Thursday, July 19, 2001

Sylvan Learning Systems Forms Division Focusing on Online Higher Education By FLORENCE OLSEN In a move aimed at focusing its investments in online learning, Sylvan Learning Systems has formed an online higher-education division. The announcement on Tuesday by one of the nation's largest educational-services companies was seen by some as further proof that online higher education is becoming extremely competitive. The expanding presence of Sylvan in higher education "will help us all become more responsive to the marketplace, and that's a healthy thing," said Bruce N. Chaloux, director of the Southern Regional Education Board's Electronic Campus. As traditional colleges respond to the growing market for online education, Mr. Chaloux says, they find that what adult students seek in a nontraditional environment -- "services 24 by 7" -- is what the 18-year-old who lives in the dormitory wants, too. After a series of acquisitions in higher education, Sylvan now owns all or part of three business units that will be managed under the new division. Those for-profit businesses -- Canter & Associates, Walden University, and Sylvan Teachers Institute -- will retain their own names, said Steven Drake, Sylvan's vice president of communications. Since Sylvan acquired Canter in 1997, enrollment in online master's degree programs offered by colleges through the company has grown an average of 28 percent a year. Canter enrolls more than 35,000 teachers in graduate-education programs. Sylvan's acquisition of a fourth business unit, OnlineLearning.net, is pending, but is expected to be completed within a week, said Mr. Drake. OnlineLearning.net is a privately held company that holds the exclusive online rights to classes developed by the extension program at the University of California at Los Angeles. Since 1996, that company has expanded to offer 1,700 online courses to 20,000 students. Sylvan formed the Sylvan International Universities division two years ago when it entered the overseas higher-education market. Douglas Becker, Sylvan's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement Tuesday, "We believe we can build a similar leadership position in the U.S. market for online post-secondary education." The company has annual revenues of about $175-million from its elementary and secondary education services, and projected revenues of $300-million this year from its post-secondary education business units. "The formation of this division was the next logical step in the continuing drive toward post-secondary for Sylvan," Mr. Drake said. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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