The demand for postsecondary education is growing rapidly around the world. Driving this explosive demand for university-level education are a number of interrelated factors, including:

• The Rising Middle Class
  Around the world, rising GDPs and GDPs per capita are producing larger populations of middle class citizens who seek advanced education opportunities for themselves and their children.

• Growing Populations of School-Aged Youth
  In many countries, particularly in Latin America and Asia, the populations of young people, and their participation in higher education, are rapidly increasing.

• Human Capital Needs of Service Economies
  As businesses and economies around the world become increasingly reliant on the services sector, they require significant investment in human capital, and the advanced education and training needed to produce knowledgeable professionals.

• Education as a Lifelong Pursuit
  The dramatic increase in the numbers of what the U.S. Department of Education calls “non-traditional” university students—typically older, with full-time jobs and, often, family commitments—is producing strong demand for convenient, online degree programs among working adults and professionals, particularly in the United States, and, increasingly, in other parts of the world as well.

• Governments Unable to Fully Fund Public Universities
  In many countries worldwide, public universities are under-funded by national and local governments, and are unable to meet growing demand. This, in turn, offers opportunities for private institutions to build capacity.