2U Wins at the Return on Education Innovation Awards at the ASU GSV Education Innovation Summit, Recognized for Outstanding University Partnerships

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Apr 18, 2013, 03:58 ET

LANDOVER, Md., April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 2U Inc., a leader in delivering rigorous, selective graduate and undergraduate degree and credit conferring programs online in partnership with top-tier universities, has won the "Partnerships" category in the inaugural Return on Education (ROE) Innovation Awards at the ASU/GVS Education Innovation Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The award was voted on by a group of educators, industry leaders, visionaries, entrepreneurs and investors. The other finalists in the Partnerships category included Academic Partnerships, Coursera, edX and Middlebury Interactive Languages.

2U was named an ROE award winner based upon its demonstrated ability to:

Dramatically improve learning outcomes.
Provide substantial leverage to learning leaders such as teachers, professors and self-learners.
Significantly increase access to education.
Greatly reduce the cost for learners and/or learning institutions.
Make a sustainable and scaled impact.

"We are honored to receive an award that acknowledges 2U's unwavering commitment to partner with top universities and deliver for-credit online programs that create meaningful student outcomes," says Chip Paucek, 2U co-founder and CEO. "We believe small classes, live instruction, face-to-face interaction with professors and high-quality, self-paced content for students is an approach to online education that can match the rigor of the on-campus learning experience. Being recognized by our peers for those efforts to deliver the best in online education means so much."

2U's eight graduate school partner programs now deliver more than 1,146 live, faculty led, small class sessions each week. To date, 84 percent of all matriculated students across these programs have either graduated or are still currently enrolled.

2U began its first partnership in 2009 with the University of Southern California (USC) Rossier School of Education. The company has since partnered with top-tier graduate schools from USC, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, Washington University in St. Louis, George Washington University and, most recently, American University. Additional graduate school partner programs will be announced in the coming months.

Beginning this fall, 2U and a consortium of leading universities including Brandeis University, Duke University, Emory University, Northwestern University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame and Washington University in St. Louis, will launch Semester Online, the first-of-its kind program offering for-credit online undergraduate courses for college students worldwide.

About 2U Inc.

2U partners with top-tier universities to deliver rigorous, selective graduate degree and undergraduate for-credit programs online. Founded in 2008 by John Katzman and a team of education veterans, the company provides universities with the technologies, infrastructural support and capital they need to transform their on-campus programs into high-quality, web-based programs. 2U is one of the highest-funded education technology start-ups in the United States. 2U has partnered with prestigious colleges and research universities to deliver the following groundbreaking online programs:

USC Rossier Online: Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Arts in Teaching –TESOL and Master of Education in Advanced Instruction from the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education
MSW@USC: Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Southern California School of Social Work
Nursing@Georgetown: Master of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies
MBA@UNC: Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School
MPA@UNC: Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government
@WashULaw: Master of Laws (LL.M.) in U.S. Law from Washington University School of Law
MPH@GW: Master of Public Health (MPH) from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
International Relations Online: Master of Arts in International Relations from American University's School of International Service
Semester Online: For-credit undergraduate program through a consortium of leading colleges and universities