Evaluating Online Programs Using a BSC Approach

Accountability pressures on higher education have increased in recent decades (Dill, 1999; Garvin, 2000; Jacob & Hellström, 2003). Pressure for financial accountability stacks up alongside pressures to assess student learning outcomes. Student satisfaction has always been a factor in institutional success, but added mobility and growth in the for-profit educational market have increased the impact of student satisfaction. Further, citizens, parents of students, alumni, taxpayers, and, for the for-profit institutions, shareholders constitute powerful external forces. Online programs sit in a special spot in these pressures. As relatively new entrants in the educational repertoire, questions about quality of instruction and learning share center stage with questions about costs (The Learning Alliance, 2004). Online programs require an investment in technology, staff, course development, and marketing. Many campus stakeholders doubt that such investments will produce high-quality instruction and significant student learning. Even some early adopters are now starting to question the role of online learning (The Learning Alliance, 2004).