How it works

Pearson is the pioneer in the marketing, recruitment, and retention categories of online learning. We’ve spent two decades building and perfecting these services and have developed an impressive infrastructure and staff.

We partner with institutions that sincerely want to be in online education but feel as if they are missing some critical element to make that happen. Our ideal partners are committed to maintaining high academic standards and are entrepreneurial in terms of educational delivery. They recognize that success in the online learning arena means being flexible, market-driven, and performance-based.

Before we start, we conduct a thorough assessment and share our best strategic recommendations for high-potential programs and institutional readiness. We will make our mutual decision to partner based on evidence-based research and experience.

Yes. The institution and its appointed representatives are responsible for the academic integrity of the program. Their regional and professional accrediting bodies determine the academic standards of all programs, including online programs. Faculty are responsible for creating the course curriculum, selecting materials, designing learning activities, and assessing student learning. Pearson can support faculty in the instructional design of the course, selection of appropriate technologies and multimedia, and of course websites.

Our online learning experts work closely with your faculty to understand your program’s curricula and recommend a model that meets your academic requirements. Ultimately, academic decisions are made by the institution and will have our full support.

If the institution does not have dedicated instructional design and technology support for faculty, we can provide this service. We have a team ofinstructional designers and technologists who are well-versed in online pedagogies. They will work closely with faculty members to design, develop, and deploy online courses. We provide on-demand design and technology consultation as well as personalized training in managing the virtual classroom.

Pearson honors the intellectual property policy of each academic partner. The content of a particular course is owned by the faculty developer or institution, depending upon the institution’s intellectual property policy.

Yes, our retention advisors support both faculty and students by providing training on course management system tools, responding to common technical issues posed by students, assisting students with textbook acquisition, posting announcements, monitoring student participation, and making student referrals. They provide a one-stop link to the critical services of the university so faculty can focus exclusively on teaching and learning, free from program and course logistics.

We work closely with individuals across your institution to seamlessly integrate our processes with yours. Our staff see themselves as an extension of your staff, and they represent themselves that way to students. They immerse themselves in your institution’s processes, policies, and culture. In fact, at launch we bring the entire program team to your campus to begin that immersion process and build long-lasting relationships.

This answer is different for every program. The extensive research we perform prior to signing a partnership agreement includes information on how best to reach the target audience. These channels include professional organizations, web advertising, print ads, direct mail, and a variety of other areas and tactics. We know from the start how and where to find qualified students, and we test and re-test strategies to find the most effective media mix.

Student support begins at the first contact with the prospective student and ends when he or she graduates from the program. Our recruitment and retention counselors are in regular phone and email contact with individual students to answer questions, provide information, and counsel them on what it takes to be successful as a distance learning student. They orient students to the program and assist them with administrative details and paperwork.

Your institution plans and administers the educational experience. We faithfully represent and support that educational experience. The same academic policies and controls that govern on-campus programs generally apply to online learning programs. Our personnel become well-acquainted with your institution’s policies and work closely with your institution’s student services departments to be consistent in representing them to prospective and current students.