University of Maryland University College to Provide Online Training to Hitachi Worldwide.

Business Editors/High-Tech & Education Writers

ADELPHI, Maryland and TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 2000

University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and the Hitachi Institute of Management Development (HIMD), a corporate university and subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), (TSE:6501), today announced that they have established a partnership to offer UMUC online courses to qualified Hitachi employees worldwide. UMUC is considered by many analysts to be the world's leading online course deliverer. This is the first major agreement for UMUC with a multinational Japanese corporation.

HIMD will use UMUC courses as part of its employee development and benefits program. As a first step, HIMD has initiated a detailed training plan for pre-management and management level employees in Japan to take UMUC online MBA and other graduate-level courses, beginning in January 2001.

"The UMUC online learning program, enabling employees to study regardless of time and place, will help Hitachi to speed up developing human resources that can meet the increasing demand for high competitiveness and advanced English capabilities required in today's global marketplace," said Yasuo Sekijima, board director and general manager of HIMD. Sekijima added, "UMUC's excellence in providing very in-depth online coursework as well as the wide variety and quantity of UMUC course options were also important in our decision to partner with UMUC." The university offers 28 degrees, including the MBA, and more than 40 certificate programs for credit, completely online.

"I am pleased that Hitachi has decided to work with University of Maryland University College to tap the power of the Web to offer education and training to its worldwide employees," said UMUC Provost Nicholas Allen. "We look forward to a long and productive relationship between these two world-class organizations." Director of Program Development in Asia for UMUC Lynne McNamara, who was largely responsible for establishing the relationship, added, "Hitachi lives up to its corporate statement of `Inspire the Next' by using online learning -- the latest in educational developments."

With approximately 40,000 online enrollments last year, UMUC is highly regarded for its expertise in online course delivery that satisfies corporate training needs, such as: required weekly participation; concentrated study; Web-based research for the most current information on a subject; regular interaction with the professor and global classmates in a small online classroom setting; and evaluation of knowledge acquisition.

The university also conducts research on online instruction and is recognized for interactive online Web-based training that emulates the best of the traditional classroom environment, while transcending its limitations. The university is well known for its asynchronous style of study, enabling students in a multitude of time zones to interact with their professor and fellow students when convenient. Often other programs require that students and their professors log in at the same time.

About UMUC

UMUC is based in Adelphi, Maryland, and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, and professional development opportunities, including industry certification. On-site training and a combination of on-site and online training are also available. The university has approximately 70,000 students in 29 countries and won two University Continuing Education Association (UCEA)/Peterson's awards for innovative distance education. For more information on University of Maryland University College, please visit UMUC's Web site at http://www.umuc.edu

About HIMD and Hitachi, Ltd.

HIMD is based near Tokyo, Japan and its mission is to provide Hitachi and its subsidiaries with world-class training programs as a corporate university for management-level employees.

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), (TSE:6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1999 (ended March 31, 2000) consolidated sales of 8,001 billion yen ($75.5 billion(a)). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com. (a) At an exchange rate of 106 yen to the dollar

Note to Editors: Please include the complete name University of Maryland University College (or the acronym UMUC). Abbreviating the name might create confusion with other University System of Maryland institutions.