Type | Public; Distance education |
---|---|
Established | 2002 |
Parent institution | Oregon State University |
Students | 13,820 |
Undergraduates | 10,641 |
Postgraduates | 3,179 |
Location | Corvallis (admin. office) , , United States of America |
Website | www.ecampus.oregonstate.edu |
Oregon State University Ecampus is the online education unit of Oregon State University. OSU Ecampus develops and delivers courses, degree programs, certificates and microcredentials online and at a distance to students worldwide. [1] Ecampus courses and programs are delivered online as well as in a blended or hybrid format that combines virtual learning with face-to-face instruction. [2]
In February 2024, the Oregon State Ecampus bachelor's degree programs were ranked top 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for the 10th straight year. [3]
Oregon State University is institutionally accredited [4] by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU).
Oregon State University was one of the first colleges to bring distance-education classes to residents living hundreds of miles from a school's main campus. As early as the 1880s, farmers in rural Oregon could attend college-level lectures on agricultural science in their own cities and towns. Early lectures were often given on board a train's caboose and could be scheduled through the local train station. [5] Over the next several decades, the university delivered pioneering programs in business management and manufacturing to residents of early Portland, Oregon and the larger cities along the Oregon Coast.
By 1980, OSU began offering a distance-learning degree in liberal studies to students living throughout Oregon. Coursework was delivered through video presentations and scheduled mail and phone correspondence with instructors. A few years later, the university offered its first coursework in liberal studies at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, Oregon. These classes eventually paved the way for the university to establish its first distance-degree program at COCC and later at community colleges throughout the state.
In 2002, OSU converted its Distance and Continuing Education program into the now-familiar OSU Ecampus. Today, OSU Ecampus is one of the top online universities in the nation and delivers more than 100 degrees, programs and microcredentials (a form of microdegree) online. [6] Ecampus is now under the leadership of Lisa L. Templeton, who assumed the role of executive director in November 2009. In 2023, she was appointed vice provost of the Division of Educational Ventures. [7]
Oregon State Ecampus partners with more than 1,200 OSU faculty members annually [8] to develop and deliver programs and courses online. All Ecampus classes are developed by the same Oregon State faculty who teach on campus. Oregon State offers more than 1,800 courses online. Working with Ecampus instructional designers to build an online course, OSU faculty use animations, readings, videos, conferences and other interactive materials for students online. [9]
Ecampus delivers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs online, [10] with some hybrid programs that feature face-to-face components. The programs cover an array of disciplines, including natural resources, liberal arts, education and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). [11]
Ecampus serves students in all 50 states and more than 60 countries. [12] OSU's distance learners include full- and part-time students, working and retired professionals, community college students, active-duty and retired military, high school students and lifelong learners. [13]
In the 2022-23 academic year, 30,958 students enrolled in at least one Ecampus course. More than 13,800 of those students were enrolled exclusively in Ecampus online programs. [14]
A record 1,892 distance students received their diplomas from OSU in June 2023. [15]
U.S. News & World Report recognized Oregon State Ecampus on many of its Best Online Programs lists in 2024. [16]
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually involved correspondence courses wherein the student corresponded with the school via mail. Distance education is a technology-mediated modality and has evolved with the evolution of technologies such as video conferencing, TV, and the Internet. Today, it usually involves online education and the learning is usually mediated by some form of technology. A distance learning program can either be completely a remote learning, or a combination of both online learning and traditional offline classroom instruction. Other modalities include distance learning with complementary virtual environment or teaching in virtual environment (e-learning).
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years. The two most common bachelor's degrees are the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the Bachelor of Science. In some institutions and educational systems, certain bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate educations after a first degree has been completed, although more commonly the successful completion of a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for further courses such as a master's or a doctorate.
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, a student pursuing an associate or bachelor's degree is known as an undergraduate student while a student pursuing a master's or doctoral degree is a graduate student. Upon completion of courses and other requirements of an undergraduate program, the student would earn the corresponding degree. In some other educational systems, undergraduate education is postsecondary education up to and including the level of a master's degree; this is the case for some science courses in Britain and some medicine courses in Europe.
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university based in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 colleges. It has the seventh-largest engineering college in the nation for 2023. Undergraduate enrollment for all colleges combined averages over 32,000 while an additional 5,000 students are engaged in post-graduate coursework through the university. In 2023, over 37,000 students were enrolled at OSU – making it the largest university in the state. Out-of-state students typically make up over one-quarter of the student body. Since its founding, over 272,000 students have graduated from OSU. The university is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an "...R1: Doctoral University," with "...very high research activity."
The University of Maryland Global Campus is a public university in Adelphi, Maryland. It is the largest institution in the University System of Maryland Established in 1947 with origins in the College of Special and Continuation Studies of the University of Maryland, College Park for mid-career working professionals and non-traditional students, UMGC offers online, hybrid and face-to-face instruction at education centers across the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area, throughout Maryland, and across the world.
A Master of Engineering is a professional master's degree in the field of engineering.
A virtual 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 others solely offer online courses. They are regarded as a form of distance education. The goal of virtual universities is to provide access to the part of the population who would not be able to attend a physical campus, for reasons such as distance—in which students live too far from a physical campus to attend regular classes; and the need for flexibility—some students need the flexibility to study at home whenever it is convenient for them to do so.
Central Oregon Community College is a public community college in Bend, Oregon. It primarily serves residents of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook Counties. Its service district also includes portions of Klamath, Lake, and Wasco counties.
Colorado Technical University (CTU) is a private for-profit university with its main campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1965, CTU offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees, primarily in business, management, and technology. About 92% of Colorado Tech's students are fully online. According to Colorado Tech, the university has conferred more than 118,000 degrees worldwide. Colorado Tech has no public or official affiliation with the State of Colorado and it is owned by the for-profit company Perdoceo Education Corporation, publicly traded on the NASDAQ under PRDO and formerly known as Career Education Corporation (CEC).
Penn State World Campus is the online campus of Pennsylvania State University, a public university in Pennsylvania. Launched in 1998, World Campus grew out of the university's history in distance education that began in 1892. It offers more than 200 online undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs in partnership with Penn State academic units. World Campus offices and a major part of its technical infrastructure are located at Innovation Park on the University Park Campus.
Oregon State University's College of Science is a public academic institution operating as a member of Oregon State University, a public research university. The college of science consists of seven schools, offering nine undergraduate programs and supporting seven doctoral-granting programs and eight master's degree-granting programs. The college also supports the science discipline colleges and bachelor of science students by offering key undergraduate science courses required by their own curriculums. The college of science claims more than 3,400 students and a faculty of 184. Sixteen faculty members are elected American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows.
Oregon State University–Cascades (OSU–Cascades) is a branch campus of Oregon State University (OSU) in Bend, Oregon. It is the only university in Central Oregon that offers both baccalaureate and graduate programs. OSU–Cascades also offers professional pathways and certificate programs. The 30-acre campus is the first public university to open in Oregon in more than 50 years. The campus plans to expand academically with new degree programs over a 10-year period.
Utah State University Brigham City is part of the Utah State University Statewide Campuses located in Brigham City, Utah. As part of USU’s statewide system, USU Brigham City offers more than 30 bachelor’s degrees, 26 master’s and three doctorates, as well as a variety of certificate, licensure, and endorsement programs.
Utah State University Tooele is a part of the Utah State University Statewide Campuses located in Tooele, Utah offering a number of Associate, bachelor's and master's degrees as well as certificate programs and a Doctor of Education program. Classes are taught online, face-to-face, and interactive broadcast. USU Tooele has 10 full-time faculty members in addition to the several adjunct professors who collectively teach more than 300 classes. The campus provides academic advising and free tutoring.
Utah State University Uintah Basin is a part of the Utah State University (USU) Statewide Campuses system located in Roosevelt, Utah, with an additional campus in Vernal. The Uintah Basin campus was the first USU regional campus. USU Uintah Basin offers more than 60 degrees, ranging from associates through doctorates, as well as certificate programs.
The Oregon State University College of Business is one of 12 colleges based at Oregon State University's Corvallis, Oregon campus. The college offers business coursework and degrees to students studying at the main campus, OSU-Cascades campus in Bend, or anywhere in the world through the university's Ecampus. Coursework in business has been offered at OSU since the late 1800s and the college is one of the oldest in the state.
Oregon State University's College of Liberal Arts is a liberal arts college at Oregon State University. The college is located on the Corvallis, Oregon main campus and offers students 66 academic programs. The college of liberal arts awarded just over a thousand undergraduate degrees in 2023, the second most of OSU colleges.
Westcliff University (WU) is a private, for-profit university in Irvine, California. Founded in 1993, it offers bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees, as well as certificate programs and continuing education courses.