MindEdge builds distribution channel for online learning

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, August, 2001

Not all providers of online education have the marketing muscle of University of Phoenix (see article p.3), and Christopher Katis, ceo of MindEdge (Boston, MA), designed his business model to help a wide-range of online learning providers with marketing.

The three-year old company has a goal of creating an education network so that students and corporations can manage education. Revenue comes from institutions participating in the MindEdge network. Those organizations pay a fee for management services that ensure that all data about their courses on specified third-party sites is current, and from transaction fees when students sign up for a course. That fee varies depending on the cost of the course.

Distribution Reach

MindEdge drives traffic to courses via an online, searchable database, and the company is working to make that database available on numerous high-traffic sites. Partners include AvidLearn, Emerge, Boston.com, Citibank, CourseLeader, Destination SoHo.com, Dot Com Mommies, Partners 500.com, Epylon.com,, Experiencenet.com, NextEd, Talent Alliance, TeachMelT.com, Training Decisions, TrainSeek.com, WizeUp and, in international markets, the University of Brazil and Italy's Lavoroinrete (see www.mindedge-inc.com/distribution.html for links to these companies). These sites offer a co-branded MindEdge search engine to their users, and Katis aims to eventually shut down MindEdge's own site as a tool searched by consumers. The co-branded sites are designed by the distribution partner with MindEdge content populating the database.

The Database of Courses

Nearly 40 colleges and universities partnered with MindEdge, either as paying clients or on a trial basis. Those include numerous state schools, private universities and private schools such as Culinary Institute of America, PLAT-Paralegal and Legal Assistant Training. Corporate and other content providers such as AvidLearn and TrainSeek.com also participate

Individuals looking for a course receive information on offerings from all these institutions. Users can search by type of course such as conference, seminar, local course, online course, degree or textbook or by category such as business and management, continuing education, graduate studies, medicine and health, technology, or training and hobbies. Searches can also be based on particular schools, key words, price ranges, course components other than Internet, and starting dates.

The LTU case study

MindEdge is considered to be a small education portal by the likes of the University of Phoenix, and it brings them a small number of leads. But for LTU, Inc. (Chatsworth, CA), one of MindEdge's newest educational content providers, it is an affordable route to a new market. With physical facilities serving over 50,000 students a year in Southern California, the privately owned company was founded in 1974 and offers 600 courses and 45-certificate programs in information technology, business & management, design, entertainment, recreation, language & psychology and writing. Last year, LTU launched an online offshoot, LTU Online. It is a quiet effort led by Pam DeLotell, director of LTU Online, with the help of one, half-time employee. Some of the instructors come from the ground-based program--but for the most part DeLotell has sought out new instructors from across the globe.

LTU Online now offers 63 courses and intends to market globally. That's a tall challenge for a 1.5 person department with a 27-year history in a local market. Most expansion will be achieved through global corporations. Indeed, DeLotell expects to soon create custom courses for this market. Even so, she regards involvement with MindEdge as an important route to the market. Plus, the MindEdge forum also promotes the LTU ground-based courses.

As the effort expands, DeLotell expects to triple the number of classes available by September of this year. She also anticipates adding courses for K-12 teachers. The organization uses Jones e-education from JonesKnowledge.com (Englewood, CO) for its instructor-led platform. DeLotell is looking to partner with a virtual bookstore since mailing out textbooks is not a process that can scale. She is also seeking additional strategic marketing alliances such as MindEdge.