Since the dramatic rise in prevalence and popularity of online learning throughout the 1990s, higher education has been defined by change, adaptation, and evolution.

In that time, online program managers (OPMs) and EdTech solutions have helped colleges and universities of all sizes take advantage of advances in technology and shifting learner sentiment to expand their operations into the digital learning space. OPMs provide a model for online success, serving as mission-aligned, co-invested partners that help education providers extend their service, enhance their academic offerings, and lead learners to better outcomes.

Today’s shifting education landscape constantly presents new challenges and opportunities, and the OPM model has changed to align with emergent partner needs. That means the right OPM partnership can help your institution thrive and stay ahead — as long as you find a great fit and partner with intentionality.

Learn what to look for in a modern OPM partnership, the steps to get started, and how to partner for success for 2026 and beyond.

The benefits of online education are clear. Not only does it offer learners — especially nontraditional students, such as working adults — the flexibility to pursue further education on their time; it also allows universities to expand their student body far beyond what traditional on-campus education can accommodate.

But not every college or university has the resources or infrastructure to take advantage of the opportunities available in modern online learning. In addition to the technological and logistical barriers, there may also be challenges associated with an influx of new learners from diverse locations and backgrounds. That’s where OPMs can help.

“We believe that all institutions should be empowered to bring academic programs online to reach a new and expansive set of learners,” says Joshua Richards, CEO of Boundless Learning. “That is why we have built up significant technology infrastructure, innovative capabilities, and a portfolio of solutions to quickly enable all stages of the learner lifecycle — from marketing and enrollment through retention and completion — and all aspect of the learning design and experience across the entire learner journey. Working with our dedicated team members and leveraging our abilities and experience create big opportunities for new and existing partners to scale quickly and continue to grow.”

OPMs serve to support education providers — colleges, universities, businesses, or any organization hoping to expand in online learning — in bringing academic offerings and other services online by providing key solutions, infrastructure, personnel, and expertise.

An OPM partnership allows institutions to take advantage of the provider’s resources and authority while maintaining autonomy over their education offerings and brand.

OPMs offer a wide range of services and solutions depending on the institution’s needs and goals, but a typical partnership might include support in the following areas:

• Market research and analysis
• Assistance with learning design and curriculum development
• Faculty training and upskilling
• Strategic marketing and outreach
• Student recruitment, enrollment, and retention
• Institutional support, consultation, and training
• Student support and advising
• Ongoing program maintenance

OPM partnerships promote a shared stake in and accountability for the institution’s continued and expanded success — and in helping learners thrive. Modern online program management provides even more opportunities and solutions than ever.

Education is evolving faster than ever, and so are learners’ needs and preferences. The most successful OPMs are keeping up with better pedagogical solutions, empowered technologies like AI and advanced security frameworks, and a broader variety of solutions and education offerings.

In short, they’re providing more flexibility and variety to fit more needs, moving from delivery-based agreements to true strategic partnerships.

With more competition for fewer students and changing expectations, it’s important for your organization to partner with an OPM that focuses on staying ahead of industry trends and providing proactive support for your institution and learners.

Learners expect more academic options

For education providers to adapt to modern sentiment, it’s important to partner with an OPM that offers learning design and solutions that support traditional, nontraditional, and emerging credentialing models that fit today’s learner and employer needs.

A la carte learning, micro-credentials, certificate programs, just-in-time training, and future-focused career upskilling models all offer learners alternative routes to fulfilling education goals beyond the traditional undergraduate or graduate degree.

Further, learners prefer education opportunities that offer more flexibility not just in delivery or scheduling but also in approach and participation.

Stronger, more personalized support encourages retention

Better technology, including AI chatbots and analytical indicators, helps modern OPMs address learner needs and expectations directly and effectively from initial research through program completion. This granular focus means the OPM can deliver personalized learning, monitor progress, and improve retention across the entire learner lifecycle.

Data, research, and analytics power every aspect of the recruitment and retention processes, ensuring effective marketing campaigns reach high-value, high-intent prospects who can benefit from your institution’s mission and academic offerings. Comprehensive support that combines technological efficiency and human touch helps guide prospects through the application, enrollment, and matriculation process.

“The best OPMs ensure personalized learner support throughout the academic journey, building rapport and providing encouragement to help each student overcome any hurdles or challenges and motivate them through the end of the program,” says Darlene Pittman, Vice President of Global Student Success for Boundless Learning. “This level of attention is proven to increase term-over-term retention and completion rates. It’s part of how we’ve achieved a 95% overall retention rate for our partner institutions.”

Flexible finance and service models for education providers

Beyond meeting learners’ needs and expectations, OPMs also exist to serve the institutions with which they partner. Since each education provider has its own values, circumstances, and approach to education, OPMs must provide flexible agreement models to accommodate each partner’s financial needs and operational objectives.

Depending on your institution’s financial situation and goals, that might mean engaging in an ongoing revenue-share agreement, an up-front fee-for-service model, or a hybrid approach for financial allocation. Your institution might also require just a small selection of education solutions or robust, full-service support across all aspects of implementing and maintaining online education programs. Partnering with intention means finding an OPM that will work with you to build a relationship around your needs.

Partnering intentionally to achieve success

Today’s OPMs must operate as true partners with a shared interest in achieving your institution’s goals. A successful, empowered partnership with an OPM will take the changes, developments, and opportunities today’s education landscape presents into account and provide tech-backed solutions and human support to help education providers operate efficiently and effectively.

With the right OPM, your institution can keep pace and pull ahead, offering a wider variety of academic options, support services, and tech solutions to meet more learners’ needs. The OPM also can provide strategic consultation, advising, and training to help your faculty and staff build best practices and strategies for operating in the online space.

Not all OPMs are equal, especially as partnership models evolve and the online education environment shifts.

Here are five components to consider when choosing a partnership.

1. Shared vision and aligned goals
Any good partnership will start with aligning on mission and vision. Your institution’s mission is a critical part of your identity and goals, so it’s crucial to find an OPM partner that complements your operational approach and aspirations.

This includes ideological and philosophical factors like an understanding of your institution’s values and history, the types of education and credentials you offer, and the types of learners you hope to recruit. But it also means agreeing on the logistics of how to support and bolster these considerations.

In a true partnership, both the education provider and the OPM have a shared interest and stake in developing the best education offerings, attracting the most qualified learners, and supporting continued administration and revision of solutions provided.

2. Student-first focus

Education is only as good as the results it produces, and the most vital measure of your mission as an education provider is learner outcomes.

As such, any OPM partnership you enter should be focused on helping serve student interests first — enhancing the education experience and providing the solutions, flexibility, resources, and support for learners to excel in the classroom and thrive after graduation.

Today’s OPMs must be learner-obsessed and outcomes-focused, encouraging learner success through personalized focus and proactive outreach from day one. When learners know they're supported, they feel empowered to persevere through program completion and beyond.

Student focus also means working with industry employers and utilizing market data and research to ensure programs produce real results for graduates. Beyond offering traditional academic degrees, work readiness and high-demand skills should be prioritized. While most degree, certificate, and academic credentialing programs can be brought online, learners often see the best results in areas of high demand, like the following:

• Business
• Computer and data science
• Cybersecurity
• Digital marketing
• Health administration
• Nursing (all levels)

3. Transparent data sharing

For a successful OPM partnership, data transparency, information sharing, and robust reporting are crucial. The best OPMs are backed by data at every phase, and it’s important for your institution to have vision into that data and an understanding of how it’s being used.

Whether it’s analytics relating to recruitment and marketing campaigns or information on learner preferences that might help you provide a better educational experience, data can be transformational in aiding your institution in achieving its mission. Transparent data sharing also helps ensure your OPM and your organization are aligned on KPIs, progress, and areas in need of review or improvement.

It’s imperative for data — especially user data — to be encrypted properly and handled with care in transit and at rest, in compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and frameworks. Important ones to be aware of include the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2).

Moreover, the best OPM agreements are the ones that fit your institution’s current practices, functions, and platforms. When the partnership wraps seamlessly around your current processes, it limits concerns over data migrations, change management, and institutional training requirements.

4. Joint governance

Online program management should be viewed as a true partnership between the provider and your institution. A joint governance framework means both parties involved share the stakes in compliance and administration while ensuring your institution keeps control and decision-making authority over the most important aspects of your brand, vision, and education approach.

This collaborative design helps ensure open and effective communication, alignment on development and delivery of academic offerings, stronger quality assurance checks, compliance with laws and regulations, understanding of institutional priorities, and seamless navigation of evolving needs and strategies.

5. Flexible contracts

The OPM model has come a long way since its inception in the 1990s, and today’s top OPM providers are more capable than ever of providing a contract that works for your institution’s goals and needs.

Partnership isn’t one-size-fits-all, so this comes down to more flexibility for education providers. For example, an institution with no existing online portfolio hoping to introduce a few digital offerings and slowly grow in the space might benefit from a revenue-share model that can evolve over time. On the other hand, a university with an established presence looking to expand its footprint might prefer an up-front fee-for-service model. Other education providers might have needs that fall in between the two examples, and an OPM should be willing and able to develop a hybrid modular engagement approach to accommodate that.

Flexibility goes beyond the revenue model type and should also include solutions and services offered. While some institutions may benefit from robust, large-scale enterprise partnerships in which the OPM handles everything from learning design to marketing and student support, others may only need additional resources or help in a couple areas like faculty training or technological infrastructure.

When preparing to partner for success, first consider what your institution needs from an OPM, then find a provider that can provide all the solutions you need.

With the above considerations in mind, here’s a quick outline of what the process of building an OPM partnership can look like.

• Step 1: Define institutional priorities. Have internal stakeholders and leadership determine the goal of the partnership and establish what success looks like in concrete terms.
• Step 2: Select an OPM aligned with your mission. There are many OPM providers, so it’s important to choose the one best-aligned with your brand, vision, and mission — and best-equipped to help you achieve your goals.
• Step 3: Set KPIs and build dashboards. Once you agree on metrics and KPIs to track progress, the OPM can help build dashboards to ensure data sharing and transparency throughout the partnership.
• Step 4: Build governance process(es). Governance means key decision-making and maintaining legal and regulatory compliance across the partnership, so establishing a model and meeting/communication cadence that works for your institution is crucial.
• Step 5: Review and adapt regularly. The hallmark of a great partnership is willingness to adapt and optimize across all operations. Review data, performance, and learner sentiment often, and be prepared to make optimizations.

OPMs provide far-reaching benefits for institutions of all types looking to enter the online education space or expand their portfolio.

At Boundless Learning, we help colleges, universities, and organizations of all types — from regional institutions to internationally recognized brands — build better online learning experiences. We’re a next-generation OPM providing full-service support catered to your organization’s specific needs and goals.

We’d love to speak with you about what you’re hoping to accomplish in online learning. Ready to take your next step? Get in touch and see how we can help you achieve more and go further.