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Appendix 5: insights from the academic literature

Taking a look at the literature, we know that a having course fee (versus a course being free), will have an impact, as 75% of MOOC participants state that having no fees is 'influential' for their enrollment [Clow, 2013].

However, there seems to be no research (to the best of my knowledge) that helps us predict the effect of a flat course fee on registration numbers. The closest relevant paper is by Han and colleagues that investigate enrollment rate for variable pricing of online courses. Based on empirical evidence and assuming a market where online and traditional courses compete, they found that per 10% price increase, there are 15-18% less enrollments [Han et al., 2019].

There is, however, another positive effect of having a course fee: it increases engagement with the course. This has been found in the massive open online course (MOOC) provider Coursera. They also struggle with more people registering than being active [Goli et al., 2022]. They tested out a flat course fee, as well as a certificate. This research, however, does not provide data on how these interventions changed the number of registrations. It does show that a course fee increased engagement (i.e. those that attend do spend more time on the platform) of 17-20% percent at the start and 4% after 10-20 days , where a certificate increased engagement 8-9% during the entire course.

References

  • [Admiraal et al., 2023] Admiraal, Wilfried et al., "Mind the gap: Early-career teachers' level of preparedness, professional development, working conditions, and feelings of distress". Social Psychology of Education 26.6 (2023): 1759-1787.
  • [Bhayani et al., 2021] Bhayani, Ali. "Let students pay for their higher education: Debate concerning free and subsidized education based on sunk cost theory." Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing 26.4 (2021): e1700.
  • [Clow, 2013] Clow, Doug. "MOOCs and the funnel of participation." Proceedings of the third international conference on learning analytics and knowledge. 2013.
  • [Goli et al., 2022] Goli, Ali, Pradeep K. Chintagunta, and S. Sriram. "Effects of payment on user engagement in online courses." Journal of Marketing Research 59.1 (2022): 11-34.
  • [Han et al., 2019] Han, Yongseung, Michael P. Ryan, and Kelly Manley. "Online course enrolment and tuition: empirical evidence from public colleges in Georgia, USA." International Journal of Education Economics and Development 10.1 (2019): 1-21.
  • [Howarth et al., 2016] Howarth, Jason Paul, et al. "Learner motivation for MOOC registration and the role of MOOCs as a university ‘taster’." International Journal of Lifelong Education 35.1 (2016): 74-85.
  • [Ketel et al., 2016] Ketel, Nadine, et al. "Tuition fees and sunk‐cost effects." The Economic Journal 126.598 (2016): 2342-2362.