Army signs online education contract

The U.S. Army is one step closer to offering soldiers free access to post-graduate education programs now that it has granted a $453 million contract to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to implement its new distant-learning initiative, Army Secretary Louis Caldera announced Thursday at a press briefing.

The Army University Access Online program will provide online education services for an estimated 80,000 soldiers who wish to pursue post-graduate degrees over the next five years.

After a lengthy bidding process, the Army secured PWC and a host of service providers to implement the new programs by January 2001.

The service will provide soldiers at three Army posts in Georgia, Kentucky and Texas with a laptop computer and printer, the latest software and Internet access. Soldiers will be able to pursue any level of post-graduate degree or simply take classes.

After the first year, the Army hopes to expand the program to more bases.