INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………

BACKGROUND AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ……………………..

STUDENT PROFILES ……………………………………………………………..

COURSES OF STUDY AVAILABLE BY DISTANCE EDUCATION …………..

Free-standing Degree Programs
Dual-mode Degree Programs

A DOUBLE GLASS CEILING …………………………………………………….

CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………………………

MEDIAGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………..

INTRODUCTION

This paper will, therefore, be a snapshot of some of the more important trends in distance education in the U.S. It will also highlight some of the leading edge programs that exist today or are near the point of being available to the public.

(Note: Throughout this paper, Universal Resource Locators (URLs) -- electronic addresses -- will be included to permit the reader to pursue additional information on sites and topics referenced. These URLs are valid Internet addresses as of March 1999. Due to the nature of the World Wide Web, and the re-structuring of Home Pages by Webmasters, the addresses might change by the time the reader seeks to access the referenced sites. If you get an "Error 404" or "Invalid Location" message when you try to access a site, try removing the last part of the address to at least get to the Home Page of the host organization.)

BACKGROUND AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

A few statistics about education in the United States will help provide a context for this discussion of virtual learning in the U.S. Contrary to what some might think, higher education is still not universal in the U.S. Of the 160 million adults in the U.S.:

54.8% have a high school diploma or less;

18.7% have some college but no degree;

19.3% have an Associate or Bachelor degree; and

7.2% have a graduate degree.

(These and the following statistics are taken from The Chronicle Of Higher Education Almanac, August 26, 1998)

Higher education in the U.S. is highly diversified. There are no "national" universities funded and operated by the federal government. (A few specialized institutions, such as Gallaudet College for the Deaf, receive a major portion of their funding from the government but are run as independent institutions.) In all, there are 4,009 IHEs in the U.S.: 1,701 public and 2,308 private. They enroll a total of 14,367,520 students (86% of which are at the undergraduate level), and employ a total of approximately 1,000,000 faculty members. The combined annual budgets of the IHEs is $183 billion. Aside from providing grants and guaranteed loans to needy students, the federal government spends $12.2 billion per year on research and development at universities. State governments provide a total of $52.5 billion in operating funds and student aid. Together, the IHEs award about 1.7 million undergraduate degrees and 518,000 graduate degrees each year.

By law and tradition, education in the United States has been a local and state responsibility. That is one reason why the U.S. has not had a nationwide institution equivalent to the British Open University. Although U.S. universities have, for years, drawn students from all over the country, their programs have been perceived as local and not national programs. Each institution is licensed in the state in which it operates and is accredited by a regional accreditation association. It is only in recent years, as institutions have begun to introduce distance education programs that do not honor traditional institutional boundaries (or even political boundaries), that this system of licensing and accreditation has been challenged.

A recent study by the Western Cooperative for Educational Communications (WCET), a program of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) (www.wiche.edu), documented the extent to which 1,400 of the nation's 3,000 colleges and universities offer distance education courses and programs. The study found that 79% of all the institutions offer one or more distance education course (broadly defined to include correspondence courses, telecourses, Web-based courses, site-to-site videoconferencing, and other delivery modes), and one-third offer one or more complete degree programs at a distance. Those data are consistent with the findings of other recent studies. Most of those institutions offering complete distance education program do so as an extension of their campus-based programs, which continue to dominate their mission.

Interest in virtual learning at the university level is so great that many traditional universities are rushing to create Web-based courses just so that they can say they are offering virtual learning opportunities. The interest has also spawned the development of a new monthly on-line journal, the Virtual University Gazette (www.geteducated.com/ vugaz.htm) that tracks new programs not only at universities but also those offered by the professions and business and industry. The Gazette is published by Vicky Phillips, CEO of Lifelong Learning (Waterbury, VT), a distance learning consulting firm.

Phillips has also co-authored, with Cindy Yager, The Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools, a 322-page publication that profiles 195 accredited graduate schools that offer complete degrees at a distance. Published by The Princeton Review and Random House Publishers, (www.randomhouse.com) the 1999 edition has several chapters of advice for the reader, on such topics as what to look for in distance education programs, how to select among delivery technologies, and how to seek financial aid to pay for the degree. The publication includes degree programs that are delivered through the Internet, videocassettes, audiocassettes, broadcast and cable television, and computer technologies. It also includes a chapter on corporate-sponsored graduate degree programs.
  
STUDENT PROFILES

The age of higher education students in the U.S. has changed dramatically over the years. Whereas the traditional age of 18 to 24 year-olds used to constitute almost the entire university population, it is now only slightly more than half. The 1995 breakdown (the latest year for which statistics are available) was:

56.5% of the higher education students were 18 to 24 year-olds;

39.5% were 25 to 49 year-olds; and

4.1% were over 50 years old.

(Note: I can probably tease a little more out of the data, such as full-time/part status.)

COURSES OF STUDY AVAILABLE BY OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION

Regents College

"We believe that what a person knows is more important than how or where that knowledge was gained. Since 1971, we have been providing adult learners the means to demonstrate and validate the learning they have achieved, whether by traditional college classroom study, college-level proficiency examinations, or evaluated military and industry training."

Regents grants its credits and degrees by evaluating the student's prior learning, offering exams for various courses, and "banking" credit earned through various other pathways. The College currently offers 30 Associate and Bachelor degrees in Business, Liberal Arts, Nursing, and Technology. A Master of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies has just been added.

A large portion of the Regents College student body is comprised of members of the U.S. military community. Because they are transferred often, military personnel have often found it difficult to pursue college degrees. Regents overcomes that barrier by recognizing credit earned at any U.S. regionally accredited IHE as well as training courses sponsored by the Department of Defense, other government agencies, and business and industry. Credit award is based on the recommendations of the American Council of Education (ACE), and the College awards over 50,000 college credits annually for military experience alone. Since 1971, over 79,000 adult learners have earned Regents College degrees, and more than 33,000 of those graduates (42%) are military service members.

Regents College currently enrolls approximately 17,400 students per year. About 11,000 of them are pursuing Nursing degrees (making Regents the largest Nursing program in the United States); 4,000 are in Liberal Arts; 1,300 are in Business, and 1,100 are in Technology.

Regents offers a wide range of support services for its students. Its "Electronic Peer Network" supports Discussion Groups (allowing members to participate in threaded discussions related to areas of study and special interests), Chat Rooms (allowing students to participate in real-time discussions with other students), and a Student Directory (facilitating contact among students). In development are a Book Exchange (allowing students to buy and sell used books for courses), a Message Board, and a Distance Learning Center (which will contain student ratings of distance courses and examinations taken from U.S. colleges and universities).

In recent years, Regents College has greatly expanded the availability of its course examinations by partnering with Sylvan Technology Centers. Through those Centers, Regents College exams are available six days per week throughout the United States and in Canada, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan (Northern Mariana Island), and the Virgin Islands. The College has also partnered with Specialty Books, one of the nation's leading collegiate bookstore operators, to provide its students with access to almost 600,000 course books and computer software that they can order by a toll-free phone call, with shipment promised within 24 hours.

Regents College is sensitive to the fact that most of its students are working people with limited resources. Accordingly, they try to keep their costs low. For instance, the current fee for evaluation of a potential student's prior learning portfolio is $150, and half of that will be credited toward enrollment fees if the student decides to enroll in the College.

National Technological University

By means of instructional television, professional workers can remain at their job sites and tune in to courses offered by top faculty and experts of the nations' leading engineering schools and other organizations. In 1996-97, they were able to choose from more than 500 academic courses providing 22,000 hours of instruction, plus another 500 days or 3,000 hours of continuing education. In that same year, 1,300 working professionals and managers were admitted to NTU degree programs. Continuing education enrollment exceeded 110,000.

NTU offers 14 master's degree programs designed specifically for technical professionals. It does not award bachelors or doctoral degrees. All academic courses offered by NTU are delivered on NTU's instructional television network via satellite to member organizations located around the world. There is no resident campus. There is a one-time fee for access to the NTU Network, which does not include the tuition and registration fees for courses taken at the site.

University Of Phoenix

Today, with over 53,000 students, the University of Phoenix promotes itself as the largest private accredited university for working adults. It has provided degree and certificate programs to more than 371,000 persons in the United States, Puerto Rico and dozens of foreign countries.

The cornerstone of the University of Phoenix's educational philosophy is the recognition of the distinction between the younger student (still deciding on a career) and the adult student (who has already established personal and professional goals). They have developed academic programs that allow mature students to benefit from the integration of work and school. Most of the University's faculty members are working practitioners, experts in their field.

The University of Phoenix offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs and certificate programs, many of them on-line. It has structured its courses so that students take one course each five to eight weeks because research shows that adults learn best in an atmosphere of concentrated immersion. The program runs throughout the calendar year, allowing students to start anytime at their convenience.

Courses are offered on-site at University of Phoenix learning centers situated in fourteen states several foreign countries, as well as through the World Wide Web.

The University of Phoenix is owned by the Apollo Group, a company that is listed on the NASDAQ stock market.

Western Governors University

Here is how Western Governors University (WGU) portrays itself to students:

WGU is a real university, just without a physical campus. What that means to our students is that there are no limits. You can take some of the best courses from institutions all across the country, all without ever leaving home!

One interesting aspect of Western Governors University is that the initiative to create it came from the Governors of thirteen states who recognized that they could not individually afford to provide sufficient continuing education opportunities to adults in their states. So, they pooled their resources to create a single, region-wide institution.

Another interesting aspect of WGU is that the administration chose not to try to develop and operate all the subsystems of the university within the university itself. One of the first steps they took in creating the university was to solicit proposals for the development of the "SmartCatalog," the library, and the university bookstore. They were among the forerunners in implementing the idea of "unbundling" and "outsourcing" selected university functions. WGU even outsources its instructional program, with courses being provided by about two dozen "education providers."

The academic program of Western Governors University is young and expanding. Currently it consists of an Associate of Applied Science in Electronic Manufacturing Technology and an Associate of Arts degree program, as well as many individual courses taught by faculty members and professionals at institutions and corporations that are participants in WGU.

The September 25, 1998 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a story about WGU under the headline, "Few Students Enroll at Western Governors U." Was this an early warning signal that the bloom was off distance and virtual education? The story reported that only 75 persons had applied for admission in first the two weeks after the University opened its World Wide Web site for enrollment! The University had projected that up to 5,000 students would enroll in its first year. They were certainly off to a slow start. University officials said computer glitches were partly to blame (some people were prevented from connecting to the site for ten days). They also pointed to the fact that the University had already filled thousands of requests for information by mail prior to the initiation of the Web site. (Author's note: the University did not have a very effective campaign to promote the opening of its Web site for enrollment. It might take some time before the University's name is firmly embedded in the various search engines that learners use to find such opportunities.)

California Virtual University

The institutional response to the California Virtual University idea by the IHEs in the state has been swift and strong. When it was launched in the beginning of 1998, 65 public and private accredited colleges and universities were listed in the University catalog, offering about 800 distance education courses. Six months later, the participation had grown to 95 institutions offering about 1,600 courses. Ultimately, 240 colleges and universities are expected to participate in CVU within the next three years.

Like the Western Governors University, the California Virtual University has strong support from the state's governor. Also like the WGU, there is indication that CVU will continue to "unbundle" the traditional functions of the university. Not only will it rely entirely on its participating institutions for the instructional component, it has now turned the operation of its Web catalog of on-line courses to a non-profit foundation that was formed by educators. The California Virtual University Foundation includes the state's main university systems (the University of California, California State University, and California Community College organization) and several corporations, such as Sun, Cisco Systems, Pacific Bell, Oracle, and International Thomson Publishing, each of which has contributed $75,000 to the project.

Concord University School of Law

Concord University School of Law (www.concord.kaplan.edu) is a new institution established by Kaplan Educational Centers in October 1998 to offer a juris doctorate degree wholly online via state-of-the-art technology. The target learners are working students, professionals, family caretakers, learners in rural communities, and others whose circumstances prevent them from pursuing a legal education at traditional institutions. The degree is a four-year graduate program.

Students will view lectures on the Internet at their own convenience 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The lectures will be presented using streaming technology. Students will have on-line access to a law library to complete their assignments and fulfill curriculum requirements, including case studies, legal arguments, and statutory codes. They will also take interactive exams online.

In establishing Concord University, Kaplan, a subsidiary of The Washington Post, is building on its years of expertise in offering LSAT preparation classes that help students succeed in law school. The University will complement Kaplan's 1,200 study centers in the U.S. and abroad, where it offers test preparation, training, and career fairs.

Colorado: A Hotbed Of Distance And Virtual Learning.

Asynchronous interaction with the faculty and other classmates can occur through a number of resources and paths: the Internet/World Wide Web, FAX, or telephone. Each student in the program is now required to have access to a computer and to the Internet.

Another Colorado distance education program is Colorado Community College Online (www.ccc.live.realed.com), which is composed of the 13 colleges in the Colorado Community College and Occupational Education System (CCCOES). Through CCC Online, students can earn fully accredited Associate of Applied Science Degrees and Certificates in various disciplines (Business, Occupational Safety, Emergency Management and Planning). CCC Online enhances instructional services to students by offering on-line communication with faculty and fellow students who may be anywhere in the world.

Students may take courses "anytime-anywhere" at their convenience. CCCOES colleges have standing transfer agreements with most of the four-year public and private colleges in Colorado. In addition, there are transfer agreements with colleges both in-state and out-of-state which offer Baccalaureate completion programs also using distance/electronic technology. Among these are Regis University, Governor's State University, and International University.

University of Maine System -- UNET

Through UNET, students can pursue a variety of Associate, Bachelor, and Masters degree programs, as well as certificate programs. Most of the courses are site-based, although some have been converted to Web-based courses that are offered through the WebCT software application.
  
PRIVATE DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS UNDER DEVELOPMENT

The rapid growth of interest in distance education and its apparent acceptance by a growing segment of the higher education community has led to the emergence of several new, private, for-profit distance education programs that are in various stages of becoming accredited universities. Not all of them are complete degree programs in and of themselves.

Magellan University (www.magellan.edu) was established a couple of years ago and now claims to offer 70 courses. Their on-line catalog lists 14 short courses in advanced mathematics, six courses leading to Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification (total cost is between $2,000 and $4,300 depending on whether it is taken entirely over the Web or in part in the classroom), and over 50 "flexible-length" courses in desktop software training (e.g., Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel). College credit is currently available only for the MCSE courses through a partnership with Pima Community College, in Tucson, Arizona. The University has been in the process of developing its own degree programs for some time.

Another new institution is Athena University (www.athena.edu), which is administered by VOU Services International. Virtual Online University (VOU) was established in 1994 and has been offering online teaching since the World Wide Web was privatized. In 1997 it was reorganized and re-incorporated into VOU Services International to reflect its consultations and collaborations with colleges and universities worldwide. With offices located in Columbia, Missouri, VOUSI has established collaborations with institutions in China, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Athena University is a non-profit institution founded to provide high-quality educational opportunities on the Internet as inexpensively as possible. (Tuition is currently only $100 per credit hour.) Its focus is on providing an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum in the Liberal Arts. It provides Bachelor degrees in History, Languages, and Math, Science and Computers, and a Masters in Business Administration. It is not clear from the literature whether Athena University is an accredited institution.

Since 1981, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has worked with colleges and universities throughout the United States to deliver video-based college-level courses. For many years, the courses were offered on an ad hoc basis and lacked the cohesiveness of a complete degree curriculum. (There were not enough high-quality, broadcast-ready courses to provide a complete degree program. Upper division courses were especially lacking.) To address that limitation, PBS instituted the "Going The Distance" (www.pbs.org/als/gtd) project in 1994. The purpose of the project is to assist colleges and universities in developing complete degree programs using telecourses and other media-based courses (many of which are distributed by PBS). The ultimate goal is to "offer a virtual campus" to every college in the U.S. So far, 180 IHEs in 38 states are participating in the Going The Distance project, and 70 public television stations air many of the video-based courses.

In 1996 PBS, seeing another need and an opportunity, established The Business Channel (www.pbstbc.com). It offers a wide variety of workshops and short courses that it markets to businesses throughout the U.S. The Business Channel evolved from PBS's Adult Learning Satellite Service, which had been offering such programs to businesses by satellite delivery on a subscription basis since the late 1980s. The Business Channel is now an interesting mix of satellite delivery and Web-based instruction.

One strand of instruction delivered by The Business Channel is an executive education program that has been developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The increasing complexity of modern organizations has created a demand for continuous education for executives, and PBS and MIT have joined forces to fill that demand. Typically, one course is offered each month, as shown in the following satellite broadcast schedule:

January 19, 1999: Supply Chain Management

February 4, 1999: Economic Concepts for the Sales Professional

March 2, 1999: Internet Commerce: Turning Hype Into Reality

May 25, 1999: Project Management

September 7, 1999: Advanced Internet Commerce: Corporate Strategies

In total, The PBS Business Channel offers approximately 800 training programs in areas such as executive education, leadership, change, sales and service, computers, human resources, and team building. They are marketed to businesses rather than to individual learners. The video component is delivered via a Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) dish that is installed at the workplace. The video lessons are enhanced by rich resources on The Business Channel Web site.
  
A DOUBLE GLASS CEILING

Most open and distance education programs in the United States to date have run up against a double-pane ceiling – two barriers that are often not apparent but present real barriers to further development of the programs. The first barrier is that they are technology-driven. The programs themselves are often initiated because a new technology becomes available (e.g., a videoconferencing facility, a new television production studio, etc.). Even those that have pedagogical starting points often become "tracked" into a process that uses one or two technologies which invariably introduce limitations to the program.

The second barrier is that the distance and virtual education programs adopt a traditional pedagogical paradigm. They create a learning environment that closely resembles the roles, processes, and resources found in face-to-face learning programs.

In succumbing to these two barriers, distance and virtual education programs fail to take full advantage of a range of resources available to the instructor and learner alike. Furthermore, they fail to employ the full power of some of the new information and communications technologies to support improved pedagogical approaches.

Those who are inclined to doubt the existence of this double glass ceiling should consider the examples shown in the grid below. It shows clearly that most of today's distance and virtual education programs are technology-driven and based on a traditional academic paradigm. The reader is encouraged to plug other distance and virtual education programs into the grid. The author is especially interested in learning about programs that might appropriately fall into the lower right quadrant of the grid.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this paper has been to provide an overview of open and distance education programs in the United States at the beginning of 1999, as a basis for comparison with similar programs in Asia. It does not claim to be a comprehensive picture, but the reader has been provided with many World Wide Web addresses (Universal Resource Locators – URLs) to pursue for further information. This should also provide a basis for monitoring changes in the evolution of open and distance learning in the early part of the 21^st Century.

This paper will conclude with some closing observations on issues and concerns that might be shared between IHEs in the United States and Asia as they attempt to introduce or refine their open and distance education programs.(Note: I think we should come up with about 5 or 6 issues such as: equity of access, maintaining quality control; need for an articulated research and evaluation program; etc.)
 
MEDIAGRAPHY
 

Biemiller, Lawrence. "U. of Utah President Issues a Pointed Warning About Virtual Universities." The Chronicle of Higher Education. October 9, 1998.

Bludnicki, Mary. "Supporting Virtual Learning For Adult Students." T.H.E. Journal. June 1998.

Building An Internet Campus: A Do-It-Yourself Guide. Weber State University Online Campus. Ogden, Utah. 1998.

"College Librarians Plan for Floods of Digital Users." The Chronicle of Higher Education. November 13, 1998.

"Consortium Unveils System to Ease Finding Educational Material on the Web." The Chronicle of Higher Education. September 19, 1997.

"Even at Western Governors University, where enrollments got off to a lackluster start earlier this fall, officials are optimistic." The Chronicle of Higher Education. November 27, 1998.

"Few Students Enroll at Western Governors U." The Chronicle of Higher Education. September 25, 1998.

"For Profit Group Moves Into Teacher Education." The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 13, 1998.

Holland, Robert. "Distance Learning." Washington Times. August 23, 1998.

"If distance-education courses make money at Pennsylvania State University, some of the spoils will go to the departments that helped create them." The Chronicle of Higher Education. November 20, 1998.

Lee, Chris. "Virtual U." Training. August 1998.

"Online Librarians Help Guide Students Around Net's Stacks." The Wall Street Journal. October 1, 1998.

PBS Adult Learning Service: Expanding the Distance Learning Revolution. The Public Broadcasting Service. Alexandria, Virginia. 1998.

"A Philanthropy Puts Millions Into Asynchronous Learning: Sloan Foundation Grants Emphasize On-line Programs That Create A Sense Of Community." The Chronicle of Higher Education. November 13, 1998.

Phillips, Vicky, and Cindy Yager. The Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools: Earning Your Degree Without Leaving Home. Random House. New York. 1999.

"Report on U. of Phoenix Sends Stock Price Down." The Chronicle of Higher Education. October 2, 1998.

Rossett, Allison. "No Cheers For Corporate U." Training. August 1998.

Scott, Janny. "Advanced Degrees Earned Off Campus and On-Line." The LA Times. February 6, 1994.

Shive, Glenn. Distance Learning and Structural Change in American Higher Education. Governors State University. Illinois. October 31, 1998.

"Siemens Learns From Net." PC Week. February 16, 1998.

Stamps, David. "The For-Profit Future of Higher Education." Training. August 1998.

"Stanford Students Can Earn Degree With Clicks Of Mouse." Washington Times. September 16, 1998.

Take A Shortcut To Putting Your College Or University Online. Real Education. 1998.

Taking the Distance Out of Education. The University of Texas System. Austin, Texas. 1998.

"Trading a Classroom for a Keyboard and Eye Contact for E-Mail." The Chronicle of Higher Education. February 27, 1998.

University of Phoenix Online Degree Programs in Business and Management. The University of Phoenix. 1998.

"Virtual University Growing By Leaps And Bounds." Washington Times. September 21, 1998.

"What's it like taking classes from a virtual university?" The Chronicle of Higher Education. January 30, 1998.

Wynne, Sheryl D. An Overview Of Virtual Schooling In North America And Europe. Open Learning Agency. British Columbia, Canada. November 1997.