WebCT Extends Its Lead in Serving Higher Ed Consortia with Two Major New Customers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

LYNNFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 2003

Swiss and U.S. consortia become the latest organizations to choose WebCT Vista to support e-learning programs

WebCT, maker of the world's most flexible and widely used higher education e-learning solutions, today bolstered its position as the leading supplier of e-learning systems to higher education consortia with the addition of two new customers in the United States and Europe.

The Swiss Virtual Campus and the Appalachian College Association have selected WebCT Vista(TM) as their e-learning platforms. That brings to more than 30 the number of consortia and state systems working as higher education consortia that are using WebCT as their e-learning system. WebCT Vista is designed with consortia, large universities and state university systems in mind. It enables large organizations to support many campuses and members from a central location, while allowing each institution to retain its own graphical identity and control its educational offerings.

The Appalachian College Association is a consortium of 34 private liberal arts colleges and serves 37,000 students in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Eleven institutions will deploy WebCT Vista over the next two years, with more to follow.

"Our members cover a huge geographical area and serve many different demographic groups. We had to consider economy of scale and efficiency, but we also needed the flexibility to let each institution look its own way and teach its own way," said Rob Hoyt, director of IT Services, Appalachian College Association. "With WebCT Vista, we did not have to compromise either goal. Our Vista deployment supports all 34 of our schools, but if you didn't know we were part of the same consortium, you could never tell. Each of them maintains their individuality."

The Swiss Virtual Campus is a government program to offer e-learning capabilities to all Swiss colleges and universities. It plans to offer a large number of courses initially covering medicine, humanities, technology, sciences, management, mathematics, economics and law.

The following consortia have also selected WebCT to help power their e-learning programs:

-- The California State University system, representing 23

campuses, their 414,000 students and 46,000 faculty and staff;

-- Cool School, a British Columbia K-12 course-sharing

collaborative;

-- ELCH, a six-university e-learning Consortium in Hamburg,

Germany;

-- The New Jersey Virtual Community College Consortium, a group

of 19 independent schools;

-- The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, serving

all 16 of the state's colleges and universities; and

-- The University System of Georgia, representing 34 member

institutions.

"Consortia all over the world are using e-learning to help their members expand offerings economically," said Carol Vallone, WebCT president and CEO. "Our goal has always been to ensure they never have to compromise their mission and educational philosophy to fit those institutions into a rigid framework. We're always working to keep WebCT Vista the most flexible e-learning solution available."

About WebCT

WebCT has set the standard for e-learning systems in higher education. Based in Lynnfield, Mass., WebCT provides a highly flexible e-learning environment that empowers institutions across the educational spectrum with the ability to achieve their unique objectives. Thousands of colleges and universities around the world - from community colleges to large university consortia - are using WebCT to expand the boundaries of teaching and learning. For more information, please visit www.webct.com.