FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Penn Foster High School Offers Alternative to 1.2 Million Dropouts

Responding to the U.S. Department of Education announcement that American dropout numbers have climbed to 1.2 million, Penn Foster Virtual High School renews its commitment to confront and remove the common barriers to achieving a high school education.

([ONLINE NEWSWIRE]) [Month Day], 2008--Penn Foster High School--one of the oldest and largest distance learning institutions in the world--continues to renew its commitment to help the 1.2 million recent high school dropouts earn their high school diplomas.

Penn Foster is well equipped to deal with this year's staggering dropout numbers, now being labeled as an "epidemic" by news sources reporting the recent U.S. Department of Education statistics. Since one in every 1,410 Americans is already enrolled in a Penn Foster program, Penn Foster High School is ready to tackle such a significant educational need.

Stuart Udell, Penn Foster CEO and Vice Chairman of the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, notes, "Penn Foster High School encourages students to complete their high school education in a supportive self-paced environment, free from the pressures and frustration that can at times accompany traditional secondary study."

Applied to the 1.2 million, recent research by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation suggests that these students left high school for a variety of reasons: 300,000 students dropped out to parent their children, 360,000 couldn't keep up with their school work, nearly 400,000 dropped out because they had to work to make money, and more than half a million felt too discouraged to continue.

Online secondary education at Penn Foster High School confronts these major stumbling blocks to graduation:

• Online education is ideal for stay-at-home parents who need to study as the opportunity arises.

• Self-paced study lets students take as long as they need to complete assignments, a particularly helpful quality for students with second language issues or learning challenges that make it hard to keep up with face-to-face classroom activities.

• Students don't have to quit their jobs to pursue online study. The most economically challenged can take advantage of Penn Foster High School's alliance with state Job Corps Centers.

• Online students at Penn Foster High School have the support of their fellow students, their faculty, and a toll-free hotline to combat discouragement and enhance motivation.

In the Penn Foster High School program, students acquire academic and work skills that open up doors to productive postsecondary and career opportunities. In fact, assuming a 40 year work life, Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers put the future value of a high school diploma at more than a million dollars over a lifetime income.