eCollege One of Colorado’s Fastest Growing Tech Companies on Deloitte’s Fast 50

DENVER – October 4, 2004 – eCollege(SM) [Nasdaq: ECLG], a leading provider of value-added information services to the post-secondary education market, today announced it has been named to Deloitte’s prestigious Colorado Technology Fast 50 Program. This is the fourth straight year eCollege has been among the fastest growing technology companies in Colorado based on five year revenue growth.

The Fast 50 is a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the area by Deloitte & Touche LLP, one of the nation’s leading professional services firms. This year’s Colorado Technology Fast 50 Program is sponsored by Holme Roberts & Owen LLP and The Denver Business Journal.

“We are delighted to make the Fast 50 list for the fourth consecutive year,” said Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and CEO of eCollege. “The growth of our company, and of online education overall, is based on a continually upward-moving trend of non-traditional students seeking greater educational opportunities. The strength of our business revolves around the success of our customers’ online programs, which in turn drives our own growth.”

Rankings are based on the percentage of growth in fiscal year revenues from 1999–2003. eCollege’s increase in revenues of 693 percent from 1999 to 2003 resulted in a number 13 ranking on the Fast 50 for the Colorado region.

“To rank on the Fast 50, companies must have exceptional revenue growth over five years,” said Steve Yaroch, chair of the 2004 Colorado Technology Fast 50 and Colorado Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice Leader, Deloitte & Touche LLP. “eCollege has proven to be one of the fast-growth success stories in Colorado, and we applaud its success and vision.”

To qualify for the Colorado Technology Fast 50, a company must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 1999 and $1,000,000 in 2003; must be a public or private company headquartered in Colorado; and be a “technology company,” defined as owning proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues (using other companies’ technology in a unique way does not qualify), and/or devoting a significant proportion of revenues to research and development of technology.

Winners of the 19 regional Deloitte Technology Fast 50 programs in the United States and Canada are automatically entered in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Program, which ranks North America’s top 500 fastest growing technology companies. For more information on the Fast 50 or Fast 500 programs, visit www.fast500.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.comand www.Datamark.com.

About Deloitte
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Deloitte & Touche USA LLP is the U.S. member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. In the U.S., services are provided by the subsidiaries of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP (Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Deloitte Tax LLP, and their subsidiaries), and not by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.

eCollege is a service mark of eCollege. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.