Conclusion

Institutions have good reason to proceed with caution in considering a possible OPM contract—and that has never been more true than during this COVID-19 crisis. Students are facing personal and financial challenges that will make success in higher education even more difficult. Institutions are looking to online education in both the short and the long term as a way to protect against the public-health and financial concerns they now face, potentially flooding the market and making it even harder to corner a share of the online postsecondary education market. And risk lurks around every corner, with poor-quality or predatory providers willing to take advantage of the situation. The questions that we have offered here provide a framework for beginning the conversation on college campuses about whether to partner with an online program management company, and if so, how and with whom to establish that contract.