Getting an on-line degree with the Electronic University Network.

The "U" in EUN is for University, but it might as well be for Unique, since there's nothing else like EUN in the world of online education. EUN provides an array of services to students to help them obtain a degree.

The Electronic University Network is not a college or university itself and does not award any degrees. "EUN makes it unnecessary for every school to re-invent the electronic educational wheel. It serves as a utility," EUN President Dr. Eskow says. "It helps colleges go on-line, provides the telecommunications, Distance Learning 101, helps develop on-line courses, and recruits students for the colleges."

First, EUN offers an academic advising service which assesses a prospective student's past college work, other equivalent courses through the military or employment, national tests, courses from non-accredited schools, and portfolios like published writings or artwork or other special accomplishments. The academic counselors at EUN objectively help track resources for degrees at a distance. They have no affiliation to any school, so they are objective. Some students are delighted to discover that fulfilling their remaining credits can be done in part using assessments of on-the-job training or military experience, and they are closer to their goals than they thought.

Besides providing helpful academic advising, EUN also offers a number of courses focusing on math, science, and business. The classes are "open-entry, open-exit," which means that you can start and end them according to your own schedule. Instructors are drawn from the California State college system in the San Francisco Bay area. The model is an electronic correspondence course: course manuals and materials are mailed to the student, but all assignments are "handed in" electronically, and all communications between student and professor are via e-mail. EUN students communicate with each other via the regular EUN boards on America Online -- and meet in the Student Union -- a social part of the online campus. As for tests and credit, EUN students get credit for their coursework by taking nationally recognized tests like the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Thomas Edison College Examination Program (TECEP) and others. Current fees for three-credit-hour EUN courses are $345 plus books, shipping and exam fees. The CLEP exam fee is $45; TECEP is $100. The exam fees aren't paid until the student registers for the exam.

How will your degree be transcripted? Online education degrees are transcripted exactly like a conventional degree. For example, if you take Rogers State College courses through EUN, those course transcriptions come directly from Rogers State College -- a fully accredited college located in Oklahoma. A prospective employer won't see EUN on the transcript because EUN doesn't provide the courses.

EUN has more than 50 corporate sponsors (many in the Fortune 500) like AT&T, Citibank, Federal Express, and McDonnell Douglas who reimburse tuition and distribute pamphlets encouraging employees to attend college classes online. It's generally fair to say that someone who works with a telephone company has tuition assistance available for EUN courses. Sponsors include: AT&T Bell Laboratories, NYNEX, Ameritech, US West, Bell South, Atlantic Bell, Pacific Bell, Sprint, MCI, Dupont, Kodak, United Parcel Service, Sara Lee, Hyundai, Tektronix, Prudential, Bank of America, Microsoft, Unisys, Chevron, Texaco, Bristol-Myers, Ray Chem, Pitney-Bowes. Various state disability offices pay for their clients' courses, as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and State Departments of Health.

EUN is directly affiliated with four educational institutions: Rogers State College in Claremore, OK; Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI; Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland; and the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, CA.

Through Rogers State College, a student can obtain Associate's degrees in Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Computer Programming, and Computer Science. According to Cliff Layton, the Director of Advanced Technologies at Rogers State, a student can go through EUN for all the administrative and overhead matters, enroll at Rogers, and get a degree. Rogers State College instructors use specially designed videotapes ("not just talking heads!" Layton says), study guides with examples, texts, and, of course, telecommunications over AOL. He says, "I think my online students get more and more appropriate attention to their needs than traditional students. I see a traditional student no more than three times a week. Each time class meets, there's only enough time for a few questions. So they don't all get to ask questions. Online, I get more questions from more students. I check my e-mail two or three times a day and respond quickly. Partial assignments can't be sent for comment before completion in a traditional class. But, for example, a student who's having a problem with a program can send me the code, and I can comment on it and return it. I can help students work through assignments very quickly." Rogers' current three-hour course tuition ranges from $495 to $545, depending on whether there is a video component.

EUN also offers a Bachelor Completion program utilizing courses from Rogers State College, Michigan State University, and open-entry/open-exit courses which utilize nationally recognized examination programs. EUN's complete academic counseling program enables students to learn about options and costs. Courses taken this way can be transferred to external degree granting institutions like Regents College or Thomas Edison State College. These colleges award recognized, accredited, well-respected college credits and degrees. In addition, Thomas Edison State College offers a portfolio assessment program through which credit can be awarded for training programs provided by the military or by employers.

Heriot-Watt University offers a Master in Business Administration (MBA), which is commonly described as one of the best in the world. Heriot-Watt's program is built on nine courses -- seven mandatory, two elective -- at a cost of $885 for Instructor Guided Study through EUN. There is also an Independent Study option which costs $685. It does not have an individualized online component, although MBA students can access other MBA students via e-mail and AOL members can access the online seminar areas.

America Online is home to the Electronic University Network. Electronic University Network 1977 Colestin Rd. Hornbrook, CA 96044 503-482-5871 or 1-800-22LEARN (1-800-225-3276) fax: [phone] e-mail: EUNLearn on AOL or EUNLearn

Rick Eckel is EUN's Student Services Director.