October 18, 2005

 For Immediate Release                                                                   Page 1 of 1

USNews.com lists ECU
Among the Largest Degree-Granting Online Programs

Greenville, NC – East Carolina University is recognized by USNews.com’sE-Learning Guideas one of twenty institutions having the most students enrolled in degree-granting online distance education programs.  ECU offers 39 degree-granting distance education programs, with a total of 13,927 students currently enrolled. Degree-granting distance education programs in were established at ECU in 1960.

In addition, East Carolina offers 450 credit-granting distance education courses. The university began offering credit-granting distance education courses in 1947.  And in 1996, ECU began offering online courses and now has 400 online-only courses available to students. 

East Carolina University leads the state in distance education (DE) programs and the College of Education continues to support that leadership by providing 45 percent of the university’s total DE programs.  The College of Education’s DE credit hour production increased an additional 30% over the past year, marking the fourth consecutive year of 30% growth in DE credit hours produced. “For the past five years, the College of Education has led the distance education effort on the ECU campus.  We are proud of the work the faculty have done to make our programs more accessible to the public we serve, particularly those who reside in the rural parts of our State.” said Dr. Marilyn Sheerer, Dean of the College of Education. 

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For more information contact Jessica W. Davenport, Director of Communications at 252-328-2179 or davenportje@ecu.edu.