IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/19816.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Economics of Online Postsecondary Education: MOOCs, Nonselective Education, and Highly Selective Education

Author

Listed:
  • Caroline M. Hoxby

Abstract

I consider how online postsecondary education, including massive open online courses (MOOCs), might fit into economically sustainable models of postsecondary education. I contrast nonselective postsecondary education (NSPE)in which institutions sell fairly standardized educational services in return for up-front payments and highly selective postsecondary education (HSPE) in which institutions invest in students in return for repayments much later in life. The analysis suggests that MOOCs will be financially sustainable substitutes for some NSPE, but there are risks even in these situations. The analysis suggests that MOOCs will be financially sustainable substitutes for only a small share of HSPE and are likely to collapse the economic model that allows HSPE institutions to invest in advanced education and research. I outline a non-MOOC model of online education that may allow HSPE institutions both to sustain their distinctive activities and to reach a larger number of students.

Suggested Citation

  • Caroline M. Hoxby, 2014. "The Economics of Online Postsecondary Education: MOOCs, Nonselective Education, and Highly Selective Education," NBER Working Papers 19816, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19816
    Note: ED LS PE
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19816.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kim, E. Han & Morse, Adair & Zingales, Luigi, 2009. "Are elite universities losing their competitive edge?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 353-381, September.
    2. Gene M. Grossman & Henrik Horn, 1988. "Infant-Industry Protection Reconsidered: The Case of Informational Barriers to Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(4), pages 767-787.
    3. Marr, Kelly A. & Mullin, Charles H. & Siegfried, John J., 2005. "Undergraduate financial aid and subsequent alumni giving behavior," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 123-143, February.
    4. Clotfelter, C. T., 2003. "Alumni giving to elite private colleges and universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 109-120, April.
    5. Melitz, Marc J., 2005. "When and how should infant industries be protected?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 177-196, May.
    6. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2013. "Endowment Management Based on a Positive Model of the University," NBER Chapters, in: How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education, pages 15-41, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2012. "Does generosity beget generosity? Alumni giving and undergraduate financial aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 890-907.
    8. Holmes, Jessica, 2009. "Prestige, charitable deductions and other determinants of alumni giving: Evidence from a highly selective liberal arts college," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 18-28, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Benjamin Faber & Rosa Sanchis-Guarner & Felix Weinhardt, 2015. "ICT and Education: Evidence from Student Home Addresses," SERC Discussion Papers 0186, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Allen R. Sanderson & John J. Siegfried, 2015. "The Case for Paying College Athletes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(1), pages 115-138, Winter.
    3. Emilie Dargaud & Frédéric Jouneau-Sion, 2019. "The good MOOC and the universities," Working Papers halshs-01996582, HAL.
    4. Armona, Luis & Chakrabarti, Rajashri & Lovenheim, Michael F., 2022. "Student debt and default: The role of for-profit colleges," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 67-92.
    5. Luis Armona & Rajashri Chakrabarti & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2018. "How Does For-profit College Attendance Affect Student Loans, Defaults and Labor Market Outcomes?," NBER Working Papers 25042, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Allen R. Sanderson & John J. Siegfried, 2018. "The National Collegiate Athletic Association Cartel: Why it Exists, How it Works, and What it Does," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 52(2), pages 185-209, March.
    7. John J. Cheslock & Ozan Jaquette, 2022. "Concentrated or Fragmented? The U.S. Market for Online Higher Education," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(1), pages 33-59, February.
    8. David J. Deming & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz & Noam Yuchtman, 2015. "Can Online Learning Bend the Higher Education Cost Curve?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 496-501, May.
    9. Paul Belleflamme & Julien Jacqmin, 2016. "An Economic Appraisal of MOOC Platforms: Business Models and Impacts on Higher Education," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 62(1), pages 148-169.
    10. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2018. "Online Postsecondary Education and the Higher Education Tax Benefits: An Analysis with Implications for Tax Administration," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 45-106.
    11. Wei Gu & Ying Xu & Zeng-Jun Sun, 2021. "Does MOOC Quality Affect Users’ Continuance Intention? Based on an Integrated Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-16, November.
    12. Emilie Dargaud & Frédéric Jouneau-Sion, 2019. "The good MOOC and the universities," Working Papers 1905, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    13. Emilie Dargaud & Fréedéeric Jouneau-Sion, 2020. "The good MOOC and the universities," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 474-490, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:pri:cepsud:224rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2012. "Does generosity beget generosity? Alumni giving and undergraduate financial aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 890-907.
    3. Leiyu Mo & Yuting Zhu, 2022. "How Is Alumni Giving Affected by Satisfactory Campus Experience? Analysis of an Industry-Research-Oriented University in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2012. "Does generosity beget generosity? Alumni giving and undergraduate financial aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 890-907.
    5. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2011. "Does Generosity Beget Generosity? Alumni Giving and Undergraduate Financial Aid," Working Papers 1361, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    6. Phanindra V. Wunnava & Albert A. Okunade, 2013. "Do Business Executives Give More to Their Alma Mater? Longitudinal Evidence from a Large University," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 761-778, July.
    7. Jeffrey R. Brown & Stephen G. Dimmock & Scott Weisbenner, 2012. "The Supply of and Demand for Charitable Donations to Higher Education," NBER Chapters, in: How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education, pages 151-174, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Saure, Philip, 2007. "Revisiting the infant industry argument," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 104-117, September.
    9. Baybars Karacaovali, 2011. "Productivity Matters For Trade Policy: Theory And Evidence," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(1), pages 33-62, February.
    10. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2009. "The impact of athletic performance on alumni giving: An analysis of microdata," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 287-294, June.
    11. Durango-Cohen, Elizabeth J. & Torres, Ramón L. & Durango-Cohen, Pablo L., 2013. "Donor Segmentation: When Summary Statistics Don't Tell the Whole Story," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 172-184.
    12. Bao, Jingyuan & Durango-Cohen, Elizabeth J. & Levontin, Liat & Durango-Cohen, Pablo L., 2022. "Analysis of factors influencing recurring donations in a university setting: A compound poisson mixture regression model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 489-503.
    13. Yuha Jung & Min-Young Lee, 2019. "Exploring Departmental-Level Fundraising: Relationship-Based Factors Affecting Giving Intention in Arts Higher Education," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 8(3), pages 235-235, June.
    14. Bae, Kee-Hong & Kim, Seung-Bo & Kim, Woochan, 2012. "Family control and expropriation at not-for-profit organizations: evidence from korean private universities," MPRA Paper 44029, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Christen Lara & Daniel Johnson, 2014. "The anatomy of a likely donor: econometric evidence on philanthropy to higher education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 293-304, June.
    16. Jessica A. Holmes & James A. Meditz & Paul M. Sommers, 2008. "Athletics and Alumni Giving," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(5), pages 538-552, October.
    17. Mohd Isa Rohayati & Youhanna Najdi & John C. Williamson, 2016. "Philanthropic Fundraising of Higher Education Institutions: A Review of the Malaysian and Australian Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-20, June.
    18. Holmes, Jessica, 2009. "Prestige, charitable deductions and other determinants of alumni giving: Evidence from a highly selective liberal arts college," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 18-28, February.
    19. Bruce A. Blonigen, 2016. "Industrial Policy and Downstream Export Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(595), pages 1635-1659, September.
    20. George R. Goethals & Gordon C. Winston & David J. Zimmerman & Laurie C. Hurshman & Adam C. Sischy & Georgi Zhelev, 2004. "Who Cares? How Students View Faculty and Other Adults in US Higher Education," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-67, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    21. Hyuk-Soo Kwon & Jihong Lee & Sokbae Lee & Ryungha Oh, 2022. "Knowledge spillovers and patent citations: trends in geographic localization, 1976–2015," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 123-147, April.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19816. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.