Competing in the Marketplace: Incorporating Online Education into Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education has traditionally been very slow moving, with change being measured in years or even decades. Recently, external forces have combined to challenge higher education’s resistance to change. These forces range from the growth of the Internet, to the emergence of a new student population, to a continued decline in governmental support. Together these changes have caused institutions to reexamine both how they function and how they interact with the outside world. Distance education has become a concrete manifestation of the changes in higher education; however, the incorporation of online education often has far-reaching effects, impacting the organization financially, structurally, and culturally. This article will examine the external forces that are challenging higher education. It will further examine the managerial, organizational, and cultural issues that arise as colleges and universities seek to move from the physical “marketplace” to the virtual world of the “marketspace” through the integration of distance education programs.