Managing the impact of technology on higher education is bigger than any of us. There is a real need for national leadership in this area.

Persons of a certain age can remember the time when the thought of visiting 5,500 postsecondary institutions would have been considered laughable. Not anymore. Today, the new College Opportunities On-Line (COOL) Web site (www.ed.gov) at the U.S. Department of Education displays information on 5,500 institutions—from small technical colleges to the nation’s largest and most prestigious universities. A student can search by size, type, specialty, or location. It is a small yet significant example of how technology is changing education.

Postsecondary educators have been quick to adopt the increasingly sophisticated technology tools. In its various forms, technology has enriched classroom instruction and stimulated the development of new models for delivering education.

According to a recent National Center for Education Statistics study, the number of distance courses offered by U.S. institutions and the number of enrollments nearly doubled between 1994-95 and 1997-98.⁵⁶ At the same time, technology has expanded the boundaries of research and brought important efficiencies to the management of institutions.

It is only recently, however, that technology has presented the potential for transforming not just the classroom but institutions themselves. The Internet extends the reach of institutions to undertake initiatives most educators would not have dreamed possible even five years ago. The Internet is also stimulating competition among a broad range of postsecondary providers, creating an emerging market-based higher education economy that will orient more closely postsecondary education to consumer needs and interests.

The Internet is the vehicle for change; the market is an American public that will demand continuing education that will provide the new knowledge our rapidly changing world of work requires. As a U.S. Department of Labor study recently pointed out, "Of the 54 jobs expected to experience the most significant growth between now and 2005, only eight do not require technological fluency."

This new market for postsecondary education will include the students whom institutions have traditionally served. However, it is adult students who will be the real drivers of change—demanding more flexible, even customized, self-paced learning opportunities. Distance or distributed education will be the primary response to this growing demand.