IGNOU Goes Euro, US Next?

[Don Dresden]

Not responding to e-mails or inquiries is typical of many Indian Universities....Indian Universities are mostly mostly government-owned, and are not for-profits.

You are clearly stating a point we make around here often. When the government holds a monopoly, or near-monopoly, they have no need to respond or adapt to the needs of their customers. Their attitude is, “If you want to know something, drag your ass down here to the study center and when we get around to it we might tell you, if you’re nice.” It’s just like the post office, the DMV or any other government office.

On the other hand, when there is competition any prospective student who isn’t happy with the level of customer service can take his tuition money elsewhere. In a competitive environment even government schools have to return emails and respond timely to student inquiries, and if they don’t there are plenty of others who will.

So the problem IGNOU faces when they run their shit attitude out into a competitive marketplace is that students who weren’t raised on the “take it or leave it” attitude of Indian government schools are going to tell them to drive it back to India and park it.