Distance learning capabilities have benefited students and employers for many years. Correspondence schools, offering courses by mail, have existed for over a hundred years. Distance learning makes higher education accessible to nontraditional students. Demand from degree-seeking students for online degree programs has spurred the growth of this type of distance learning capability. Now offered by reputable universities, online campuses provide quality education to full-time workers while the employer maintains a fully productive employee with growing skills. Distance learning using today's online capabilities provides high-quality education that benefits both employers and students working full-time. Since the late 1800s, distance education has made higher education accessible to people who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to formally improve their skills. The first possibilities for distance learning consisted of correspondence schools. These schools used the mail system to deliver classes. The individual would study the course material and then send the test requirements to the school for grading. This higher learning capability has had a positive impact on employers by providing their employees with the opportunity to develop their skills and maintain productive full-time work schedules. According to Industrial Management (1967), “7% of senior executives in the nation's 8,000 largest companies” took advantage of correspondence courses in 1967 (para. 3). For many years, distance learning has made it possible to keep the knowledge of company employees up to date, thus maintaining their intellectual capital appropriately. Like correspondence schools, today's online learning capabilities continue to be used...... middle of paper ......ds for obtaining an education superior continually evolves and improves. The strategic focus on online learning methodology by reputable universities has resulted in increased academic integrity necessary to strengthen effectiveness and perceptions. Productive employees who keep their knowledge up to date improve the intellectual capital of companies. Distance learning provides high-quality education that benefits employers and full-time working students. Works Cited DiRienzo, C. and Lilly, G. (2014). Online or face-to-face: does delivery method matter for undergraduate business school learning?. Business Training and Accreditation, 6(1), 1-11. Industrial Management (1967). Your leisure activities: a blessing or a curse? (1967). Industrial Management, 9(7), 11Perry, EH and Pilati, ML (2011). Online learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2011(128), 95-104. doi:10.1002/tl.472