A Brief History Of Online Schools

So many people are earning degrees via online programs nowadays that it feels as if they've been here forever. In actuality though, online degree programs have only started to flourish in the last fifteen years or so.

There are already a lot of nursing students who are either enrolled in or have successfully completed an online continued nursing education (e.g. LPN to RN). But did any of them ever wonder just how online education began?

It all started with the innovation of a Cambridge-educated professor turned entrepreneur named Dr. John Sperling. Sperling, now a billionaire, founded the University of Phoenix in 1976. Established as a private for-profit college, the university was designed specifically to cater to non-traditional students.

Sperling saw that regular colleges were already serving the needs of all those students who just graduated from high school and were going to college with the help of their parents - but who was addressing the needs of working professionals who might already have a degree but wanted a career change, or who had day jobs and needed a career-oriented education with classes at times they could actually attend?

The University of Phoenix offered night classes and other educational solutions for working adults. And as the internet began to grow in popularity and sophistication, Sperling saw another way for education to be made achievable and convenient for people who were already working for a living but wanted something more.

And in 1989 one of the very first online campuses in the world was created through the University of Phoenix; in 1991, the Online Campus graduated its first class.

Presently, the University of Phoenix's online campus is catering to hundreds of thousands of students and its nursing programs include Licensed Vocational Nurse (also known as Licensed Practical Nurse) to RN, LPN to BSN, and others.

And there are, of course, dozens of other online schools that offer many of these online nursing programs these days. But they owe a lot of their current success - and so do all online students - to the innovative vision of Dr. John Sperling.

By: Travis Van Slooten

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Now that you know how online education started, you might want to find out what online nursing programs are available and which online nursing schools have these programs. Drop by at nursingschoolprograms.com to get this information plus tips on how you can start earning your nursing degree!