CHLOE 10: Meeting the Moment: Navigating Growth, Competition, and AI in Online Higher Education
Survey
Aug. 2025
Sample Size:
257
Demographics:
administrators
Topics:
Learning
Administration
Top Findings:
- Online Interest Surges Across Student Populations: From adult learners to traditional undergraduates, COLOs report sustained and growing demand for online education. Seventy-four percent report increased graduate student interest, and 66% cite rising adult-age undergraduate interest—both up from CHLOE 8. Even traditional-age students are showing strong demand (60%). Students increasingly expect flexible learning options to accommodate work, family, and financial realities.
- Institutional Preparedness Falters Amid Rising Demand: Despite accelerating demand, institutional readiness has stagnated—or regressed—in key areas. Only 83% of institutions now offer online-specific student orientations (down from 93% in 2021), and faculty preparedness remains largely unchanged since the pandemic. Just 28% of faculty are considered fully prepared for online course design, and 45% for teaching. Alarmingly, only 28% of institutions report having fully developed academic continuity plans for future emergency pivots to online.
- The Online Education Marketplace Is Increasingly Competitive: Across sectors, COLOs describe a more competitive online program landscape than pre-pandemic. This reveals a clear increase in perceived competitiveness, especially among private four-year institutions and community colleges. As more institutions enter the space, differentiation and program quality are becoming strategic imperatives.
- Alternative Credentials Take Center Stage: Investment in nondegree offerings like certificates, micro-credentials, and bootcamps has surged. Sixty-five percent of COLOs now report some or major investment, more than doubling from 29% in 2018-19. Major investment alone quadrupled from 3% to 15%. Community colleges lead this trend, positioning nondegree pathways as a cornerstone of their online strategies.
- AI Integration Lacks Strategic Coordination: Two-thirds of COLOs report that some institutional areas are working on an AI strategy, but few have a unified or coordinated plan. Nine percent have no strategy at all. Disparities extend to students: 57% of COLOs report that uneven access to AI tools is affecting at least some learners. However, 72% expect AI to become very or extremely important within two years.