Mountain State University Online

Mountain State University Online

Mountain State University offers online courses and degrees via the Blackboard CE and WebCT CE 4 learning management systems. Both programs feature tools that allow students to access course information, communicate with their instructors and other students, take exams, and submit assignments.

Distance learning is education delivered to locations away from the classroom. Distance learning can supplement or replace traditional classroom education through the use of instructional television, computer or Web-based training, and numerous other technologies. Distance learning makes professional development accessible to students who work during traditional classroom hours. Through flexible learning schedules, students can learn at their own pace and at a time and place that is convenient for them. Distance education also makes learning accessible to the disabled and others who are not able or cannot afford to come to a traditional college campus for their education.

Mountain State University History

Mountain State University was founded as Beckley College in 1933. Located in the heart of southern West Virginia, the private, not-for-profit institution began as a junior college in response to the community's desire to provide accessible higher education to its youth. At a time when fewer than 10 percent of high school graduates nationally were attending college, Beckley College opened with 97 students and classrooms rented from a local church.

During its first half century, the college experienced slow but steady increases in enrollment, staff, facilities, and programs. In 1990, five presidents and 57 years later, President Charles H. Polk took on the challenges of leading Beckley College into a new era.

The past two decades have been a time of tremendous change, including the transition from a two-year to a four-year college, then to a master's level institution and, in 2009, to the doctoral level. The campus has grown and degree programs have expanded to include high-demand professional and technology fields as well as the humanities, arts, and sciences. The name Mountain State University was adopted in August 2001.

In addition to traditional classroom-based studies, MSU now serves thousands of students across the country and around the world with a system of branch campuses as well as distance learning, nontraditional credit options, and collaboration with a variety of industry and education partners. Today, as throughout its history, Mountain State University remains committed to its founding vision of fostering opportunities for personal and professional success.