Penn State World Campus is the online campus of
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
. Launched in 1998, World Campus grew out of the university's long and distinguished history in distance education that began in 1892. The mission of World Campus is to extend Penn State's undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs to learners who cannot attend another Penn State campus because of geography or life factors. World Campus offers more than 175 online undergraduate and graduate degree and
certificate programs in partnership with Penn State academic units, with additional programs being added to the curriculum on a continuing basis. World Campus offices and a major part of its technical infrastructure are located at
Innovation Park on the University Park Campus.
Penn State World Campus is accredited by the
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...
(MSCHE).
History
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' Hig ...
started offering
distance education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
courses in 1892, when it launched one of the nation's first correspondence study programs to farmers around Pennsylvania. More than one hundred years later, in 1998, the University reaffirmed its commitment to providing accessible learning to all who need it with the launching of Penn State World Campus. One of several roots underpinning the policy decision to establish World Campus was a decade of experimentation at The American Centre for Study of Distance Education in the College of Education, in which Professor Michael G. Moore developed and taught some of the world's first online courses, including cadres of students in several cities in Mexico and Europe as well as the USA. Penn State Vice-President Jim Ryan became persuaded of the quality of the pedagogy being developed in these courses and in 1992 he commissioned the setting up of a University-wide Task Force to study the potential of a major initiative, the conclusion being that "The Task Force firmly believes that there is a very real possibility that national and international preeminence in distance education may prove to be a prerequisite to national and international preeminence in most other areas of academic enterprise." Moore led the development of the first World Campus Master's degree courses in adult education.
Penn State World Campus uses multiple technologies to make some of Penn State's well-respected graduate,
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-l ...
, and continuing professional education programs available anytime, anywhere throughout the world.
Programs
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' Hig ...
World Campus offers accredited graduate degrees,
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-l ...
degrees, certificates, and minors online. Students must be accepted into the appropriate College for their chosen program after the initial acceptance into World Campus. For instance, a student wanting to major in Information Sciences and Technology must be accepted by the College of Information Sciences and Technology located at Penn State's University Park campus. The online courses are taught by the same faculty on campus and the required coursework is the same for both on campus and World Campus students. After graduating, World Campus students earn the same exact degree as University Park campus students. Penn State World Campus students come from all around the world. The diploma will reference graduation from Penn State and does not differentiate University Park campus versus World Campus enrollment.
Rankings
''
U.S. News & World Report'' recognized 12 Penn State World Campus degree programs in their 2020 Best Online Programs rankings:
* No. 8 (tie) in Best Online Bachelor's Programs
* No. 6 in Best Online Graduate Engineering Programs
* No. 6 in Best Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs
* No. 8 in Best Online Graduate Business Programs
* No. 6 (tie) in Best Online MBA Programs
* No. 7 in Best Online Graduate Education Programs
* No. 2 in Best Online Graduate Education Programs for Veterans
* No. 4 in Best Online Graduate Business Programs for Veterans
* No. 5 in Best Online Graduate Engineering Programs for Veterans
* No. 5 in Best Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs for Veterans
* No. 6 (tie) in Best Online Bachelor's Programs for Veterans
* No. 4 in Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans
[https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/mba/veteran-rankings ]
See also
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Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
*
Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
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Distance education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
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Higher education
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Online university
A virtual university (or online university) provides higher education programs through electronic media, typically the Internet. Some are bricks-and-mortar institutions that provide online learning as part of their extended university courses while ...
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Online degree
In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...
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College
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
References
External links
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{{Pennsylvania State University Commonwealth Campuses
Distance education institutions based in the United States
Pennsylvania State University
Educational institutions established in 1998
1998 establishments in Pennsylvania