Making digital learning work: success strategies from six leading universities and community colleges

How can the use of digital technologies in postsecondary education impact students' access to education, student outcomes, and the return on investment for students and institutions? What are the biggest challenges for an institution seeking to implement high-quality digital learning opportunities? What promising practices enable an institution to achieve impact at a larger scale? Those are the questions that fueled this research study, conducted by the Arizona State University Foundation and The Boston Consulting Group, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The answers, at least in part, lie in case studies of six colleges and universities: Arizona State University, the University of Central Florida, Georgia State University, Houston Community College, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, and Rio Salado Community College. The first three institutions in this list are public research universities, representing different geographic populations and access missions. The other three institutions include two community colleges and a state-wide community college system.

These six institutions have a strong track record of using digital learning to serve large, socioeconomically diverse student populations, and each has been a pioneer in innovating to expand access to postsecondary education, improve student outcomes, and provide higher education at an affordable cost. The diverse nature of the case study institutions underscores the point that colleges and universities can apply digital learning in various ways that take into account individual contexts. Within these various examples are promising practices that a wide variety of colleges and universities can adopt to meet disparate needs, from accommodating enrollment growth to addressing a decline in funding.

The study's methodology was designed specifically to examine the return on investment (ROI) of digital learning under different conditions and scenarios. We carefully examined both the upfront and ongoing costs of supporting digital learning, as well the returns in terms of student access, student outcomes, and economic impact on both students and institutions. The study found that when colleges and universities take a strategic approach to digital learning and invest in the design and development of high-quality courses and programs, they can achieve three critical objectives: (1) Deliver equivalent or even improved student learning outcomes; (2) Improve access, particularly for disadvantaged students; and (3) Improve the financial picture by growing revenue while reducing operating costs.

The findings provide a better understanding of how each institution adopted successful digital learning approaches and what impact they had. On the basis of our review of the six institutions, we identified seven promising practices: (1) Take a strategic portfolio approach to digital learning; (2) Build the necessary capabilities and expertise to design for quality in the digital realm; (3) Provide the support that students need to succeed in fully online learning; (4) Engage faculty as true partners in digital learning, and equip them for success; (5) Fully commit to digital learning as a strategic priority, and build the infrastructure necessary to ensure lasting impact; (6) Tap outside vendors strategically; and (7) Strengthen analytics and monitoring.

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