Provider of affordable distance learning to adult learners worldwide utilising via online courseware systems since 1994.
Washington International University was founded in December 1994. With the coming of the Internet, global access to fax, high speed telecommunication and quick delivery by courier firms, a group of educators and businessmen came to the conclusion that the time had arrived to make American higher education, through non-campus, distance learning with no residency requirement available to adult learners worldwide.
Taking into consideration two key factors was the focus in the development of a new and important higher education system. The first factor was the realities of the global village: different approaches to mental discipline, diversity of culture and beliefs, effects of religion in business and technical thinking, coupled with limited financial resources and limited research facilities, in some countries. The second factor was an adult learner’s obligations to his/her employment, family and social life.
Using as a guideline the American Council of Education, Council of Adult Experimental Learning and the United States INS equivalency of degree requirements, the result was a new and revolutionary non-traditional system that would provide an effective education and improve skills at an affordable tuition.
Work experience would be used as academic credit and professional knowledge and special training obtained at the work place would be enriched by teaching current developments and trends. In order to develop communication skills and self confidence that is needed at the work place, book reports and research papers replaced traditional exams as proof of knowledge of the subject matter.
Today, a fine American faculty armed with Master’s and Ph.D. degrees and experienced in teaching to an international body – provide effective distance education to thousands of students around the world and in the USA. When you read the “What The Graduates Are Saying” section of the booklet, you will understand how the feelings of WIU graduates truly reflect and capture the essence of what was just an idea in the fall of 1994.
