A Tipping Point for OPM?

Inside Higher Ed: Ten years ago, just three or four companies existed to help universities start online programs. Now by some counts, roughly three times that many are working with colleges -- striving, and sometimes struggling, to expand their businesses.

Is a shakeout in the offing? Most analysts and observers say yes, given the number of providers, the lack of differentiation among many of them and growing qualms from some college officials about the industry's traditional business model of revenue shares and long-term lock-ins. The latter has spawned even more competition, from a new set of companies charging fees for specific services, rather than the bundles that the OPMs have historically used.

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