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Last year, the online and professional education association UPCEA urged institutions to close the gap between student expectations on institutional preparedness for online learning as part of its annual report on the Benchmarking Online Enterprises Survey. This year’s report, released Monday, warns that the story beneath the 2026 data isn’t one of a “rising tide lifting every online enterprise equally, but rather a sector beginning to sort itself into those pulling ahead and those bracing for contraction.”
The average online enterprise budget increased from $8.1 million in 2025 to $12.5 million in 2026, even as the median decreased from $4.5 million to $3.5 million, the report found. Average 2026 revenues were $30.5 million—well above 2025’s $23.9 million and 2024’s $18 million. The share of online enterprises generating at least $2 in revenue for every dollar budgeted also has risen each year, to 43 percent in 2026. Yet, 41 percent of institutions represented anticipate an increase in program budgets while 23 percent expect a decrease.
Online learning is a “pillar” of the current higher education ecosystem, the report found, with 80 percent of chief online learning officer respondents (N=169) agreeing that leaders at their institution have made online learning a strategic direction. Administratively, the share of online enterprises housed in the provost’s office has grown, to 57 percent in fiscal 2026. Financially, online enterprises are most often funded from an institution’s general fund, at 39 percent. But just over half (51 percent) charge an online or distance education fee, typically set by a central or system administrative unit—creating what the report calls a “structural disconnect” between accountability and control.
Growth in online education is real and ongoing, the report says, “but long-term sustainability depends on how well institutions align their governance structures, financial models and program strategies with their broader institutional mission. The enterprises treating that alignment as a deliberate strategic choice now, not an afterthought to sort out once budgets stabilize, are the ones that will set the pace for the rest of the field.”
Inside Higher Ed’s 2026 Survey of Campus Chief Technology/Information Officers with Hanover Research found that 64 percent were confident in the quality of their institution’s online and hybrid course offerings, but a plurality (33 percent) described their institution’s technology support for pathways such as microcredentials, certificates and badges, in particular, as limited.
In an increasingly competitive online landscape, most CTOs indicated that their institution had adjusted its technology strategy in the last year in response: About a quarter each reported improved online course design support for faculty, upgraded student-facing technology and platforms, increased marketing and recruitment technology, enhanced student engagement and retention tools, and increased investments in alternative credential and microcredential offerings.
