The dominance that for-profit colleges enjoy in online education may erode as nonprofit institutions press forward in the marketplace and take advantage of their traditional assets, according to a new report by Eduventures. The education-consulting firm, which is based in Boston, found that typical advantages held by traditional institutions, such as name recognition and geographic dominance, still influence students' decisions about where to go to college, even in the online market. That may seem counterintuitive, said Richard Garrett, a program director and senior research analyst at Eduventures. Online education allows students to take courses from nearly anywhere in the world at their own convenience and geography should not be a factor, he said. But even as the regional flavor of online education expands to a national scope, nonprofit colleges will still have a leg up on the competition, given their history and reputations. People tend to trust longstanding institutions, with years of experience, over new businesses that spring up, Mr. Garrett said.