METHODOLOGY
Site Activity
EducationDynamics examined prospective student interest in over 3,400 degree programs promoted on eLearners.com by hundreds of schools during each quarter of 2010. Degrees were categorized into one of four degree levels (Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate), across eight fields of study (Business, Computer and Information Science, Criminal Justice and Law, Education, Engineering and Science, Health Professions, Humanities & Social Science, and Visual and Performing Arts), and 96 majors (e.g., Business Administration, Early Childhood Education, Music, etc.). Single course completions and certificate programs were not included in this analysis. Findings only reflect data gathered on degrees listed on eLearners.com.
A degree listing refers to a unique degree tied to a specific institution represented on eLearners.com. Identical degrees offered by two different institutions were considered separate listings, as were two differ¬ent degrees offered by the same institution. The complete list of degree programs and their associated level, field of study and major groupings are available in Appendix A.
Prospective student interest indicators within this analysis included both page views and inquiries captured on the eLearners website throughout 2010 for each degree program. Page views were defined by the number of unique page “clicks” on degree listings captured within a degree level, field of study or major. Inquiries were defined by the number of online forms (of¬ten referred to as inquiry forms or lead forms) completed for a given degree by prospective students. Inquiry forms typically require site visitors to enter identifying information including, but not limited to, name, email address, phone number, zip code and degree of interest.
Index Construction
Three core indices drive the analyses and resulting identification of degrees with high student interest and opportunity for growth: the eLearning De¬mand Index (eLDI), eLearning Supply Index (eLSI), and eLearning Growth Index (eLGI). Each index score provides an evaluation of degree level, field of study and major as it relates to demand, supply, and growth in the marketplace. Index scores are presented as T-scores, with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 (see Appendix B for more details).
eLearning Demand Index (eLDI) The eLearning Demand Index represents the aggregate demand for a given degree program. The eLDI is calculated by taking an average of the relative proportion of page views and inquiries linked to a particular degree program. In addition to the T-score presentation, unstandardized raw scores are also presented capturing the percentage of page views and inquiries captured by a given field of study, major, and/or degree level. Possible values for these scores range from 0 percent to 100 percent of the student demand indicators captured, with a median of .37 percent for each degree program (e.g., Associate’s in Accounting). Higher percentages indicate greater de¬mand.
eLearning Supply Index (eLSI) Because overall eLearning Demand may be biased based on the overall number of listings for a given degree level, field of study, or major, the eLearning Supply Index was developed to control for the number of listings available. Specifically, the eLSI represents the available supply of prospective students interested in various degree programs accounting for the number of degree listings. The eLSI is calculated by summing the number of page views and inquiries (separately) for a given degree program and dividing each by the number of listings available within those degree programs. An average is taken of the page views per listing metric and the inquiries per listing metric for each degree program. Index scores are presented as T-scores, with higher scores indicating higher demand per listing.
eLearning Growth Index (eLGI) The eLearning Growth Index is derived by calculating the standardized slope (or rate of change over time) for the eLearning Demand Index scores across the four quarters of 2010. Index scores are presented as T-scores, with higher scores indicating an increase in demand.