Coronavirus Crisis: Online Education Going Mainstream

How the pandemic is changing perceptions of online courses.  

By Shaun Dubash and Lisa Rohrer

As the world remains in the grip of the coronavirus crisis and students everywhere are experiencing virtual learning sometimes for the first time, many adults are also seeking insights and a boost to their resume through higher education. This is reflected in the U.S. Consumer Sentiment Online Survey recently conducted by Researchscape in partnership with the Market Research & Customer Insights team at Emeritus. While perhaps not surprising, the results indicate a remarkable shift in perception about online education, which appears to be going mainstream.   

Specifically, 40 percent of respondents said they are interested in pursuing further education or professional development in the next 12 months, and 82 percent said they are interested in some form of online learning. What brought on this interest? Well, 73 percent said it was spurred by the current global developments.  

Both sides – educators and their students – are being forced to understand the new medium of online learning. As the need for social distancing makes traditional on-campus programs a less feasible option, current and potential students are looking for alternatives. Search metrics are further proof of the evolution in thinking about online education. In fact, search volume for “online courses” increased 233 percent between March and April, which is when much of the United States entered the lockdown phase of the crisis. And the search volume for “online courses free” went up a whopping 400 percent. The survey results suggest that the most common ways people are currently looking to pursue further learning include free options, such as self-guided learning, online mini-courses, and MOOCs, followed by paid online short courses, paid online professional certificates and paid online bootcamps. Nearly 70 percent of those who considered free options also considered paid options. 

Now the question becomes, what this will mean for higher education moving forward. We believe these events will force even the top universities to think carefully about their online strategy, expanding beyond just non-credit MOOCs, to perhaps even their coveted degree programs. The current crisis is accelerating this thought process and moving them to be more serious about going online. Not only is this a critical business continuity measure, but as schools struggle to maintain international student enrollment in residence, online options offer an alternative way to reach students who may be increasingly unwilling or unable to relocate to obtain a degree. 

Furthermore, we are facing what looks to be a severe economic downturn. Traditionally, this is a time for people to go back to school and obtain the degree that they might have been putting off when job markets were strong. With more online options and the emergence of alternative credentials such as short certificate courses and online bootcamps / professional certificates, will the traditional residential university see the typical counter-cyclical enrollment boost that it has typically enjoyed during past recessions? Potential students will need access to building and demonstrating skills quickly; with more affordable options available, universities that are slow to adapt could further suffer. In fact, in the study, paid online graduate degrees were the least popular option among potential learners. 

There is no question that this pandemic is changing the world in ways big and small. One of the largest consequences of the virus’ spread and the need for social distancing is the rapid evolution of higher education. Undoubtedly, universities and colleges are shifting their programs from on-campus to online – and students are having to adapt. As a result, online education will more quickly gain validation and educators and recruiters will be more likely to accept online credentials. We believe these rapid changes will enable online educational options to have a huge impact on the landscape of educational credentialing going forward.

Shaun Dubash is senior director of online certificates at Emeritus and Lisa Rohrer is director of university partnerships at Emeritus.