But nothing his team looked at interested him, he said.īlackboard, a company that provides schools with software and services for online learning, recently purchased two firms that manufacture software to keep track of debit cards made specifically for students.īlackboard's estimated revenues for this year are between $10 million and $15 million, according to. already offers that kind of product, essentially a computer code framework schools use to put their courses online. 'This would be a way to get larger numbers faster, and it would be an exit route for some of the companies that are having a problem with their second or third level of financing.' Jones was looking for a software company. Hoping to increase his customer base, he recently assigned a team to scout for acquisitions, he said. Meanwhile, Glenn Jones, whose pockets are lined with wealth from his sale of Jones Intercable, is also likely to increase the size of Jones International University and The company also has the resources to bulk up through acquisitions, though whatever firms it swallows will be small, analysts said. They likely will grab other companies and stay at the top, Stokes said.ĭenver-based eCollege, though not as strong in that market, has other strengths that could ensure its survival. WebCT and Blackboard are already at the top of the heap among companies that provide software for colleges to offer online courses. Thousands more small or emerging firms operate beneath the radar, said Stokes of. That number could plummet by as much as 75 percent over the next few years, said Ruttenbur. There are at least 400 wellknown companies in the business. Corporations train their employees through Web-based programs, and primary and secondary schools offer courses as well. Jones International University has students in 57 countries.Į-learning encompasses everything from Internet courses that brick-and-mortar colleges offer both on- and off-campus students to the distance-learning opportunities offered by Jones, and a few other virtual universities. The potential market isn't confined to the United States. Now, online learning in both secondary education and at the university level accounts for less than $1 billion of that, said Ruttenbur, who helped write the report.Īlthough 30 percent of college courses use Web sites to distribute course materials and resources, forecasts that within two years, 50 percent of campuses will have installed campuswide e-learning platforms. Corporations spend another $63 billion to train employees, according to a report by Morgan Keegan. Throw in primary and secondary schools, and the pie grows to $629 billion. The higher-education market alone is a $247 billion-a-year business. In 2002, IDC estimates, distance-learning courses will reach 2.2 million, or 15 percent, of all higher education students. The number of college students enrolled in off-campus Internet courses in 1998 was 710,000, and accounted for 5 percent of all students, according to research firm International Data Corp. Those that survive the coming shake-up will play in a lucrative market that is expected to explode. 'A lot of those companies won't get their second and third rounds done, and unless they consolidate, they'll just go away,' said Brian Ruttenbur, an analyst with Morgan Keegan. Venture capitalists, who poured $2.5 billion into the knowledgebased industry last year, are more choosy in the wake of market tremors that shook the technology sector. The forces nudging cyber-learning companies toward consolidation differ from their need to add customers in a tight market that drives mature industries in the same direction. 'It creates a powerful competitive threat to others,' said Peter Stokes, executive vice president of, a Boston-based research firm that focuses on education. WebCT of Massachusetts has forged an alliance with two other e-learning companies that will make it a powerhouse in the industry. Blackboard, a Washington, D.C.-based company that provides schools with software and services for online learning, recently purchased two firms that manufacture software to keep track of debit cards made specifically for students. 'I thought I could do a little bottom fishing out there,' he said. Glenn Jones, chief executive of two Arapahoe County-based online education ventures, Jones International University and, is thinking of snapping up one or more of his competitors.

The online learning market soon may resemble a Las Vegas wedding mill, with a long line of companies parading to the altar.Īnalysts say many of today's players who picked up venture capital in the past are strapped for cash and unlikely to get the funding they need easily.

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