History of Distance Learning

A college degree has become an invaluable credential for a rapidly increasing number of professions. In fact, in most fields the absence of a degree can stunt an otherwise promising career. Unfortunately for many thousands of working adults, the commitments involved in maintaining a career, along with the pressures and demands of family life, form virtually insurmountable obstacles to returning to school to earn the degree they need. Recognizing this dilemma, many fully accredited colleges and universities now offer a wide variety of nontraditional programs leading to bachelor's or master's degrees that do not place the usual time and residence demands on adult learners. These are external and nontraditional programs that culminate in the awarding of bachelor's and advanced degrees that allow you to do most or all of your work at home, at times that are convenient to you. Many degree programs offered by accredited universities now use correspondence courses, televised courses, online courses, proficiency examinations, independent study projects, and numerous other methods of learning outside the traditional classroom environment. The opportunity for adults to further their formal education has never been better then it is now. In recent years, colleges and universities throughout the country have expanded their services in an effort to attract new students. As they did this, educators became aware of an entirely new type of prospective student. This is the person who, for any of a variety of reasons, is unable to attend formal scheduled classes-often an adult who is raising a family. Commitments to job, home, and family prevent these individuals from achieving the level of formal education they want and need.

In response to the needs of these people, educational institutions began to modify the traditional class schedule. Evening and weekend classes soon became a regular part of the instructional offerings at most colleges and universities. Adults flocked to them in numbers that almost overwhelmed many schools. It quickly became obvious that these colleges had begun to tap a huge source of students. Many of these new students, however, were disenchanted with what they found in the classroom. Experienced adults found themselves forced to sit through classes on subjects that they knew as well as, or even better than, their instructors. Business executives with no formal education in finance, accounting, labor relations, or other subjects related to their careers discovered that the knowledge they had gained while earning a living was equivalent to or sometimes more extensive than that offered in college courses they were taking. For many, this adversely affected their motivation. Some dropped out of the classes from boredom, while other trudged through, doing time so they could earn credits toward their degrees. Self-motivation was a primary mover among those students enrolled in these continuing education classes. Teaching them what they already knew was not the answer to their needs. Scheduling was also a problem for many adult students who were forced to miss classes because of work requirements such as late hours or travel. Another solution was needed. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, a major step was taken to deal with adult learners who had acquired knowledge comparable to that realized through a college course. This was the introduction of examinations that tested and evaluated a person's knowledge and equated it to college learning. The results individuals achieved on these examinations could earn them college-level credits equal to those they would have earned if they had attended classes and passed end-of-term examinations. Actually, this was an innovation only in the United States. Many old and famous European institutions of higher learning had followed this practice for years. Earning credits, or even a degree, depended not on the amount of time you spent in a classroom but on the knowledge you demonstrated in an examination. Imaginative educators in the U.S. began to experiment with these examinations and other nontraditional ways to earn college level credits. Soon it became possible for individuals to earn a substantial portion of the credits required for a degree through these methods.

The next step, and a major breakthrough for persons who desired a college degree but who found regular class attendance difficult, came in September 1970. During his inauguration that month as president of the University of the State of New York and as state commissioner of education, Ewald B. Nyquist suggested the establishment of the Regents External Degree Program under the sponsorship of the Board of Regents of the university. With the endorsement of that body, the first truly external degree program in the United States became available. In 1972, the Regents External Degree Program conferred degrees on seventy-seven graduates. That program, now known as Regents College, has since awarded over 55,000 degrees to graduates from every state in the union and dozens of countries around the world. And Regents College is only one among the distinguished group of colleges and universities offering external degree programs. There are numerous ways in which you can earn college credits without attending classes. Among the nontraditional methods are proficiency examinations, which test your knowledge of a specific subject and compare it to the knowledge one would acquire attending a traditional college class on the same subject; experiential learning, which is learning acquired through the activities of your life, such as work, hobbies, reading, travel, and so on; correspondence courses, which permit you to bring a college class into your home so you can study at times and places convenient to you; and noncollegiate education, which might be company training programs, courses taken during military service, or courses offered by labor unions, a local museum or library, or dozens of other sources of knowledge you might not normally think could lead to earning college credits toward your degree. These programs allow you to go online and receive course materials, messages, and evaluations from your professors at your personal computer. Many of these programs have a conferencing system that allows you to "talk" with fellow students almost as if you were all in the same room, and because most information is stored in electronic mailboxes, you can all talk to each other asynchronously, that is, at different times of the day, to suit the convenience of the sender and the receiver. The use of personal computers to take college classes and even earn degrees is rapidly spreading through academia. So, if you own a computer and have access to the Internet, you may find that at least some, if not all, the courses you need to earn your degree can be taken through your computer.

Not many years ago, earning an academic degree without spending a great deal of time in college or university classrooms was virtually impossible. Within the past two decades, however, dramatic changes in the delivery of educational services have occurred. A transformation has come about not only in the basic concept of how a quality education can be provided, but also in who provides it and where and how the process takes place. Traditional colleges and universities have become increasingly aggressive in their pursuit of students. A glance through almost any newspaper will yield several advertisements from local colleges. Most are aimed at adults, enticing them to enroll for the first time or to return to college. They offer help in achieving career-advancement goals, making career changes, or generally improving one's life through study. The less than-promising supply of new high school graduates has made working adults the new clientele, eagerly sought after by institutions of higher education. The number of adults returning to the educational process has been so great and has had such impact on the system that it has spawned an entire generation of educators devoted to alternative and continuing education to serve them. Because these students bring with them the problems and responsibilities of adulthood, most are insistent that their educational programs meet their needs, in terms of both what is taught and when and where it is taught. The proliferation of weekend and evening courses and the use of off-campus facilities give clear evidence that colleges and universities are expanding their traditional schedules to meet the demands of adult educational consumers. Colleges and universities now regularly conduct their classes in union halls, high schools, storefront classrooms, and other nontraditional places where learners can gather comfortably.

More than class schedules have been altered, however, by the rising number of adult students. Adults are eager to play a major role in developing their own educational programs and are prepared to switch schools when they feel their needs are not being met. They are serious about their education and expect the school to which they pay their money to be serious about it, too. The response to this consumer awareness in higher education has been a sharing of responsibility between the school and the student in developing the student's educational plan. For example, those students enrolled in the College of New Rochelle's School of New Resources, which specializes in higher education for adults, are required to attend two degree-planning seminars. One is scheduled when the student has earned 30 credits and the other after 60 credits. With the aid of an academic advisor, each student develops a degree plan based on personal needs. These plans are intended to help students chart their own academic careers. Many of the institutions offering external degree programs, including several with online programs, require students to work with faculty advisors to design their own degree plans. Dean Margaret Olson of Empire State College points to two illustrations of the impact that adults have had on higher education. First, college applications rarely include space anymore for the name of one's high school guidance counselor. Second, most colleges no longer require that all students enroll in at least one physical education course. With adult learners representing a multibillion-dollar business, it was only a matter of time until traditional colleges and universities would be confronted by competition from outside the educational community. Although corporations and industries have traditionally conducted internal training programs for their own employees, that sort of training began growing considerably during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1985, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching estimated that expenditures for these programs exceeded $60 billion a year. Although the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a negative impact on that expenditure, it remains a substantial amount. A new twist on this type of training is the establishment of degree-granting institutions that are affiliated with established business corporations. A Carnegie Foundation study released in 1985 found eighteen corporate or industry associations awarding academic degrees that were-or soon would be regionally accredited.

The bottom line of all this activity is that higher education has become a more flexible process. This flexibility does not reflect a decline in the quality of the education or in the value of academic credentials earned through nontraditional methods. If anything, it has helped to bring the process closer to the realities of life encountered by students and graduates. Among the most important changes resulting from this flexibility is the recognition that learning takes place in many environments, not just in the classroom. This recognition, coupled with the increased demands of individuals seeking academic credit for knowledge they have already acquired, or can acquire, outside the classroom, gave birth to a new field of alternative higher education. As a result, a person can now earn a bachelor's, a master's, or even a doctoral degree from an accredited institution located on hundreds of acres of manicured lawns with thousands of students h attendance, without ever stepping foot onto the campus to attend a class. These colleges include esteemed state-supported universities and highly regarded private institutions. A rapidly increasing number of them are making use of online courses and online programs. Several hundred more colleges, while not offering external degree programs, do provide adult learners with formal but nontraditional methods of earning credits toward a degree. Each year, thousands of adults earn bachelor's degrees through external and other nontraditional programs. A federally funded survey found that more than half the graduates from external undergraduate degree programs go on to advanced degree study. Joining these external degree program graduates are other adults, already engaged in their professional careers, returning to the education process to broaden their knowledge and improve their credentials. It was only logical that these adult learners would bring other changes into the process of earning a college degree. Working men and women are usually unable to step out of the employment market for several years to attend a school; few can afford the out-of-pocket costs and the loss of immediate income involved in such a commitment. Many colleges and universities responded by scheduling degree programs based on evening and weekend classes and by creating external undergraduate and graduate degree programs. As more businesses and other organizations require job candidates to hold degrees for higher paying positions, many individuals who never attended college or never completed the requirements for a degree recognize the need to upgrade their educational credentials. For many people, a college degree has become necessary if they are to achieve their career goals. However, the need to continue active employment combined with job and family responsibilities precludes most adults from attending school full-time. The external degree programs are helping to alleviate this frequent and frustrating problem. The Oxford American Dictionary defines a degree as "an academic rank awarded to a person who has successfully completed a course of study." Good's Dictionary of Education says that an academic degree "is conferred by an institution of higher education, regardless of the field of study." The first recorded reference to an academic degree dates to midtwelfth-century Italy, when the University of Bologna conferred a doctorate. The use of degrees soon spread among the principal European universities, where bachelorships, masterships, and doctorates were the most commonly awarded. The University of Bologna's first doctorates were in civil law. Later, doctorates in canon law and divinity were added, followed in the thirteenth century by medicine, grammar, logic, and philosophy. Two centuries later, the universities at Oxford and Cambridge in England conferred doctorates in music. Degrees began to proliferate until there were 633 in use by universities of the British Commonwealth in the mid-twentieth century.

Harvard College was the first American institution to confer a degree. Because most of its founders and governing board members were graduates of Cambridge, it was natural that they should follow the British custom. The pattern they set eventually spread to other American colleges and universities. Now this process has arrived at an educational system designed to meet the needs of adult students in the twenty-first century. The most recent manifestation of this continuing evolvement is the online external degree program. In truth, there are no external degrees; there are only external degree programs. The diploma you earn through the colleges and universities sponsoring the programs reviewed is identical in every way to the diploma awarded to graduates of the traditional classroom-based programs of those institutions. No institution to my knowledge inserts the words "external degree" on any degree they confer. The only difference between a college degree earned through traditional, or "regular," class attendance and one earned through an online or other external degree program is found in the methods used to earn the required number of college-level credits. A degree awarded by an external degree program is one that can be earned with little or no time in formal classes. All, or most, learning takes place through nontraditional methods, such as online. All the degrees explained in this site are awarded by institutions of higher learning that have been granted a form of recognition known as accreditation. This recognition can be one of the most important aspects of your college degree. Some people who enroll in external degree programs never complete the requirements for the degree they seek. This is because they entered the program under the impression that it was an easy way to earn a college degree. For most people, this is not the case. To be a successful online student you must be well motivated and have enough self-discipline to alter your current life-style to meet the demands of studying and taking exams. It may be less time-consuming than traditional degree routes, but it is not necessarily easier. It may be especially difficult for those who require the competition of a classroom environment or the close attention of an instructor to do well.

You may encounter a number of unfamiliar terms and phrases when taking online college courses or pursuing a college degree through online courses or other nontraditional methods. The most common of these are external degree program, nontraditional or innovative program (both presently used interchangeably to describe a wide range of programs), and alternative education. What one institution calls its "independent study program," another characterizes as "nontraditional." Two programs that have little relationship to each other in their mode of operation can both be portrayed as "nonresidential." In most institutions that offer them, independent study programs are based on credit-bearing correspondence courses. Unfortunately, the term is also used to describe programs that incorporate no correspondence courses. Some colleges shun the term "correspondence courses," preferring instead to call their courses that operate in the identical way as "distance learning courses," or "faculty directed courses," or a half dozen other terms. This is a program in which the individual student plays a role in developing the curriculum, and the program is not based on typical class participation but recognizes learning acquired in other environments. What constitutes "class participation," however, remains vague in many cases. Some so-called external degree programs require the participant to attend so many classes or seminars that the institution has stretched the term beyond recognition. On the other hand, there are programs called "independent" or "innovative" that are actually full-fledged external degree programs, many requiring no time on campus at all. Alternative education is also a term that has been too broadly applied, although less so because it is difficult to label a course based on class attendance as alternative, although some have tried. Alternative education is a form of learning that substitutes for traditional classroom education. A correspondence course, tutorial, off-campus seminar, independently conducted research project, guided self-study, and internship can all justifiably classified as methods of alternative education, as can the use of proficiency examinations.

Another form of learning that can only be classified as alternative education is experiential. It takes place outside any formal program Sometimes called life experience, it consists of learning you have acquire from your job, hobby, reading, noncredit courses, volunteer work, c virtually any other activity that has increased your knowledge. Thos institutions willing to recognize the value of that learning will grant college-level credits for it following an assessment of your knowledge, not your experience. The assessment is used to determine what you hay learned from your experiences and whether that learning is equivalent t what you would have been expected to learn from a more formal structured form of education, such as a college course. This is explained in detail later. Alternative education encompasses all learning methods other than the traditional but provides a comparable level of knowledge. An alternative education program, if named properly, is one in which all, or a substantial amount, of the learning takes place other than through traditional class instruction. As you can see, a measure of imprecision characterizes the terminology used by colleges, universities, and graduate schools to describe program that are not based on traditional residential study. The difference between these two classifications is the amount of time participant is required to spend in classes, or in residence. Some extern degree programs have no residency requirements at all; others stipulate minimal amount of time that participants must spend at seminars planning sessions. If the time one is required to spend at the school either of short duration or can be arranged in such a manner that it would compatible with the schedules of most working people, that program included in this site. Also included are programs requiring on-campus time long enough to interfere with the typical work schedule but still short enough to make the program attractive to those readers whose schedules are either substantially different or more flexible than the average. Until there is more uniformity in the definitions of these terms, all of them will continue to be subject to misuse. Independent study is really a form of learning that the student accomplishes basically alone, without a face-to-face instructor or a formal classroom environment. Online courses and correspondence courses are two forms of independent study. Nonresidential programs are those that do not require students to be in residence at the sponsoring institution. A nontraditional program is one that offers a mode of learning that is different from the traditional classroom method. Unfortunately, the blurred lines among these programs continue to create confusion, which in turn is compounded by the occasional complete misuse of a term, such as when a college describes a program that requires fifty percent of a student's time be spent attending on-campus classes as "nonresidential."

With the exception of the military academies and certain institutions in the District of Columbia, authorization for the operation of a degree-granting college or university is the responsibility of the individual states. The requirements of each state for the approval of college charters vary widely. Some states, most notably New York, are extremely strict when it comes to authorizing the awarding of an academic degree. Unfortunately, though, many states have little or no real control over the independent degree-granting institutions that operate within their borders. Potential participants in a nontraditional educational program must be concerned about the validity and recognition of the academic credentials earned. The examples of two states, New York and California, show wide differences in the way in which states grant authority to institutions of higher education. New York exercises tight control over all educational institutions through the University of the State of New York. This university is an umbrella organization that includes all public and independent colleges and universities, elementary and secondary schools, libraries, museums, historical societies, other educational agencies within the state, and any other organization that describes itself as "educational." Established in 1784, the University of the State of New York is presided over by the Board of Regents, which "determines the State's educational policies, establishes standards for maintaining quality in the schools, incorporates colleges and universities, approves and supervises academic programs leading to college degrees, licenses and establishes standards for most professions, and confers diplomas and degrees." All institutions of higher education must meet the same standards established by the Board of Regents in order to operate in the state. California approaches higher educational institutions differently. For years it used a multilevel system for permitting the granting of degrees. The superintendent of public instruction classified a college or university as "exempt" (usually religious), "accredited," "approved," or "authorized." This situation made the state the home for a wide variety of unaccredited schools, including several excellent nontraditional colleges, but it also became the headquarters for hundreds of diploma mills and other questionable operations. Under pressure caused by numerous news stories, the state took some steps to clean up its act, but they were tentative and have not yet had substantial results. California appears to have been replaced as the home of diploma mills by Hawaii, which has been lax in regulating schools of any type, including those operating out of secretarial services and spare bedrooms. A review of the various state laws and regulations concerning the operation of private and independent degree-granting institutions and the widespread apparent lack of educational standards aimed at protecting students makes it clear that potential participants in nontraditional graduate and undergraduate programs must be sure that the school in which they enroll is legitimate and that the degree they earn will be recognized as a valuable result of a worthwhile education.

An institution's accreditation may indeed be one of the most important factors you consider when selecting any college or university. Not only is it important to know that a school is accredited; you will also want to know who accredited it. It is not uncommon for diploma mill operators to create their own accrediting authority for the sole purpose of granting a worthless accreditation to their phony "college." Being able to claim that their school is "fully accredited" surely does not hurt sales. When educators speak of accreditation, they are usually referring to recognition accorded by one of the accrediting associations that are in turn recognized by either the Council on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation (CORPA), a voluntary nongovernmental organization, or the U.S. Department of Education, through The Accrediting Agency Evaluation Branch of the Office of Postsecondary Education. This recognition of accrediting associations is used primarily to help establish eligibility for federal student aid programs. All accrediting associations are recognized by CORPA or the U.S. Department of Education, or both. CORPA was formed in 1975 by the merger of six accrediting organizations, including the Federation of Regional Accrediting Commissions of Higher Education and the National Commission on Accrediting. There are presently seventy accrediting bodies recognized by CORPA, and more than 4,000 institutions that are accredited or seeking accreditation by them. It is governed by a twenty-four-member board of directors. Members of the board represent the accrediting agencies, accredited institutions, educational associations, and the general public. The majority of institution-wide accrediting, meaning the accreditation of the school as a whole institution, is done by six regional accrediting associations, although some specialized schools are accredited by national accrediting bodies. Individual programs or departments within a college may be accredited by one of the specialized accrediting associations that are concerned with education leading to specific professions. In many professions, it is equally important, and sometimes of greater importance, that a specific program or department be accredited by the profession's accrediting body than the institution be regionally accredited. One of those regional bodies, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, through its Commission on Higher Education, defines accreditation as "an expression of confidence in an institution's mission and goals, performance and resources." It continues, "Accreditation rests on the integrity with which institutions conduct their educational endeavors and the policies they establish for ensuring their quality.

The process through which an institution receives accreditation is time-consuming and arduous one. It starts when the school makes written application to the appropriate regional or national association. Accreditation is strictly voluntary; no institution is required to participate, although it would seem rather foolish for any legitimate well-run school not to see] that recognition of its quality. Preliminary investigations of the school are conducted, followed b' visits from representatives of the regional associations. These representatives prepare written reports of their evaluations of specific areas, such a previous preparation of students, effectiveness of admissions procedures training and performance of the faculty and administrative officers, thy quality of the relationship between those two staffs, the fitness and rang of the curriculum in relation to the institution's stated goals, size an( suitability of the library, condition of the physical facilities, and financial resources of the school. During this process, the school moves through several stages until it reaches recognition as a "candidate for accreditation" and, finally, becomes an "accredited institution." Periodic visits are made to all accredited institutions to ensure that they continue to meet the association's standards. Every college or university that is accredited by a recognized accrediting association will state so in its catalog or descriptive brochure. The following is an example of an accreditation statement: "California State University Dominguez Hills is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges." In some professions, a degree from an accredited institution receive! only partial recognition if the department or program through which the degree was earned is not accredited by the appropriate specialized accrediting association.

Participating in a program sponsored by an institution that has not bee accredited by a recognized accrediting association is a decision only you can make. Remember that the process of accreditation can take sever years, so a fairly new school must operate without accreditation for that period. Remember, too, that accreditation, although of obvious value to a school, is purely voluntary. If, for whatever reason, you decide that your best opportunity to earn the degree you seek is from an unaccredited college or university, here are some steps you should take to be sure that you are dealing with a legitimate institution granting a degree that will be of value to you. Before beginning these steps, however, you must know how knowledgeable people in your chosen field perceive this school and its degrees. Often it is as important where you earned your degree as is the fact you earned it. First, contact the school and ask why it is not accredited. You may be told that accreditation has been applied for and is in the process of being secured. If so, find out which association is conducting the evaluation. But what about colleges and universities that acknowledge they are not accredited and have no desire to be? They may have a legitimate reason for not seeking accreditation or may have been refused accreditation for some reason that is acceptable to you. Do not hesitate to express your concern about the school's lack of accreditation, and do not be satisfied with an off-hand reply, such as "accreditation doesn't mean anything." It does. Remember, it is not just your money, time, and effort that you are investing in this school. A degree from a disreputable school can be damaging to your career. When you have received satisfactory responses to your questions on accreditation, go a step farther. Find out how many students are enrolled at the college, ask about the size and backgrounds of the faculty, learn how many graduates the school has had, and try to obtain the names and addresses of recent degree recipients in your field. Some institutions may have a policy against releasing this information, but if they recognize the concerns prospective students have about accreditation, they should change those policies so their graduates can attest to the quality of the education they received. If they do give you names, contact them.

If you are satisfied with the answers you receive, one final place to the for information is the agency responsible for regulating institutions higher education in the state in which the school is located. As mention earlier, a number of states maintain little control over independent college and universities, but it is worth asking them about the legal standing of t school and whether they have had any complaints about the institution Having earned it from an accredited department or program within accredited institution might be one of the most significant factors about your degree. Before considering an unaccredited school, take into consideration how others in your field or prospective employers will view your degree. Receiving an excellent education and a degree from an unaccredited institution may be of substantially less value if the professionals your field have lower regard for your degree than one earned from accredited school. The following list is divided into two categories: those associations that accredit an entire institution throughout the nation are listed first, f lowed by the regional associations that also accredit entire institutions, I only within their assigned regions. A third category, which is not include in this list, is associations that accredit specific departments or program within a college or university. This specialized accreditation is usually done by professional groups dedicated to maintaining the highest standards in the education of those entering their professions. Each of the following associations will send you, on request, a list o colleges, universities, and/or departments that have been accredited by them.