The Cooperation Solution for Universities

Abstract

E-learning gained a significant foothold in the field of higher education in the US and Europe during the last decade of the 20th Century. For the last couple of years, media-based teaching has increasingly supplemented university lessons. However, the production and further development of e-learning materials have significant cost potentials, which are much higher than face-to-face lectures (Seibt, 2001). Due to the lack of financial resources, state-run universities, in particular, need to find ways to finance the development and maintenance of such expensive, high-quality e-learning materials. Charging tuition fees is one commonly used method of financing higher education throughout Europe and the US (Eicher & Chevaillier, 2002b). In Germany, however, students do not have to pay tuition fees for their primary academic education at state-run universities. Only further education comes at a cost. Given the high demand for further education, we assume that we can potentially cross-subsidize the primary academic education with proceeds from further educational products and study programs.1 However, when considering intensified activities in the further education sector, one needs to verify whether the existing university structures are able to meet the challenges involved.