Leading Consortium of Universities to Provide at Least 10,000 Student
Enrollments With a $1.1 Million Commitment From Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
ATLANTA, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sloan Consortium, an international
association of colleges and universities committed to quality online
education, is offering students displaced by Hurricane Katrina an opportunity
to continue their education at no cost. In collaboration with the Southern
Regional Education Board and with a $1.1 million grant from the Alfred P.
Sloan Foundation, the special accelerated program will provide a wide range of
courses to serve the learning needs of students at the community college,
university and graduate level, regardless of academic discipline. These
courses will be given by major universities and other Sloan Consortium
members. Students interested in finding out more about the program and the
free courses can do so at http://www.SloanSemester.org.
"We know that many colleges and universities in Alabama, Louisiana and
Mississippi will not be able to resume their fall semesters and students are
scrambling for alternatives," said Dave Spence, President of the Southern
Regional Education Board. "With the help of dozens of colleges and
universities nationwide, we can now offer students key courses online to
bridge them through this difficult time and eventually allow them to return to
their home campuses."
The 8 week accelerated semester is being funded by a grant from the Alfred
P. Sloan Foundation. Colleges and universities offering the courses will forgo
tuition and fees to help students at institutions disrupted by Katrina.
"Online learning can be an important means of academic continuity in a time of
crisis," said Frank Mayadas, Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
"We are getting a tremendous response from both those who want to offer
courses and from impacted institutions that need the help." At this time, the
goal is to accommodate at least 10,000 student enrollments.
The Southern Regional Education Board (http://www.sreb.org) headquartered
in Atlanta, was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help
leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education
and improve the social and economic life of the region. The SREB has 16 member
states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each state is represented by its governor
and four gubernatorial appointees.
The Sloan Consortium (http://www.sloan-c.org) is the nation's largest
association of institutions and organizations committed to quality online
education and administered through Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and
Babson College. Its mission is to help learning organizations continually
improve quality, scale, and breadth according to their own distinctive
missions, so that education will become a part of everyday life, accessible
and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time, in a wide variety of
disciplines.
SOURCE The Sloan Consortium
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Related links:
http://www.sloan-c.org
http://www.SloanSemester.org http://www.sreb.org
CONTACT:
Patti Giglio, +1-202-903-7869,
psgcom@starpower.net, for The Sloan Consortium
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