Princeton, Oxford, Stanford, Yale to invest $12 million in distance-learning initiative

Princeton, Oxford, Stanford, Yale to invest $12 million in distance-learning initiative

Oxford, Princeton, Stanford and Yale universities announced Thursdaythat they would each provide $3 million to launch their "distancelearning" venture to provide on-line courses in the arts andsciences to their combined 500,000 alumni.

Herbert M. Allison Jr., former president of Merrill Lynch &Co.;, Inc., will serve as president and chief executive officer of the non-profit University Alliance for Life-Long Learning.

The Alliance will offer non-credit courses to the alumni, takingadvantage of emerging technologies to give the graduates convenientaccess to their schools' extraordinary resources.

The four universities recognize the potential appeal of theAlliance's educational opportunities to other audiences seeking ongoingpersonal enrichment, and they plan in the future to make theirofferings available to a wider public.

Contact: Justin Harmon (609) 258-3601