NEWS RELEASE

Communications and Marketing Office
600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900

For more information, contact:
Phone: 386-226-6157
Fax: 386-226-6158
Contact: Martha Hollis
Phone: (386) 226-4933

Embry-Riddle Worldwide Online Wins Distinguished College Course Award

University Takes Top UCEA Honor for Second Year

Daytona Beach, Fla., May 6, 2009 -- The University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) awarded its Distinguished College Course Award for the second consecutive year to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide Online division. The award was presented at UCEA’s 2009 Community of Practice Awards conference in Boston April 4. Embry-Riddle is the world’s leader in aviation and aerospace higher education.

The Distance Learning Course Awards recognize new and innovative courses that use one or more forms of instruction at a distance. All association members are eligible to enter the competition for these awards. UCEA is the principal U.S. organization for continuing higher education and assists institutions of higher learning and affiliated nonprofit organizations to increase access to higher educational opportunities through a wide array of programs and services.

“Our recognition for creation and delivery of the most distinguished college-level course in the country is a testament to the professional and scholarly team we’ve built,” said Dr. Martha Hollis, dean of Worldwide Online for Embry-Riddle. “The content for the undergraduate course, Airport Planning and Design, was developed by Shawn Arena and Ervin Deck and delivered exclusively over the Internet by a global group of faculty members.”

The Worldwide Online team of instructional and digital media specialists produces more than 180 high-quality online course offerings designed for the adult learner. “Our award-winning course is setting the standard for the delivery of the next generation of online university education, with faculty and student support teams dedicated to ensuring seamless operations and a better online educational experience for enrolled students,” said Hollis.

Embry-Riddle’s Worldwide Online program has previously been recognized for making a major difference in lifelong learning and education by UCEA, including an award for a program that educates online faculty who develop and facilitate online courses in the University’s award-winning template.

“The technologically advanced course-delivery capability of Worldwide Online coupled with creative scholarship results in the academic quality Embry-Riddle is known for in the world of aviation and aerospace,” said John Watret, chief academic officer for Embry-Riddle Worldwide.

“This award is a visible representation of our earnest intent to continue blazing new trails in delivering quality higher education targeted specifically to an advanced technical audience,” said Marty Smith, executive vice president of Embry-Riddle Worldwide. “We will continue to join with UCEA in taking an active role in advancing the development and delivery of quality continuing education.”

The Worldwide Campus of Embry-Riddle is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla., and has over 10,000 students taking online classes across the country and around the world. The campus offers more than 180 courses online with 11 undergraduate terms and six graduate terms per year. Embry-Riddle programs are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Worldwide Online offers an affordable, flexible education tailored to the achievement of certificate, undergraduate, and graduate degree programs. For more information on available programs and tuition cost, contact the Worldwide Online campus staff at (800) 359-3728 or email worldwide.online.recruitment@erau.edu. Visit the Worldwide Online Web site at www.embryriddle.edu/worldwideonline.

Embry-Riddle Worldwide began in 1970 and has become one of the largest off-campus, regionally accredited colleges in the United States, with over 45,000 alumni. The Worldwide organization educates more than 27,000 students through classroom, online, or hybrid undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering, educating more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs. Doctoral programs in aviation and in engineering physics are pending approval by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) for the University to offer programs at the doctoral level. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 campus centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.