eCollege, Microsoft & HP Collaborate on Content Management System for eLearning

eCollege [Nasdaq: ECLG] announced it is collaborating with Microsoft Corp. [Nasdaq: MSFT] and HP [NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ] in the development of an industry-leading content management system specifically designed to support enterprise-wide eLearning programs both online and on campus.

The eCollege Content Manager will be fully integrated into the eCollege platform to help institutions centrally manage, standardize and reuse content across multiple programs, courses, sections, and other applications. This helps institutions simplify enterprise-wide administrative processes to easily and securely maintain content. It also enables institutions to decrease the time and cost of content development, while still improving the quality, consistency and interactivity of courses.

“After conducting a detailed build versus buy analysis based on our content management vision announced last fall, we are very pleased to team with industry leaders Microsoft and HP to develop a content management solution especially designed to meet the needs of the education market,” said Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and CEO of eCollege. “Microsoft and HP bring technology and design expertise critical to developing a solution that provides the efficiency and scalability necessary to support our customers’ large and growing online operations.”

eCollege has a long track record of working with Microsoft in creating an industry-leading technology infrastructure as part of its outsource online education solution. Most recently, eCollege has worked with Microsoft to incorporate Microsoft® .NET tools and interoperability standards within all product development efforts, including the eCollege Content Manager. Microsoft .NET provides the means for quickly and easily building and deploying XML Web services, which allows the transformation of current systems by adding new capabilities and services, ultimately extending the value of existing institutional technology investments. The eCollege Content Manager is leveraging a strong reliance on XML to promote a robust content architecture for high levels of flexibility and interoperability, and it will take advantage of future Microsoft technologies such as SQL Server™ 2005 and “Longhorn,” the code name for the next version of the Windows® operating system.

“Microsoft .NET is software for connecting people, information, systems and devices, and by harnessing the power of the .NET framework, we can create a custom content management solution tailored to meet the specific needs of the eLearning market and our academic customers,” said Anthony Salcito, general manager, Microsoft Education – U.S. Public Sector. “This latest collaboration with HP and eCollege supports our vision for a connected learning community by removing limitations and creating opportunities through learning solutions.”

eCollege teamed with HP to take advantage of its best-of-breed technology, thought leadership and Adaptive Enterprise strategy to help execute the eCollege Content Manager more quickly, broadly and easily to satisfy the evolving needs of institutions. HP will deliver and manage an advanced computing infrastructure composed of industry-standard HP ProLiant servers running Windows Server™ 2003 and HP StorageWorks technology.

“For more than 60 years, HP has been committed to furthering the technological reach of institutions of higher learning with the power of innovation, which includes eLearning programs,” said Mike Humke, director, Higher Education, HP’s Public Sector Organization. “Building on our existing relationship with eCollege, HP is pleased to provide a flexible and scalable solution through our Adaptive Enterprise strategy that gives colleges the tools they need to support the diverse educational needs of their students and faculty.”

The eCollege Content Manager will be implemented at the end of 2004 for institutions to begin using for the 2005 spring term, starting in January. eCollege plans to continue leveraging content management functionality by providing additional features as part of its ongoing commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its customers.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About HP
HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2004, HP revenue totaled $76.8 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.

About eCollege
eCollege [Nasdaq: ECLG] is a leading provider of value-added information services to the post-secondary and K-12 education markets. 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, including statements regarding: the collaborative development of a content management system and the success and expected results thereof, including its integration into the eCollege platform; functionality of developments; adequacy of developments to support customer requirements; expected cost savings to customers; system security; the delivery and management by our project partners of a computing infrastructure; our ability to leverage technologies; the timeline of implementation of projects; and any other statements that are not historical facts. You can identify such statements when you see words such as “will,” expect,” “plan,” “believe” and similar expressions. 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: competition in the highly competitive online learning market; the possibility of failures of our network infrastructure and computer systems; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; the impact of laws and regulations affecting education and the Internet; the timing of our sales cycle may cause variable operating results; the cost of marketing activities; our dependence on key personnel; and such other factors as are discussed in our most recent Form 10-Q Quarterly Report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which reports 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.

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