By Paul Bourgeois
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH -- Yesterday, Texas Christian University's courses were in Fort Worth. Tomorrow, they will be all over the world, with the click of a computer mouse.

The secret is out, said Kurk Gayle, Director of the Intensive English Program at TCU, which is geared for the world to plug in to the "E-Program."

Learning English is the first step to an American higher education, and now intensive English training is available to students in Asia, Europe and Africa, as well as closer to home, in Fort Worth, Arlington and Bedford. All it takes is a computer and Internet access.

Gayle said a few universities have rudimentary "correspondence courses" on the Net, but nothing of this magnitude.

"It has been a secret. At first, we didn't know if we could do it," Gayle said yesterday from a computer-filled room in the basement of the TCU library.

"It," he said, is the first fully integrated, comprehensive and intensive tutorial that incorporates video, audio and immediate one-on-one help from instructors at the click of a mouse.

"I think we're the only one in the United States and the world that has a completely online program," Gayle said. "We have a product, and it's ready to go for the first time." Already, Gayle said, word has leaked out. A few people have already signed on. By the year's end, the program is prepared for more than 100 students and expects 400 to 500 a year from now.

The governments of Argentina and Hungary have expressed interest in the program for some of their employees, Gayle said.

"Now a student in Bangkok or Nigeria or Paris can take our program and be a TCU student without obtaining a visa, and it's highly interactive," he said.

Gayle said the idea surfaced a few years ago as downturns in some economies, specifically in Asia, were translating into fewer foreign students enrolling at TCU, particularly in the Intensive English Program.

"This past summer we had a third as many as students as we had in previous summers," he said.

He said the beauty of the Internet course is that it sidesteps requirements imposed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, avoids hassles in obtaining visas, is convenient because instruction is online 24 hours a day, and is relatively inexpensive, he said.

That doesn't mean cheap. An intensive three-week course that requires 20 hours per week costs about $600, which is what it would cost to sit in a classroom on campus for the same course. But students elsewhere can save on the costs of travel, room and board.

For those who live nearby, perhaps even in Fort Worth, it's an opportunity to attend classes at one's own pace and do it from a home or office.

For the instructors, it can be a part-time job accomplished from their homes or offices or anywhere in the world.

"The beauty of this is that a teacher can put the kids to bed and start teaching at home," Gayle said.

"English, particularly American English, is huge around the world. The world wants American English, but because of the economy problems, kids are staying home to study, and the U.S. is losing ground in capturing all of the English [education] market," he said.

"And we've found that if we train them in English, they often will come to the United States for their degree, particularly TCU," he said. "Sixty- seven percent who go through the English language program at TCU start degrees for credit at TCU.

"It's a huge success rate."

Gayle also said the program helps further promote TCU and Fort Worth around the world. It also puts TCU at the forefront of technology that will change how people think and feel about education.

Daniel Olson, the online lab coordinator, said students everywhere likely will supplement their classroom work with online work often.

Already, Olson said, the program is proving useful for foreign students on campus who just want or need a little extra help.

"It's real nice support for the classroom," Olson said.

Donny Li, a student from Taiwan, said that in some cases "textbooks are so formal. This has more interaction."

Gayle said the Union Pacific Foundation and Tandy Corp. provided the start-up money and equipment. Now TCU is looking for a grant to sell the E- Program to the world, he said.

There are no limits to where online education can go, and TCU has taken a step, Gayle said.

More information on the E- Program is available at www.iep.tcu.edu/iep.

email inquiries can be sent to iep@tcu.edu.

Paul Bourgeois, (817) 390-7796
Send comments to bourgeois@star-telegram.com