395-EOG-977/images/2022_Online_Student_Recruitment_Report.pdf