Corporate universities is a new segment in distance education. This once forgotten sector is now being heavily targeted because corporate types fit the characteristic profile for successful distance learners almost perfectly. The profile of a distance learners in a study conducted by the Institute of Higher Education Policy (1999) revealed that many had similar characteristics, which were strongly correlated with student success. The characteristics listed were:
- Married students
- Female students
- Students rated themselves highly on various measures of persistence related to taking on new projects
- Students who rated the consequences of not passing "serious"
- Students who rate their chances of success in their studies higher than non-competitors
- Students who did not need support from others to complete difficult tasks and did not find it important to discuss work with other students
- Students with high literacy levels
- Students who rated themselves as well organized in terms of time management skills and said they generally had the time to do what they intended to do
- Students who rated their formal and informal learning to be high in terms of preparing themselves for university studies
(Brogan, 2002)
Corporate universities are valuable because of the role it plays in the bringing about positive behavior and ability changes. Vitiello, Computer World, suggests that there are two general indicators that measure how well corporate universities do. "The first measurement is, do the managers come back to the center willingly for more training? And the second is, do headhunters come to Boeing to recruit executives for other companies?"
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