Released: July 29, 2005
Contact: Susan Sullivan, 317.263.8849, ssulliva@ihets.org

• Governor Mitch Daniels has proclaimed August 1–5, 2005 is Distance Education Week in the state of Indiana. Daniels continues the precedent set in 2003 by Governor O’Bannon and in 2004 by Governor Kernan.
  

• What is distance education? Distance learning is a form of education where the instructor and students are separated by geographic distance and/or time. The separation is bridged by using the Internet and computer-based instruction, satellite television, CD-ROMs and DVDs, two-way video- and audio-conferencing, and correspondence to deliver courses.
  
  
• What is the impact of distance learning in Indiana? Nearly 104,000 enrollments in 2003-04 (equals 304,000 student credit hours, estimated $38.3 million in tuition revenue, estimated 28,000 learners served). If taken together, these students would comprise one of the largest campuses in the state.
  
  
• Who are Indiana’s distance education students? Most are working adults whose average age is in their early 30s, the majority of whom did not go on to college after high school and are focused on credentials to improve their career opportunities. Many have children and other family responsibilities combined with busy work schedules that make it difficult or impossible for them to take traditional college courses, even if they live in the same town as the college.
  
  Distance education students have roots in their communities and the state of Indiana. They are less likely to leave the state when they graduate and are more likely to become fully engaged citizens. They will remain in the workforce 20 or 30 years after graduation, so they play an important role in maintaining an educated workforce and competitive economy.
  
  
• Many distance education programs address targeted state needs:
  1. 42 target critical shortages of healthcare workers such as nurses, radiology and other therapists, and healthcare administrators
     
  2. 36 improve the skills of school teachers and administrators and address shortages in areas such as special education
     
  3. 18 provide needed education and training for law enforcement and corrections officers
     
  4. 38 help Indiana develop the technology, business, and engineering workforce to realize goals in advanced manufacturing, life sciences, logistics, and high-tech business development
     
     
• Indiana has a rich history as a national leader in distance education. Indiana University’s independent study program began in 1912 and remains one of the largest correspondence programs in the world. Purdue University used radio to deliver classes to students in the home during the 1930s, and in the 1950s helped “beam” educational programming into elementary and high schools throughout the Midwest from an airplane circling over northern Indiana and Illinois. In the 1960s, Purdue, Indiana, Ball State, and Indiana State universities helped establish a service called the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS) to share their resources. Since then, these four pioneering institutions have delivered graduate degrees and continuing education programs to literally hundreds of thousands of learners.
  
  
• Indiana colleges and universities continue offering more high-quality, fully accredited distance programs to meet student demand. Last year, there were nearly 200 degree programs and 84 certificate and endorsement programs for completion at a distance, with nearly 2,600 technology-delivered college credit classes offered throughout the state each semester.
  
  
• Satisfaction rates among distance education students are high (85 to 90 percent), as are completion rates (also 85 to 90 percent). 
  
  
• The Indiana College Network (ICN) was the first virtual university consortium in the nation and remains one of the largest and most comprehensive in terms of number and range of programs offered and number of students served. ICN does not offer degrees, but utilizes its Web site to catalog 3,000 college, high-school, and professional development courses available from Indiana schools and colleges via distance education each semester. The site lists 200 degree and certificate programs, including high-school diplomas, associate, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, as well as licensure and endorsement programs, available entirely at a distance. It also includes a section for high-school students interested in taking advanced electives, dual-credit classes, and early college enrollment.
  
  
• Higher education and K-12 schools are working together to improve educational opportunities and achievement for youth so they graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college or the workforce. In the fall of 2005, there are 223 advanced placement and beginning college classes available to high-school students at a distance using a variety of educational technology.
  

For more information, please contact:

Susan Sullivan
Communications manager
714 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone: 317.263.8849
Fax: 317.263.8831
E-mail