Is an OPM partnership right for your institution?

The answer is rarely a simple yes or no.

The decision to work with an Online Program Manager (OPM) is complex—shaped by factors like institutional readiness, cultural alignment, operational needs, staff expertise and financial considerations.

Some universities thrive with deep OPM partnerships, others prefer independence, and many find themselves experimenting with hybrid models. Many schools are currently engaged with OPMs and trying to decide whether those relationships should continue. Some institutions also engage an OPM on a short-term basis as they develop expertise in-house. What matters most is knowing where your institution stands today—and whether an OPM can help you get where you want to go.

Making the right decision involves asking the right questions. Does an OPM offer opportunities that align with your organizational objectives, or does it create frustrating complexities? Does it offer the expertise and scalability you need, or is it clashing with your institution’s culture and long-term vision? The answers lie in carefully examining what your institution is ready for—and what it truly requires.

1. Institutional Readiness: Are You Set Up for a Productive Partnership?

When hiring freezes or budget restrictions prevent institutions from adding internal staff, external partnerships can be an attractive option. An OPM can bring valuable expertise, but the partnership works best when your institution already has a solid foundation.

Institutions need clear goals, tracking systems, and leadership buy-in to make the most of the relationship. The partnership must be well-managed, with the right processes in place to track performance, build mutual trust and demonstrate impact.

Questions to consider:

• Do we have clear objectives that align with what an OPM can deliver?
• Is leadership committed to supporting and sustaining an OPM partnership?
• Are we prepared to work with external vendors if hiring restrictions limit our ability to build internal capacity?
• Can we track key metrics and systems to measure progress and performance?
• Are we prepared to work closely with an OPM team to align expectations and timelines?

The most effective partnerships occur when institutions know what they want to achieve and can demonstrate measurable progress to maintain leadership support and funding. Many institutions don’t have the technology infrastructure to track and monitor progress on their own. Without the information provided by an OPM or another external partner, they may lack the ability to make data-informed decisions. On the other hand, every school should be pursuing methods to link data from marketing and enrollment campaigns to their overall goals and objectives.

2. Cultural Alignment: Will an OPM Fit Your Institution’s Values?

Culture plays a pivotal role in determining whether an OPM partnership will succeed. Some institutions embrace the expertise and efficiency an OPM provides. Others struggle with the shift in control or outsourcing certain operations.

Questions to consider:

• Will faculty and staff support the idea of working with an external partner?
• Does our institution’s culture encourage collaboration with vendors and third-party providers?
• Can we align the OPM’s role with our broader mission and values?
• How will we handle potential resistance from stakeholders?

Without cultural alignment and appreciation of what strengths the OPM brings, even the most promising partnerships can face roadblocks and hurdles, despite a positive enrollment picture. It’s essential to foster buy-in and create a shared vision to succeed—and if those things can’t be obtained, then the OPM partnership may not be the right solution.

3. Operational Needs: Will an OPM Fill Key Gaps?

OPMs can bring valuable resources to institutions, especially in areas like marketing, enrollment management, and instructional design. For institutions dealing with hiring freezes, OPMs can provide essential services without increasing headcount. However, the success of the partnership depends on seamless collaboration between internal institutional teams and external partners. Successful collaboration includes effective, meaningful and consistent communication between both parties, as well as transparency of results and processes.

Questions to consider:

• Are there operational gaps—like marketing or instructional design—that we can’t fill internally?
• Can an OPM provide specialized expertise we don’t currently have?
• Will the OPM’s systems integrate smoothly with our existing tools and platforms?
• How will we ensure ongoing collaboration between internal teams and the OPM?
• Are there operational gaps that we would like to build over time where we can learn from an OPM?

While OPMs can solve many operational challenges, institutions must be prepared to manage the partnership effectively. Without clear processes and integration, operational gaps can persist, undermining even the most well-intentioned efforts.

4. Financial Considerations: Can an OPM Help Us Scale Sustainably?

OPMs offer different financial models—historically, revenue sharing, and, more recently, fee-for-service—that can be attractive to institutions. However, understanding the institution’s longer-term plans and craft an appropriate financial model is essential to ensure the partnership meets both immediate needs and long-term goals.

Questions to consider:

• Do we fully understand the financial structure and responsibilities of the partnership, including revenue sharing or fee-for-service models; agreed deliverables and responsibilities, and revenue optimization versus risk avoidance?
• Can we manage the budget impact of the OPM’s services?
• Will we have access to performance data to ensure the investment is delivering results with required or reasonable timeframes?
• Are we prepared to navigate leadership transitions that might shift priorities and disrupt ongoing funding for the OPM partnership?

The financial model for an OPM partnership requires careful planning. Institutions must align their budget with both immediate needs/capabilities and future scalability. While an institution may have a current need that the OPM can meet, it may also have plans to build internal capability. Therefore, structuring that transition plan in to the agreement is important.

Choosing the Right Path: Dependent, Independent, or Hybrid?

Every institution has three basic options when it comes to OPMs: go all-in, go independent, or take a hybrid approach. Each model has its benefits and trade-offs. The key is understanding what’s right for your institution and planning accordingly.

OPM-dependent: a deep partnership
In this model, institutions rely heavily on the OPM for multiple services, such as enrollment management, marketing, instructional design and support, new program identification and program delivery. This approach offers comprehensive support but requires maximum transparency and clear communication.

Best Practice: Build trust by ensuring shared performance metrics and ongoing dialogue with your OPM partner.

Fully independent: managing everything in-house
Some institutions prefer complete control and opt to bring all functions in-house. While this approach offers maximum flexibility, it also requires significant investment in talent and infrastructure.

How to Prepare: Ensure you have the capacity to manage all key functions without external support—and create contingency plans to avoid disruptions.

Unbundled OPM: a flexible approach
This model offers the best of both worlds—retaining control over some areas while outsourcing specific functions to external providers. Institutions might work with an OPM for marketing but keep instructional design or enrollment management in-house.

If you choose this option, your consideration set can extend well beyond OPMs. There are many external partners who provide a specialized set of services and can engage in a fee-for-service model.

Considerations: Identify operational gaps and bring in specialized partners where needed. Focus on gradually building internal capabilities to reduce reliance on the OPM over time.

Does an OPM Make Sense for Your Institution?

An OPM can unlock new opportunities, but a successful partnership requires careful alignment with your institution’s goals, culture, and operational and financial needs. Whether you choose to continue with full partnership, move toward complete independence, or split the difference with a hybrid model, the key is making informed decisions based on what will serve your institution best. By asking the right questions upfront and evaluating your options thoughtfully, you can determine the model that will set you up for success.

Webinar
A webinar around this topic will be hosted by Lee Maxey of MindMax and Jim Fong of UPCEA on Thursday, February 20 at 2pm ET.  To learn more or to register, please click here.

Lee Maxey is Founder and CEO of MindMax. Lee has led MindMax since its founding in 2009, providing technology-enabled marketing solutions to accelerate enrollments for universities. Lee takes pride in building long-lasting relationships with MindMax’s university partners and building a culture focused on results aligned with client specific needs. MindMax provides strategic guidance, proven processes, and the latest digital tools to optimize online marketing and enrollment operations for university-affiliated continuing and professional education organizations. We are a trusted advisor to many of the nation’s top universities, and have transformed hundreds of online programs, impacting over 1 million students.

Jim Fong is UPCEA’s Chief Research Officer, and the founding director of UPCEA Research and Consulting. In his role, Jim has analyzed demographic, occupational, technological and societal trends and data to help the higher education community better serve the adult and corporate learner. Prior to joining UPCEA, Jim worked as a higher education strategic marketing and CRM consultant and researcher for two firms and prior to that was the Director of Marketing, Research and Planning for Penn State Outreach. Jim holds an M.B.A., an M.S. in Applied Statistics and a B.S. in Mathematics, all from The University of Vermont.

During a recent Virtual Masterclass titled Strategies for Integrating Micro-Credentials into Curriculum, I had the privilege of joining Lancie Affonso from the College of Charleston to explore how industry-recognized microcredentials can enhance course outcomes. Lancie shared examples of how microcredentials can bridge the gap between academic theory and professional practice while meeting students’ diverse interests and career goals.

For instance, in his Data Visualization and Storytelling Honors course, students selected microcredentials aligned with their interests, ranging from analytics to cybersecurity to sustainability. This flexibility not only encouraged peer learning but also motivated students to deeply engage with the material, which allowed them to rapidly acquire targeted skills while achieving overall course learning objectives.

In his Cybersecurity course, Lancie integrated Google’s Cybersecurity professional certificate into both online and face-to-face formats. In the latter, he adopted a flipped classroom model based on student feedback, leveraging the certificate’s up-to-date content for improved engagement and preparation. He discussed how students benefited from participating in the professional certificate community and how alumni noted that students with this certification stood out in the job market.

With technology advancing quickly and workforce demands evolving, innovation is not just a luxury; it is a responsibility. Industry-linked learning, a subset of work-integrated learning intentionally supported by microcredentials, is a powerful tool for fostering adaptable, job-ready graduates. Briefly, I want to highlight Ten Ways to S.K.I.L.L., or ways to think about Strengthening Knowledge through Industry-Linked Learning.

1. Aligning Microcredentials with Course Outcomes: An Introduction to Sociology course could incorporate Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design from Google’s UX Design Professional Certificate as a way for learners to understand social behavior in the context of design. Students could analyze the cultural and social impacts of digital platforms, engaging with both sociological theories and practical UX principles.
2. Embedding Microcredentials as Supplemental or Core Learning: In a Health Sciences course on patient care, faculty could offer learners the option to complete the Analyze Data to Answer Questions course from Google’s Data Analytics Professional Certificate as a supplemental activity to help analyze real-world healthcare data. The course could also be used as a core component of a data analysis module to help learners understand how data analytics can inform patient care decisions and healthcare management.
3. Engaging Learners with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles: In an English Literature course learners could complete the Multimedia Content Creation course from Adobe’s Content Creator Professional Certificate to produce a multimedia project, like a video analysis of a novel or poem. This would allow them to combine literary analysis with creative skills while providing flexibility in how they demonstrate their understanding of the text.
4. Leveraging Role-Based Organization: In a Business Administration program, faculty could integrate courses from IBM Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst and Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst professional certificate into management and analytics classes. By aligning these role-specific microcredentials with the skills required for data-driven decision-making, learners develop expertise in tools like data visualization and dashboard creation, directly preparing them for real-world business data analysis tasks.
5. Integrating Micro-Internships: In a Marketing class, learners could complete the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate, and then apply their knowledge by working on a real-world marketing campaign for a local business. The course plus the microcredential provides foundational knowledge, while the micro-internship offers practical experience.
6. Implementing Project-Based Learning with Microcredentials: For Psychology majors studying organizational behavior, the Introduction to Scrum Master Profession from IBM’s IT Project Manager Professional Certificate could be included as part of a team project. Learners could manage a simulated organizational change, applying both psychological principles and project management skills.
7. Using Microcredentials to Bridge Disciplines: A Criminal Justice course could integrate the Foundations of Cybersecurity course from Google’s Cybersecurity Professional Certificate credential to help learners understand the role of cybersecurity in preventing cybercrime. Learners could use case studies to evaluate the impact of cyber laws and regulations.
8. Mapping a Microcredential Integration Plan: An Economic History course could pilot the Principles of Real Estate course from the Keller Williams Real Estate Agent Certificate to explore historical market trends and their broader implications. Based on the results, the full certificate could be mapped across courses like historical research methods or urban history to create an interdisciplinary pathway.
9. Developing Assessment Strategies: In a Business Ethics course, learners could complete the Sales and CRM Overview course in the Salesforce Sales Operations Professional Certificate and present a case study applying ethical decision-making frameworks while using CRM tools. Grading could focus on both technical competency and ethical analysis.
10. Exploring a Student-Centric Approach: In a STEM course focused on innovation, faculty could offer the AWS Cloud Technology Consultant Professional Certificate as an optional component or for internship credit. This would give students interested in cloud computing the flexibility to earn the microcredential while engaging with the course content.

Utilizing microcredentials to S.K.I.L.L. (Strengthening Knowledge through Industry-Linked Learning), can provide learners with industry-recognized skills that complement their degrees. Microcredentials offer a way for those who want to be lifetime earners to boost their earning potential while developing lifelong learners who can adapt to a constantly changing job market.

I recently completed my 20th professional certificate through Coursera in my journey to better understand industry-linked learning. This process has been more than just acquiring certifications; it has been an opportunity to dive deep into industry content, challenge my own perspectives on learning design and explore how higher education can better connect academic theory with practical, professional skills. Looking ahead, I am eager to help colleges and universities expand the integration of industry-learning into academic courses, conduct research to measure impacts on student outcomes and engage in meaningful conversations about the evolving role of microcredentials in higher education.

Elizabeth Robertson Hornsby is a Coursera Contributor and Adjunct Professor at Southern University at New Orleans. Coursera was launched in 2012 by two Stanford Computer Science professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. It is now one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 162 million registered learners as of September 30, 2024. Coursera partners with over 350 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, Guided Projects, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Institutions around the world use Coursera to upskill and reskill their students, employees, and citizens in fields such as data science, technology, and business. Coursera became a Delaware public benefit corporation and a B Corp in February 2021.

In 2025, online, professional, and continuing education leaders are navigating a challenging yet transformative period. Rising demands for skills-based, flexible learning are matched by an increasingly competitive landscape. 

Today’s adult learners, who often balance work and study, seek programs that offer immediate value, clear career pathways, and lifelong learning opportunities. As traditional degree enrollment declines, institutions must adapt to meet the needs of career-focused, working learners and help them differentiate themselves in the job market. 

Below, we share five data-backed strategies for attracting more learners, engaging and reenrolling alums, and boosting your program’s brand awareness. Based on data from the State of Credentialing Report — with tips and examples from leaders at Syracuse University, Penn State University, George Washington University, and MIT Professional Education — these strategies equip you to thrive in 2025 by delivering relevant, accessible, and career-driven learning experiences.

5 Big Wins For Your Learners and Your Institution

1. Make the Career Value of Your Credentials Clear

What the Data Say

For today’s learners, credentials must be more than just symbols of completion. They’re tools for career growth, skill demonstration, and differentiation in the job market. 

In our recent survey, 96% of digital credential earners found them valuable for their career prospects, and 78% felt they enhanced their chances of receiving a job offer.

However, there is still some confusion about digital credentials among learners. While learners didn’t have an instant preference for digital credentials, our data shows that they wanted everything that only digital credentials can provide:

• • Context: they contain metadata (i.e., an overview of acquired skills, evidence of what was learned and assessed, criteria for entry and earning)
  • Verifiability: they allow employers to confirm learners have earned the credential
  • Security: they can’t be faked or tampered with
  • Sharability: they can be easily shared on social media and added to LinkedIn profiles

This poses a significant opportunity for credential issuers — not only to maximize the value of their digital credentials via metadata but also to better communicate this value to learners. As Penn State University Assistant Teaching Professor of Economics Frank Sorokach points out, “Employers want to know what a badge tells them — about the student’s competency, the quality of the education they received, and the skills they have proven they have.”

What You Can Do

First, add as much relevant metadata as you can to your credentials. This allows employers to examine what the students have learned and how they’ve demonstrated their competency, increasing the chances they’ll land their dream job.

Syracuse University is a fantastic example of maximizing metadata. As shown below, each of their credentials:

• Has a detailed description of the course or workshop, cluing employers into what, exactly, the student learned
• Is tagged with specific skills and knowledge that the recipient gleaned from the course
• Shows students how and where to share
• Clearly display a verification badge, issue date, and expiration date
• Links to more information about the School and its curriculum

After your metadata is in place, focus on educating your learners — why should they care about your digital credentials? Make the value clear on your program page(s) and in credential delivery emails. Here are strategies we’ve seen work well:

• Sharing stats on how digital credentials have helped learners advance their careers
• Shouting out students who share their credentials on LinkedIn
• Adding short videos or testimonials from learners who used credentials in their job search
• Explaining digital credential security features to emphasize their trustworthiness
• Providing tips for incorporating digital credentials in job applications and professional profiles

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is a great example of an organization that does this well on its program page. The value of its credentials is front and center on its program page, and each section gives learners even more reason to accept and share their badges.

2. Give Learners the Education They Want

What the Data Says

Today’s learners crave a curriculum that prepares them for the challenges they’ll face in their professional careers. 

The State of Credentialing report revealed that 92% of learners want projects and assessments as part of their coursework, and 97% want a series of linked modules (e.g., courses or microcredentials) to help them master a topic and apply that knowledge to real-world scenarios.

Unfortunately, what learners want to see in their courses doesn’t align with what education institutions provide. Just 29% of credential issuers have learning pathways, and only 34% have built-in assignments and tests.

What You Can Do

Addressing these gaps may seem daunting, but you can start by breaking down existing courses into focused skill modules and integrating existing content like seminars and guides. Pairing these materials with hands-on projects and assessments within a structured pathway allows for a flexible, comprehensive learning experience that builds skills progressively through interconnected microcredentials.

Helping learners visualize their learning pathway and awarding digital credentials along the journey will increase learner retention and application, encourage them to keep going, and reward them for staying the course.

UiPath’s Specialized AI Pathway, for example, clearly outlines each Pathway requirement, allowing learners to choose between several different courses (and even optional courses) to suit their specific needs.

Educational publisher McGraw Hill assesses students’ knowledge before their course of study, then takes them through targeted lessons based on those results, inserting hands-on activities and quizzes along the way. As Bob Nisbet, Senior Marketing Manager at McGraw Hill, emphasizes, “We’ve found this makes learning more efficient and effective. Students know exactly what skills they need to acquire and can track their progress along the way.”

3. See Credentials as a Marketing Flywheel

What the Data Says

94% of education providers who have adopted digital credentials report a positive impact on their organization, and the most significant benefit they cited was increased credential sharing online. Why? Because it’s essentially free advertising.

In an era of rising learner acquisition costs, enabling learners to share their credentials online boosts brand awareness and, in turn, program referrals. As Myriam Joseph, Assistant Director of Marketing and Business Development at MIT Professional Education, explains, “If you admire someone and you see they just completed a certificate that everyone is raving about on social, you’re going to want to know more.”

Yet most institutions overlook this powerful organic marketing channel — only 1 in 3 sends a reminder to students to open credentials and share them. 44% of issuers report doing nothing to recognize or reward learners who share their credentials.

What You Can Do

Encouraging credential shares can establish your credential as a “must-have,” remind past learners to enroll in new courses, and attract more interest from new learners. 

But learners have a lot on their plates — one email explaining how to share their credentials isn’t going to prompt action. The most successful credentialing programs do four things:

1. Provide guidance on how learners can use their credentials.
2. Explain why they should share them.
3. Use learner engagement strategies that encourage sharing.
4. Engage and reward learners who share their credentials online.

An easy way to knock out all four? Accredible’s Email Campaigns.

Thomas Mastro, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Planning at The George Washington University’s College of Professional Studies, saw the value right away: “Because a large majority of our student population are working professionals, many of them are active on LinkedIn. Adding badges and certificates to their LinkedIn page is impactful in the sense that then their networks will see, and possibly engage in, our programming.”

He and his team deployed a Credential View Reminder, sent one week after a “Congratulations, here is your badge” email, and a LinkedIn Share Reminder, sent one month later to remind students to share their certificates on LinkedIn.

A strategic email reminder sample highlighted in Unlock the Power of Email Campaigns

These strategic email reminders alone increased the University’s LinkedIn profile credential add rate by 133% and its LinkedIn share rate by 580%. Thomas plans to launch more Campaigns, pinging students who get halfway through sharing their certification (to push them to follow through) or emailing past learners when new coursework rolls out (to increase reenrollment).

4. Keep Learner Engagement Going

What the Data Says

According to the State of Credentialing report, more than 9 out of 10 learners plan to take more courses and are actively looking for recommendations from their education providers. However, 1 in 4 don’t follow through because they don’t know what to take.

Our data also suggests that learners are looking for ways to leverage their credentials for future opportunities. 84% of learners report wanting to be included in an online directory, yet only 35% of issuers provide the opportunity.

This tells us that issuers are missing a significant opportunity to meet learner expectations post-course completion to retain them and help connect them with future opportunities.

What You Can Do

First, review all of your existing courses and determine what the next step for your learners would be. Myriam at MIT Professional Education did just that, examining 50 of the program’s top courses, noting the course or certificate learners should aim to take next, and including them in the earned digital credential emails.

The team also provides course recommendations via Accredible’s Recommendations on digital credential pages (its own and other issuers’ pages) and prominently at the top of CourseFinder, a credential directory and course search platform. In doing so, MIT Professional Education better markets its courses to new and existing learners, generating additional program enrollment and revenue.

With Recommendations, MIT Professional Education has generated over 5 million impressions with current and future learners — generating over 18,500 additional program referrals. 

“Since we’ve started using Recommendations, we’ve seen a lot more learners who earned credentials take additional courses,” says Myriam. “When we started, we had around 35% of learners return, but now we’re over 50% taking additional courses.”

Accredible’s Spotlight Directory is another way for learners to maximize their credentials. Wharton Executive Education built a “Wharton Talent Network” to showcase alumni who’ve earned credentials, with a short description of their professional experience, work availability, and links to their social media profiles. Employers can filter results by credentials, skills, or even location to home in on highly qualified candidates for specific roles.

5. Make Metrics Your North Star

What the Data Says

It’s hard to know what learners want without a direct line of sight into learner data. Yet only 54% of issuers track which learners complete a course, and a mere 23% track which learners take additional courses.

Less than 50% track what content or courses learners are most engaged with, which learners are most engaged, course completion time, and where learners drop off – all critical data points for enhancing the learner experience.

Worse, only 13% of issuers track program referrals from shared credentials. If they still use paper or PDF certificates, tracking how and how often they are shared is nearly impossible.

What You Can Do

As a marketer, Myriam Joseph, the Assistant Director of Marketing and Business Development at MIT Professional Education, immediately saw their certificate program as a way to amplify MIT’s exceptional network. However, to get learners to share, she had to see what was happening behind the scenes and modify her marketing strategies accordingly.

She and her team used Accredible’s analytics to:

• Monitor open rates, following up with the students who hadn’t yet opened their certificates
• Track credential shares, engaging with students who posted about their accomplishments on LinkedIn
• Follow credential referrals, determining which courses were most intriguing to potential learners

At the same time, Myriam made it easy for potential learners to explore added courses, taking them straight from a student’s credential LinkedIn post to their course catalog.

“We made it easy for them to learn more about that program and bring them back to our website,” she says. “But most importantly, we worked with Accredible to add tracking to all of these actions so that we can measure them. And we were able to see how many new people came in through Accredible and entered our lead pipeline so we could nurture those learners.”

Since shifting to digital credentials and optimizing the MIT Professional Education program, Myriam and her team have issued over 75,000 digital certificates, hit a consistent 90% open rate, boosted credential referrals by over 55%, and increased LinkedIn share rates by a staggering 280%.

Where to Go Next

The strategies outlined in this playbook aren’t just theoretical — they’re proven approaches used by leading education programs to drive growth and engagement.

Remember, transforming your program isn’t about making radical changes overnight. It’s about strategic, data-driven evolution that keeps your learners’ career needs at the center of everything you do.

The institutions that will thrive in 2025 will be those that view their programs not just as educational offerings but as dynamic career development platforms.

Here’s to making 2025 your best year yet!

About Rochelle Ramirez

Rochelle Ramirez is the Senior Vice President of Product at Accredible, the world’s leading digital credential platform. She has helped hundreds of organizations achieve their credentialing goals through her strategic market thinking, execution, and leadership. In her various product leadership roles over the past two decades, she has harnessed her passion for innovation to help clients solve their most demanding business challenges. Connect with Rochelle on LinkedIn.