Higher education is undergoing a profound transformation, with online learning shifting from a temporary solution during the pandemic to a core component of many institutions’ long-term strategies. Students today read less than 15% of their assigned materials—a concerning trend that demands a new approach to how learning content is delivered and consumed.
This shift raises a key question: Are traditional classrooms becoming obsolete, or can a blended model offer the best of both worlds while meeting students’ diverse needs? As institutions set ambitious online enrollment goals for 2025 and beyond, they must navigate a strategic path that preserves academic quality while driving scalable, financially sustainable programs.
Strategic planning for online education goals
As universities face increasing pressures—rising operational costs, heightened competition and shifting student expectations—online education presents a promising avenue for scalability and financial sustainability. By expanding online offerings, institutions can increase enrollment without the constraints of physical infrastructure. Yet, this requires more than adding online courses; it demands a carefully crafted strategy with clear, data-driven objectives.
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Goal setting can help develop meaningful goals for online education. It involves understanding what drives student demand, investing in program quality and securing faculty buy-in. These goals include:
- Understanding student demand and preferences: Online courses should meet student’s needs for flexibility by offering an accessible and adaptable learning experience.
- Emphasizing quality and rigor in online programs: Schools need to invest in programs that align with institutional learning goals and adopt rigorous assessments that ensure students achieve meaningful outcomes.
- Prioritizing faculty development and buy-in: Faculty engagement is pivotal to successful online learning. Institutions should provide resources and trainings that enable faculties to create compelling, interactive online content, ensuring that educators are empowered to maintain the quality students expect.
- Success metrics: To measure the effectiveness of their online initiatives, institutions need to track specific metrics that reveal whether their goals are being met.
- Retention rates: Retention is a vital metric for gauging student satisfaction. When students remain enrolled, it signals that programs are effectively supporting their needs.
- DFW rates (drop, fail, withdrawal): Low DFW rates suggest that courses are structured to promote persistence, a critical factor for online courses, where disengagement occurs without the in-person accountability of traditional classrooms.
- Graduation rates: Ultimately, graduation rates are the most comprehensive measure of a program’s impact, reflecting sustained student success from enrollment through completion.
By focusing on these metrics, institutions can create online programs that scale and deliver meaningful, quality-driven results.
Leveraging educational technologies for enhanced engagement
Technology in online education should not simply replicate the classroom experience but go beyond it to foster a more dynamic, collaborative learning environment. One powerful example of technology that enhances online engagement is social annotation. This collaborative reading experience has been shown to drive reading completion rates significantly higher—up to five times that of traditional assignments.
Technology also allows institutions to support the diverse needs of today’s learners, particularly through Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Social annotation aligns well with UDL by providing multiple means of engagement, such as visual markers and contextual discussion, that accommodate various learning styles.
By prioritizing educational technologies like social annotation, institutions can create online environments that foster deeper learning and engagement, addressing one of the primary critiques of online education: its perceived lack of rigor.
Blending online and in-person modalities for a holistic approach
A blended approach that leverages the best of online and in-person modalities offers universities a way to serve students’ diverse preferences, improve flexibility and ultimately drive stronger educational outcomes.
A student might complete recorded lectures online but join in-person discussion groups weekly. This model balances flexibility with personal interaction, enhancing engagement through both independent study and collaborative learning experiences. Early adopters of hybrid approaches have reported higher levels of student satisfaction and retention, along with improved DFW rates, as students benefit from the structure and support provided by a blended model.
For institutions setting 2025 goals, the future lies in creating flexible, responsive learning models that can adapt as student needs and preferences evolve. A sustainable blended model offers the advantages of both worlds—online accessibility and in-person interactivity—allowing universities to design learning experiences that respond to students’ shifting demands.
Institutions can therefore provide a holistic educational experience that maximizes the benefits of both online and in-person learning, supporting students in achieving their full potential.
The future of higher education lies in creating a model that balances the advantages of both learning models. With the unique value of in-person interaction, universities can create an educational experience that is both rigorous and accessible.
For university leaders, now is the time to set ambitious yet achievable goals for online learning, grounded in strategic planning and data-driven decision-making. By embracing innovative tools like social annotation and committing to a balanced, blended approach, institutions can build sustainable programs that meet the needs of students today—and pave the way for a stronger, more adaptable future in higher education.
