The Telecommunications Economy: Education

 The University of Phoenix, one of the world's largest online education providers catering to working adults, has approximately 200,000 students enrolled and projects overall growth of 30% in 2006. Its parent company, Apollo Group Inc., expects to add 500 new employees every six months to a facility constructed to house the online school in Phoenix, reports a November 2005 article in CPNOnline.

According to a 2004 article in the Los Angeles Times, Sylvan Learning Systems, which offers online courses to 76,000 students worldwide, expected sales of approximately $475 million from post-secondary education services.

Teachers in California can earn their academic credentials online. The teaching certification program that began in 2000 has enabled teachers to increase their merit-based pay by as much as 20%, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A press release issued by Capella University in 2005 reported that more than 100 major corporations, including Wells Fargo, Johnson & Johnson, and Boeing encourage their employees to obtain advanced degrees through online education classes.

In the rural community of Midland, Pennsylvania the Cyber Charter School is replacing traditional schoolhouse teaching. The school district is able to reduce its transportation and building maintenance costs. The district receives the same funding per student from state and local government regardless of whether a student attends the Cyber Charter School or a traditional school. Midland expected to receive $30 million in tuition revenue in 2005, some of which is helping finance a $23.5 million performing arts center along Midland's Main Street, according to a December 2005 article in the Tribune–Review.

In 2005, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma received a $304,542 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide distance-learning services to children. Similarly, in northwest New Mexico $486,100 will be used to provide both distance-learning equipment and multi media labs for 15 schools, according to USDA.

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