EducationDynamics Releases 2011-12 eLearning Index; Reveals Compelling Trends in Online Education

EducationDynamics, higher education’s leading marketing information and technology services company, today released its 2011-12 eLearning Index, complete with five-year trends and analysis. The annual report delivers the most comprehensive review of the online education market currently available, providing unparalleled intelligence to help colleges and universities as they consider entering the market or expanding their catalog of online programs. The index evaluates data from more than 3,400 degree programs offered by more than 200 accredited institutions, and not only reveals the most popular online degrees, but also highlights growth opportunities related to areas of study where prospective student demand is not yet met.

“For more than five years, the eLearning Index has been required reading for colleges and universities as they develop their online program and course offerings,” said Carol Aslanian, Senior Vice President of Aslanian Market Research at EducationDynamics. “This incredible resource takes the guess work out of the online education market, enabling institutions to better determine what program levels, fields of study and majors will serve students best, while also providing ROI.”

EducationDynamics first published the eLearning Index in 2007; since then, several interesting trends have emerged regarding the shape of demand for online programs. Among the findings:

• Associate’s level Health Programs have risen from number three to being number one, replacing Business, which has fallen to number two.
• Bachelor’s level demand has remained relatively unchanged with Business degrees maintaining the largest percentage of market demand, followed by Humanities, Social Sciences and Health Professions.
• MBA and other Business masters degrees have seen the most precipitous decline in demand as a percentage of market-share, dropping from number one to number four.
• Education degrees have seen the greatest demand growth, relative to percent of market share, moving from number three in the 2007 report, to number one in 2011.
• Doctoral degrees in the field of Education have remained the largest field of study demanded by prospective students. In the same period, degrees in the Health Professions dropped from number two to number four, with Social Science jumping from number four to number two.

The 2011-12 eLearning Index analyzes data collected in 2010 from eLearners.com, an EducationDynamics web resources that connects prospective students with online degree programs. During each quarter of 2010, EducationDynamics examined prospective student interest in more than 3,400 degrees listed on eLearners.com offered by more than 200 colleges and universities of all institutional types and categorized into one of four degree levels (e.g., associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate), across eight fields of study (e.g., education, engineering and science, visual and performing arts, etc.) and 96 majors (e.g., business administration, design, music, etc.).

Three core indices drive the analyses and resulting identification of degrees with high student interest and opportunity for growth: the eLearning Demand Index, eLearning Supply Index and eLearning Growth Index. Each index score provides an evaluation of degree level, field of study and major as it relates to demand, supply and growth in the online education marketplace.

Below are the top-line results of the 2011-12 eLearning Demand Index by degree level:

EducationDynamics has made an executive summary of the 2011-12 eLearning Index available online; however, to order a complete copy of the report, colleges and universities should contact Carol Aslanian at 201.377.3321 or caslanian@educationdynamics.com.