“Ed Tech” in US Higher Ed

Traditionally, education technology (ed tech) referred to just those technologies that facilitate teaching and learning activities. Today, ed tech includes education-specific technologies that support a wide range of academic or institutional needs, from registration to graduation and beyond. 

Ed tech solutions can be broadly categorized according to their function, which is often aligned with internal campus responsibilities or administrative ownership:

1. Administrative Technology (admin tech) enables efficient administration and management of the institution, including resources, workflows, constituents, and data. These solutions are used primarily by administrators and staff, but students may also interface with them. Examples: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Student Information System (SIS), Curriculum Management, Catalog.
2. Academic Technology (academic tech) facilitates or enhances teaching and learning activities. These solutions are used primarily by teachers and students. Examples: Learning Management System (LMS), Virtual Classroom, ePortfolio.
3. Student Experience technologies enable, support, or enhance the student experience, typically outside of the classroom. These are used primarily by students and staff,  and may address campus engagement, health and wellness, advising and counseling, on-time graduation, career placement, etc. 

These first three major categories are all typically marketed to institutions (B2B). There are two additional categories that both focus on students as the buyer:

4. Learning Content includes digital content, primarily e-texts or online learning materials that are used by students and teachers in their courses, but are primarily purchased by students through the institution (i.e. B2B2C). 
5. Study Support includes learning-focused technologies that are marketed directly to students regardless of their college or university. Examples: tutoring, writing tools, flashcards. 

Size of the Ed Tech Market in US Higher Ed

Though there is no single, reliable source on US higher ed’s ed tech spending, we can estimate it by using multiple data sources.

Excluding non-ed tech IT expenditures (e.g. networking, computers, productivity software, and, of course, staff) as well as student expenditures on content or study support, we estimate that US HEIs spent between $3.8 – 5.5 billion on ed tech in 2022-23.  This constitutes 16-21% of the total IT spend in higher ed.

This means an estimated $134-183 per student FTE was spent on non-administrative ed tech (ed tech not used primarily by staff for institutional administration).

NOTE: These figures are estimates based on best available data and research at the time of publication. Always conduct your own research and/or engage reputable sources before making investment decisions.

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