| This study analyzed India's potential target markets for online education offered by U.S. universities. This is the first India-wide marketing survey of likely customers of online education. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 10,000 randomly selected members of an online research panel from India. A total of 1277 valid responses were collected. The findings rest on a foundation of positive attitudes toward online education in general, with 88.4% of respondents describing themselves as either somewhat likely or very likely to enroll in online courses offered by U.S. universities. Using this set of respondents, the analyses show a high concern for educational quality, with over 90% of respondents rating as very important the issues of reputation of educational institution and overall quality of online course offerings. Also analyzed were the ratings by respondents of various elements of online education such as preferred technical features, the extent of course offerings, tuition expectations, and credit transfer policies. Then finally, potential advertising methods where explored through a set of questions, garnering the results that showed the internet search engine as the most likely source of information about online education programs---a finding that holds the potential for relatively inexpensive advertising campaigns by U.S. universities. As a whole, the findings of this research offer insights into the Indian higher education market for providers of online education by investigating the expectations and needs of this population. Although not intended as a blueprint for direct expansion into the Indian market, this study lays the groundwork for institutions to perform their own research through questions that address elements that are specific to the school in question. |
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