Are We Making Money?

Maybe. But in online education, what do we mean by "making money?"
Not long ago, a highly publicized report suggested that the eLearning boom had gone bust. The report, Thwarted Innovation: What Happened to e-Learning and Why, took a hard stance. Another finding suggested that the "bust" was possibly a natural milestone in the process of innovation, and was only a bust due to the overly rigid and unimaginative applications of the online technologies. The study predicted that the next boom would happen when online programs used "flexible combinations" of people, facilities, and technology to meet learner-centered career and lifestyle goals. This is happening now.
The next wave of the eLearning innovation is in progress and, according to some, is succeeding in paying its own way. Programs portending the potential for a boom in online learning within traditional institutions of higher learning are those at Boston University (butrain.bu.edu/cpe), Penn State University (www.worldcampus.psu.edu), the University of Florida (www.doce.ufl.edu), the University of Illinois (www.online.uillinois.edu), and the University of Massachusetts (www.umassonline.net). Collectively, these institutions offer over 100 online undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, and programs in fields as diverse as financial planning, homeland security, pharmacology, forensic toxicology, business, and philosophy...