eCollege Provides New Level of Flexibility for Managing Large Online Programs
DENVER – April 19, 2005 – eCollege® [Nasdaq: ECLG], a leading provider of value-added information services to the post-secondary education industry, today announced the release of its enhanced Program Administration System, providing a new level of flexibility for administrators to more effectively manage large-scale online programs. The enhancements are part of eCollege’s overall product advancement framework, which includes a focus on operational efficiency to help institutions drive the profitable growth of their online programs.
eCollege’s unique Program Administration System is an integrated toolset that enables administrators to centrally or divisionally manage the overall planning, preparation and execution of online programs across multiple schools and campuses. The new advancements provider greater convenience by empowering administrators with a flexible solution that enables them to centrally create terms, create and duplicate single or mass courses, and manage enrollment, registration, communication and reporting processes. The advancements can help reduce operational costs and improve the speed and ease of processes such as large volume course creation and duplication.
“While we have always provided a cost-effective and efficient means for program management as part of our unique outsource solution, we wanted to give customers even more options for increased operational flexibility,†said Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and CEO of eCollege.
“We continue to maintain the high level of program administration support that our customers rely on, but now they have more choices to make processes as efficient as possible based on their organizational structure and individual needs. Whether the institution chooses to have processes managed by its eCollege support team or the administrators themselves, the ultimate goal is still to keep administrative and other related costs down even as the school’s online programs grow,†continued Thorne.
eCollege’s Program Administration System has been instrumental in helping customers build, manage and grow some of the largest and most successful online programs in the country. As part of its Program Administration System, eCollege supports administrators during all phases of the development, implementation and delivery of an online program. eCollege’s support teams will continue to provide the level of administrative support that each customer wants. Each customer is supported by a client services consultant, as well as a cross-functional backup team, who work together to provide operational expertise and assist program administrators in managing complex programs, especially during times of strong enrollment growth and peak user activity.
About eCollege
eCollege [Nasdaq: ECLG] is a leading provider of value-added information services to the post-secondary and K-12 education industries. The Company’s eLearning Division designs, builds and supports some of the most successful, fully online degree, certificate/diploma and professional development programs in the country. The Company’s Enrollment Division, Datamark, Inc., helps institutions build new enrollments and increase student retention. Customers include publicly traded for-profit institutions, community colleges, public and private universities, school districts and state departments of education. eCollege was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Denver. Datamark was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City. For more information, visit www.eCollege.com and www.Datamark.com.
This news release contains statements that are not historical in nature and that may be characterized as “forward-looking statements†within the meaning of the securities laws. Examples of these forward-looking statements would include statements about expected customer acceptance of new products or services, the expected benefits to customers of such products or services and any other statements that are not historical facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks. Actual results may differ materially. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the difficulty in predicting future growth due to the early stage of and rapid changes in the market for our products and services; our eLearning customers’ ability to continue to build, grow and market their online programs; the difficulty in predicting changes in the mix of marketing products and services employed by customers of our Enrollment Division; substantial competition, including pricing competition, in the online education and enrollment and retentions services markets; technological developments, emerging industry standards and government regulations, and customer requirements, which continually require us to improve our software and services; a significant portion of our revenue is generated from a relatively small number of customers; our debt obligations could adversely affect our financial health and our ability to obtain financing and react to changes in our business; the possibility that we may not be able to achieve continued growth or profitability, or maintain current levels of revenue; our ability to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights from infringement; the impact of laws and regulations affecting education and the Internet; the ability of the Company to retain key executives at eCollege and Datamark; our lengthy sales cycle; our network infrastructure and computer systems failing; the vulnerability of our network to security risks; the possibility that we may not be able to raise additional capital on acceptable terms; Datamark’s ability to develop and sustain long-term customer relationships; the cost of marketing activities, including mailing lists, materials and postal rates; the use in these estimates of preliminary allocations of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed from Datamark and the possibility that the Datamark operations could be disruptive to our existing business, may not be successfully integrated, and may not live up to financial or business expectations and the additional debt incurred increases our leverage and fixed debt service obligations; the effects general economic conditions may have on our revenues; and such other factors as are discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which you are encouraged to review in connection with this release. We believe that these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date of this release. We are not obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.
eCollege is a registered trademark of eCollege.
