Online higher education is emerging as the fastest growing sub-segment of EdTech. Along with lifelong learning, online education is set to reach around $5 billion by calendar year 2025, according to a Redseer Consulting report.

This growth will be driven by several macro-economic factors including relaxation in regulations governing degrees, supply-side capacity gaps, realisation of the need for higher education among students and professionals, and transition to the credit system.

Thanks to relaxation in regulations governing degrees, EdTech companies will now be able to partner with universities to offer online degrees. The unbundling of courses and democratisation of access boosts the demand for online higher education and also increases the completion rate.

As per the report, the user base for online higher education grew by ~75 per cent in 2021 alone, despite a 3X growth in the average ticket size compared to the K12 segment. In fact, the market size for online higher education is now comparable to the largest EdTech Segments (ie, K6-12 including test prep). 

The market for online lifelong learning also will expand further with “further push after Covid as the economic uncertainty further establishes the need for continuous learning,” the report noted. Apart from Covid, existing skills getting increasingly redundant, job creation lagging behind new additions to the workforce annually, and a mismatch between industry requirements versus education curriculum in colleges are the other reasons for growth.

Abhishek Gupta, Engagement Manager, Redseer, said, “India’s booming edtech market, which saw multiple startups and increased funding during the pandemic, is expecting further boost on the back of growth in higher education and lifelong learning segments. It’s safe to say that online higher education has impressed us all by emerging as the fastest growing sub-segment”. 

The findings also saw that there was a steep uptake in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity as well. 

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