Penn State World Campus

Penn State World Campus

Type	Distance learning
Established	1998
Parent institution	Pennsylvania State University
Students	13,411
Undergraduates	7,919
Postgraduates	5,492
Location	University Park (Admin. Office), Pennsylvania, USA
Website	www.worldcampus.psu.edu www.student.worldcampus.psu.edu

Penn State World Campus or "Penn State Online" is the online campus of The Pennsylvania State University. Launched in 1998, the World Campus grew out of the University's long and distinguished history in distance education that began in 1892. The mission of the 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. The World Campus currently offers more than 120 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 in the Outreach Building at Innovation Park on the University Park Campus.

Penn State started offering distance education 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 its World Campus.

The World Campus uses multiple technologies to make some of Penn State's most highly regarded graduate, undergraduate, and continuing professional education programs available anytime, anywhere through the world wide web, computer interfacing, and other media.

Penn State World Campus offers undergraduate and graduate degrees online. Students must be accepted into the appropriate College for their chosen major 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 and attend the same graduation ceremony. Penn State World Campus students come from all around the world. Diploma's will reference graduation from Penn State and not differentierated from on campus versus World Campus attendance.