Distance education changed the competitive environment in each of the states by expanding the traditional markets of colleges and universities, and this expansion enabled campuses to better serve working adults and those geographically isolated from a campus. Distance Education and Competition- Epper uses a classic business marketing model to explain the changes in the competitive environment. She states that traditional higher education is a product-oriented organization that focuses its energy on making a good product or competent graduate. The goal is customer satisfaction. Minnesota used the coordinating style by connecting numerous distance education networks around the state into a regionally-based Minnesota Learning Network.
Maine fits the comprehensive policy- tight coupling.
There appears to be a relationship between the policy approach to distance education and the student population group served. On the other end of the continuum was the Maine Educational Network and Colorado Electronic Community College serving students attempting to complete their first and second year of college. She further suggests that the underlying rationale for public investment in and coordination of distance education is that individual institutional and private sector solutions can lead to picking the most attractive and profitable courses and programs, without regard to meeting the public good- academic capitalism. In each case, the distance education programs in some way challenged the traditional statewide governance structure. The market orientation changes the focus of how innovation happens on college campuses.