Predation in Online Degree Programs: An Institutional Analysis

Abstract

Widespread fraud and adverse student outcomes in the expansion of online for-profit colleges raise urgent questions about the new surge in online programs. These questions also extend to public and private non-profit colleges, which often employ for-profit contractors or partners to run large parts of their online degree programs. In this study, we will investigate how colleges’ prevalence of online education associates with student body demographics, retention and debt outcomes, and leading indicators of predatory practice. Crucially, our analyses will include not only for-profit colleges with online programs, but also the growing number of public and private non-profit colleges that offer such programs. The analyses will yield important evidence on the extent of predation in the new landscape of online higher education