AOL adds to virtual campus: higher ed/adult learning portal expands. (Update).

For at least the past year, AOL has been offering its members a link to online adult and higher education. But in late 2001, the Internet service provider created an "official" portal--dubbed AOL Online Campus--inside its Research & Learn Channel. The portal was designed to promote virtual education leader University of Phoenix, Western Governors University (another virtual education institution with a home office in Salt Lake City), University of California Berkeley Extension, and various for-profit learning companies. Those for-profits include Barnes & Noble University, the Private lessons Channel and Embark, Barnes & Noble and the Private lessons Channel offer courses that cover per sonal interests in literature, cooking, fitness, and other subjects. Embark is its own portal, to higher education programs, preparatory pro grams, and financial aid.

AOL is aggressively searching for additional higher education and adult education partners, says Elizabeth Ward, director of AOL's R&L Channel. Online learning is a growing market for the internet service provider, she adds. A membership survey, conducted in late 2000, revealed that 63 percent of AOL subscribers are interested in taking an online course, says Ward. Considering that AOL's membership is edging toward 30 million, the ISP's pool of potential online learners could be as high as 18.9 million. AOL has divided current offerings into three categories: academic programs that grant an associate's, bachelor's or master's degree; career advancement information and training; and courses that cover personal interests.

While Ward (and the participating universities) will not disclose the specifics of the partnerships, she does note that each institution receives a link on the AOL R&L page. Subscribers are then taken to the partner's Web page, which displays an AOL banner.

In the case of Western Governors University, the school's banner ad also runs on the AOL home page. AOL is a corporate sponsor of WGU, and has been promoting the school on R&L and the AOL home page for nine months, says Robert Mendenhall, president of the school. So far, 40,000 site visitors have clicked on the WGU links or banner ads. "Right now, it's difficult to say who has become a student," admits Mendenhall. But he adds that monitoring the click-through/enrollment ratio is his next initiative in the AOL partnership.