As Washington State University adds more options for online learning to its popular Global Campus, it’s worth remembering where it all started.

Not during the pandemic that mainstreamed online education. No, WSU began offering “distance education” in 1992 when the Internet was almost unknown, most people didn’t have cellphones, and no one had Zoom.

“We would mail out study packs that had readings and assignments, VHS and cassette tapes,” said Dave Cillay, chancellor of the WSU Global Campus. “If it was a geology course, we’d mail out a box of rocks. Students would write assignments out by hand, typewriter, or computer if they had one, and mail it back. The faculty member would grade it and put it back in an envelope. That would happen 19 to 30 times during the course.”

The distance degree program became the WSU Global Campus in 2012. Today nearly 3,500 students are enrolled, with another 4,000 students on WSU campuses across the state taking Global Campus classes to supplement their schedules. Sixty percent of the master’s degrees conferred by WSU are earned through Global Campus, due in large part to the popular online MBA.

As a brand new student coming back 13 years after my last school, I thought, ‘Did I make the right choice here?’ But it’s turning out to be great, actually.

Rich Galtieri

Online education is changing the whole concept of higher education, Cillay said. Rather than a set menu, students have a smorgasbord of options. Younger students might want the traditional, on-campus college experience, while working adults can finish a degree or pursue advanced certifications online. Students can make up missing credits so they graduate on schedule.