Pearson Online Learning Services

Whether you’re just starting your online journey or you already have impressive offerings, we can help you serve more learners and strengthen your brand.

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Find resources to start and scale online programs—and fulfill your mission, your way.

Pearson Online Learning Services

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Transform more lives through online learning

Not all online programs are created equal. For more than 25 years, through 350+ online programs, we've helped higher ed institutions build learner-centered, academically strong experiences that change lives and help programs grow.

We’re here to help, whether you’re interested in collaborating or simply want to explore the future of online learning.

Learner-centered programs

Students are searching for all kinds of online learning solutions — from advanced degrees, to certificates and short courses, to shorter job-focused online experiences. We can help you anticipate learner needs, meet them where they are, and guide them to success.

Academic strength

Your academic standards shouldn’t be compromised when you offer online programs. We support faculty in translating their pedagogy to an array of modern online learning environments, and help you build academically strong programs you’re proud to offer.

Flexible, innovative growth

There are many ways we can work with you to accelerate enrollment growth. We work flexibly, through multiple models — from short course marketplaces to OPM partnerships.

Who we serve

40+ academic institutions worldwide — **40+**

academic institutions worldwide

26 top U.S. News and World Report institutions — 26

top *U.S. News and World Report* institutions

10 Association of American Universities (AAU) members — 10

Association of American Universities (AAU) members

Results and news

See stories of great institutions growing online, meeting high demand in evolving education markets, and serving more learners successfully.

image of Arizona State University professor in graduation attire — Arizona State University

Sustains both growth and innovation, going from 6,000 to 47,000 online students, and from 33 to 243 managed online programs.

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Student talking about Maryville University — Maryville University

Moved high-quality educational solutions online, launching 10 new online degree programs at once.

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Learn how Duquesne University’s School of Nursing works with Pearson — Duquesne University School of Nursing

Grew enrollments, diversity, and out-of-state recruitment — as it expanded its online portfolio, mitigated risks, and built its national brand.

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Candi Morris talking about Ohio University — Ohio University

Met learners where they are, utilizing online programs to build community and lifelong relationships.

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Wake Forest University’s Growing Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program Adds New Addiction Track

See how Wake Forest’s pioneering Counseling program opens doors to emerging careers – and how a new addiction track will help mental health professionals address America’s opioid crisis.

Pearson, Hawai'i Pacific University Offer New Online Advanced Nursing Degrees, Certificates

Learn how three new programs will help to address skyrocketing demand for skilled nursing professionals, including a contact tracing certificate.

Hawai'i Pacific University Provost Shares the Impact of New Online Nursing Programs

Watch an interview with Dr. Jennifer E. Walsh, senior vice president and provost at Hawaii Pacific University, as she explains the significance of HPU’s partnership with Pearson to launch and support new online degree and certificate programs in nursing.

Maryville University Named 2nd Fastest-Growing Private University

See how Maryville’s robust online programs and its faculty’s ability to provide high-quality teaching across all platforms is helping the university grow during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wake Forest University Promotes Transformational Leadership in Healthcare and Clinical Research

See how Wake Forest School of Medicine launched well-differentiated online programs to serve key unmet needs in Healthcare Leadership and Clinical Research Management.

Duquesne University’s School of Nursing Accelerates Nationwide Growth

See how Duquesne scaled its own outstanding teaching and curricula by accessing expert resources for marketing, recruitment, and analytics.

Psychology tools for early career psychologists | Credit: gawrav/Getty Images — Online learning blogs

Get fresh insights and perspectives on the issues you're passionate about.

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Frequently asked questions

To help you find your best path forward, we've compiled the questions we hear most often about how we work and what we can do for you.

Why should my institution partner with an online learning services company?

Partnering may help you improve performance, reduce risk, and continually evolve your programs to become more learner-centric. The online marketplace has become extremely competitive, and learners’ expectations have grown. Success now requires many specialized skill sets, and relatively few institutions possess them all. Some institutions have all the capabilities they need right now, but realize they may need far greater capacity — and qualitatively new skills — as they scale to meet their growth objectives.

In what areas can partnering with Pearson help an institution?

There are many. For instance, we can:

Help faculty translate their pedagogical visions into rich, engaging online experiences that deliver strong outcomes.
Enroll more students by building compelling marketing campaigns, improving recruitment, and opening new channels to reach qualified learners you aren’t reaching now.
Make it easier for learners to enroll once they’ve found you.
Help you rapidly expand non-degree offerings, including short courses, bootcamps, and other forms of experiential, team-based learnings.
Support and coach learners to improve recruitment, retention, satisfaction, and graduation rates.
Provide strategy, planning, and research to help you identify opportunities, prototype new offerings, and improve program performance.
Provide comprehensive help desk and other support services to complement your own resources.

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What is Pearson’s role in strategy?

We take a consultative approach, aimed at helping institutions place learners at the center of all they do, whether they are delivering traditional online degree programs, alternative credentials, or both.

We bring extensive market data to help institutions get all their stakeholders on the same page. Our advice reflects our deep expertise in lead acquisition, marketing, and online curricula; our on the ground experience with over 350 programs from 40+ diverse institutions, and our ongoing research into higher education and career trends, much of it proprietary.

Do we and our faculty oversee our academic experience and keep the control we need?

As a Pearson partner, you'll control everything you've always controlled, including admissions decisions, how your brand and program(s) are represented, teaching and learning, tuition rates, and degree conferrals. We wrap our services around those things to create sustainable online programs with and for you.

In developing courses — both for degree programs and short courses — our instructional designers and media team will share best practices, optimal pedagogical approaches, and new enabling technologies. We will brainstorm creative approaches to the learning experience. It's a collaborative process with routine meeting rhythms between faculty and instructional designers. Faculty guide the outcome and make all decisions about their courses and learning experiences.

Who builds and maintains the online classroom or course?

If you don't have dedicated instructional design and tech support for faculty, we can provide it. Our instructional designers and technologists work closely with your faculty to design, develop, and deploy online courses. We offer on-demand design and technology consultation as well as personalized training in managing virtual classrooms.

We also offer advanced online learning technologies, including Viper for Pearson Advance, which helps faculty deliver state-of-the-art synchronous team-based learning experiences with high levels of engagement.

How are online learners oriented and supported?

In both the Pathways and OPM models, we help each learner choose the best possible program for their needs and goals, address concerns, and help learners apply and enroll.

In OPM partnerships, our personalized retention support continues all the way to graduation. Our advisor stays in regular contact, to orient new learners, answer questions, offer encouragement, assist with administrative details, and help learners succeed online.

How do Pearson Pathways, Pearson Advance, and Pearson OPM partnerships differ?

Pearson Pathways is a new marketplace that brings together online offerings from many leading institutions, attracts large numbers of prospective learners, and guides them through selecting, applying to, and entering the best program for them. With Pathways, Pearson earns a smaller percentage of revenue for each new enrolled student, and institutions make no long-term contractual commitments.

Pearson Advance helps institutions reignite growth by delivering timely short courses, bootcamps, and other nondegree credentials that meet learners where they are, to address their immediate employment goals. It opens a valuable new channel for reaching qualified learners who aren’t yet ready for a degree program.

In a Pearson OPM partnership, we work with you to customize a long-term contract for comprehensive services that help launch and support your online programs. While other arrangements are possible, the most common OPM relationship involves Pearson making sizable upfront investments in exchange for a share of downstream tuition revenue. This model helps many institutions fund and launch programs that might not otherwise be possible.

Who do you work with?

Pearson Online Learning Services partners with more than 40 institutions worldwide, including these and other colleges and universities throughout North America:

Arizona State University
Bradley University
Duquesne University
Eastern Kentucky University
George Washington University
Hawaii Pacific University
Maryville University
Northeastern University
Norwich University
Ohio University
Regis College
Rider University
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of California, Riverside
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Maryland
University of Nevada, Reno
University of North Dakota
University of Southern California
Villanova University
Wake Forest University
Washington State University

How do I get more information?

You can also review our partner case studies and explore our resources for moving into online learning, scaling existing programs, or transforming longstanding online learning initiatives.

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Pearson Online Learning Services

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Pearson Online Learning Services

Who we are

What we do

Plan your strategy

Transform more lives through online learning

Learner-centered programs

Academic strength

Flexible, innovative growth

Who we serve

40+

26

10

Results and news

Arizona State University

Maryville University

Duquesne University School of Nursing

Ohio University

Wake Forest University’s Growing Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program Adds New Addiction Track

Pearson, Hawai'i Pacific University Offer New Online Advanced Nursing Degrees, Certificates

Hawai'i Pacific University Provost Shares the Impact of New Online Nursing Programs

Maryville University Named 2nd Fastest-Growing Private University

Wake Forest University Promotes Transformational Leadership in Healthcare and Clinical Research

Duquesne University’s School of Nursing Accelerates Nationwide Growth

Online learning blogs

Frequently asked questions

Why should my institution partner with an online learning services company?

In what areas can partnering with Pearson help an institution?

What is Pearson’s role in strategy?

Do we and our faculty oversee our academic experience and keep the control we need?

Who builds and maintains the online classroom or course?

How are online learners oriented and supported?

How do Pearson Pathways, Pearson Advance, and Pearson OPM partnerships differ?

Who do you work with?

How do I get more information?

Get more information