Our history
Open Colleges - more than 100 years of know-how!
In 1891, a visionary organisation called International Correspondence Schools (ICS) was established in Pennsylvania, USA, to provide correspondence courses that would enable hard-working people to improve their skills and life opportunities.
In 1910, ICS established formal operations in Australia. Today, ICS is known as Open Colleges (formerly Cengage Education) and is the oldest and best-respected provider of distance learning in Australia.
Where it all started
In the late 1800s, The Colliery Engineer and Metal Miner newspaper in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, USA, announced an innovative new concept in education soon to be offered through the Colliery Engineer School of Mines.
The idea of correspondence classes was inspired by the editor's regular Q&A column, which aimed to help local and poorly educated coal miners pass mandatory exams in mine safety.
The first class enrolled 500 miners and within eight years there were 190,000 students studying a variety of courses, including commercial education and 40 other engineering trades.
By 1895, the school had become officially known as the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton Pennsylvania (ICS).
The Australian connection
Australians were among those first students in the 1890s, which is hardly surprising, given the very early development of distance education in this huge country in the mid- to late-19th century.
The first permanent office in our region was established in New Zealand in 1903. Agencies were established in Australia around the same time, and by 1910 there was a permanent infrastructure in place.
ICS was formally registered as a corporation in Australia in December 1921, and continued to thrive by constantly adapting and developing courses to meet emerging vocational needs.
Finding an even better way
In 1994, ICS once again pioneered a new concept in accessible education with the release of courses on CD-ROM.
In July 1995, ICS launched its first web site and announced its first batch of soon-to-be-released 'online' course material. To put this initiative into perspective,15 years or so ago most major corporations had little or no online presence at all!
The evolution of a new identity
Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, ICS in Australia was renamed Thomson Education Direct in 2001. With a revitalised financial and management structure, the organisation continued to prosper, placing a strong emphasis on building its already impressive online capability.
In a Sydney Morning Herald article in July 2001, leading business commentator Robert Gottliebsen said, "About three years ago, Thomson decided the internet would be the growth market for the communications sector and it should expand its education services". Gottliebsen added that "Thomson has a magnificent internet infrastructure to run courses..."
In 2007, Thomson became part of Cengage Learning and its name changed to Cengage Education. Then in 2010, Cengage Education was acquired by the Nexus Education Group Pty Ltd, and in October 2011 embarked on the next exciting phase in its evolution as Open Colleges.
An exciting future
Open Colleges is now Australia's leading distance education provider. With increased take-up of online learning, Open Colleges has an exciting future and will continue to play a pioneering role in open, online and distance learning in Australia.
Today, we deliver expertly prepared vocational and professional courses that all offer flexible study options. Our students study at home in their own time, choosing to work either entirely online or via conventional printed materials - or often a happy blend of both.
More than 700,000 students have benefited from distance education courses delivered by Open Colleges since its inception in Australia in 1910. And while our name may have changed from time to time, our guiding principle remains as always... "we make high quality, affordable education available to everyone".