COORDINATION AND COMPETITION IN POSTSECONDARY DISTANCE EDUCATION - A COMPARATIVE CASE-STUDY OF STATEWIDE POLICIES

This comparative case study of Minnesota, Maine, and Colorado addresse s a topic of escalating political and educational importance: state po licies governing postsecondary distance education. Through qualitative interviews, observations, and document analysis, new relationships be tween state policy, institutional distance education programs, and ext ernal competitive forces were revealed. In each state, distance educat ion expanded the market for postsecondary education, raised leaders' a wareness of outside competition, and challenged traditional regulatory principles of statewide coordination.