Computer Training Ctr. history

Located in Fairfax, Virginia, the original Computer Learning Centers was founded in 1967 and taught systems management, data entry, and computer operations to computer center operations personnel.

1970: Pascal is created.

In 1976 Airco, Inc., a business whose primary interests were in welding gases, medical products, and alloy production, acquired CLC from MCD.

By 1983, Airco had increased the number of CLC schools to 25.

Study performed by shows that roughly 30% of K-12 students used computers at both home and school in 1984.

1986: First entirely online course is offered at New York Institute of Technology November 1986, to serve those who could not attend classes on campus.

Then, in 1987, British Oxygen Group made the decision to divest six of the schools to Connecticut-based General Atlantic Partners.

1990: Multimedia PCs are developed, and schools are using video and compact discs to accompany textbooks and teaching.

Reid Bechtle was retained by the new owners of CLC in 1991 to review the business for possible sale.

Charles L. Cosgrove, who came with Bechtle from Planning Research Corporation became vice-president and chief financial officer in 1992, while Harry H. Gaines became its chairman.

After that point, CLC grew steadily, proving Chairman Gaines correct, when he said in 1995 that the market for information technology training was due to "explode."

In order to raise capital to open new facilities and expand programs, the company offered up 1.3 million shares in its second public offering in October 1996.

In December 1997, 11 students at the company's Alexandria, Virginia campus filed complaints with the Virginia Council of Higher Education that CLC had misrepresented students' future career prospects.

Although these regulatory and legal problems cut into CLC's first-quarter 1998 profits by roughly 25 percent, in the wake of their settlement, stock prices once again climbed, back up to almost $29 in July 1998.

2004: 2.3 million United States college students are taking at least one course entirely online.

2006: Blackboard begins to take off and is accepted as a major method of instruction for many universities and colleges.

2009: Statistics show a continued trend in online college courses. - Approximately 5.6 million students were enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2009.

By 2014, the number of students expected to be taking ALL of their classes online is 3.55 million.