Managing Distance Education for Success

<p>By 2006, the distance education industry is predicted to be well beyond $33.6 billion (Merit Education, 2003). As with most markets, one of the keys to taking advantage of this growing market is customer satisfaction. Therefore, the greater the student satisfaction in a distance pro-gram, the more likely that program will be successful. This article identifies five key components of satisfaction for distance education programs. First, a viable list of potential indicators for student satisfaction is developed from the previous research that compares traditional education environments to distance education environments. A questionnaire was developed using these variables and administered to 341 distance students. The results revealed five constructs for student satisfaction in a distance education program (Martz &amp; Reddy, 2005). Using these factors as guidance, this paper extends those findings to provide some operational and administrative implications.</p>