Online business education in the twenty-first century: an analysis of potential target markets

The future of online business education seems quite bright. Three-fifths of the 1,700 US institutions of higher learning that are engaged in distance education - 55 percent of which offer credit-bearing business courses - alr eady use some form of Internet-based technology. Nonetheless, there have be en no large-scale studies of potential online business students in terms of their traits and desires. In this article, the background of distance educ ation is presented. Then, the results of a major survey, involving NPD's On line Research Panel, are discussed, in all, 2,651 adults participated in th e survey, 1,945 of whom indicated some interest in online business educatio n. Eight propositions are tested, relating to demographics, courses versus programs, reasons for enrolling or not enrolling, desired features, custome r service expectations, tuition, prestige and value, and institutional attr ibutes.