Competition for students in the digital era: scientific disciplines as drivers of study program innovation in Swiss higher education

Abstract Competition between universities has become more intense and multilevel in recent years. Whereas previous studies have mainly looked at multilevel competition in research, this paper investigates competition among universities in academic teaching related to digital transformation. We use a database of study programs on digitalization offered by Swiss universities between 2017 and 2023 to examine the levels at which competition for students occurs. Results show that most competition is found within scientific disciplines, with weaker forms of competition observed at the university, canton, and university type levels. The number of digitalization-related study programs offered in a discipline at a specific university increases significantly if the number of such programs increases in that discipline at other universities. The findings suggest that disciplines are significant drivers of new degree programs in digitalization because program innovation happens at the department and faculty levels rather than the university level. Although all types of universities are positioning themselves for digital transformation in teaching, universities of applied sciences are proving particularly entrepreneurial in creating new offerings. The study highlights that competition for students is intensifying due to digitalization, changing student demands, and demographic trends, which may lead to a new market segmentation in which universities increasingly specialize in disciplines in which they excel.