IBL News | New York
A market report from Validated Insights released this month notes that fewer colleges and universities hire external online program management (OPM) companies to develop their courses.
For 2024, higher education institutions launched only 81 new partnerships with OPMs — a drop of 42% and the lowest number since 2016.
The report showed that institutions increasingly pay OPMs a fee-for-service instead of following a revenue-sharing model with big service bundles and profit splits.
Experts say revenue-sharing models, which critics denounce as predatory arrangements, incentivize service providers to use aggressive recruiting tactics to increase enrollments and maximize tuition revenue.
According to the report, fee-for-service has become the dominant business model for OPMs.
Under a revenue-sharing agreement, universities and colleges typically receive a bundle of services from an OPM, such as marketing, enrollment, retention services, and course development. Meanwhile, a fee-for-service arrangement offers services à la carte.
• Inside Higher Ed: Fewer Colleges Sharing Profits With OPMs
