When an Ivy League University Puts Its Courses Online, Who’s Going to Need a Local University?

Abstract

In recent years there has been a prolific growth in on-line courses primarily provided by “less traditional” university providers in order to tap into the vast potential local and overseas markets. These universities are trying to overcome depleted government funding by taking advantage of the ease of Internet access. Traditional internationally renowned elite universities are cautiously monitoring this trend but have not jumped into the fray, preferring to rely on their own unique success factors in providing quality on-campus education. However, they have not dismissed this mode of delivery. The provision of both on-campus and on-line courses by internationally renowned elite universities does not necessarily sound the death knell for other providers, especially the elite on-line provider/universities in other countries. This paper will address the fact that there are important survival factors which are intrinsic to home universities within a country – the traditional on-campus providers, whereby the international universities taking a share in this expanding market will not have such a significant impact. The onerous and challenging implications in implementing quality on-line delivery for teaching and learning in education and training are considered in this paper.