Title: Online course enrolment and tuition: empirical evidence from public colleges in Georgia, USA

Authors: Yongseung Han; Michael P. Ryan; Kelly Manley

Addresses: Department of Economics and Finance, University of North Georgia, 1201 Bishop Farms Pkwy., Watkinsville, GA, USA ' Department of Economics and Finance, University of North Georgia, P.O. Box 1358, Gainesville, GA, USA ' Department of Economics and Finance, University of North Georgia, 1201 Bishop Farms Pkwy., Watkinsville, GA, USA

Abstract: In the USA, higher education has witnessed substantial increases in tuition levels and online course offerings. In an effort to estimate the demand for online courses, this study collected institutional-level enrolment data during four academic years (2010-2011 through 2013-2014) from 22 colleges within the University System of Georgia (USG). The results indicate that: 1) the demand for online courses is price-elastic (a 10% increase in online tuition rates reduces online credit hours by 15-18% when the effect of traditional course tuition rate is not controlled, and by 30-36% when this effect is controlled); 2) online credit hours increase 1.0 to 1.3 times more than overall student enrolment; 3) online courses and traditional courses are shown to be substitutes, rather than complements.

Keywords: online course; enrolment; tuition; higher education; financial aid; demand; elasticity; marketing; USA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEED.2019.097132

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2019 Vol.10 No.1, pp.1 - 21

Accepted: 23 Sep 2018
Published online: 21 Dec 2018 *

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