Penn Foster College is a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 for-profit institution

For-Profit School

For-profit education refers to educational institutions operated by private, profit-seeking businesses....

 offering higher education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 via distance education

Distance education

Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...

. Penn Foster, originally International Correspondence Schools or ICS, was founded in 1890 by Thomas J. Foster, a Pennsylvania newspaper editor. The college was established in 1977 by ICS and was known as "The Center for Degree Studies", which was located in and operated from Scranton

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. In 2006, it was renamed Penn Foster College and moved to its new headquarters in Scottsdale

Scottsdale, Arizona

Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

.

In December 2009, Penn Foster College was purchased by test preparation

Test preparation

Test preparation or exam preparation primarily refers to educational courses, tutoring services, and educational materials/learning tools designed to increase students' performance on standardized tests, particularly entrance examinations used for admissions to institutions of higher education,...

 and educational support company The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review is an American-based standardized test preparation and admissions consulting company. The Princeton Review operates in 41 states and 22 countries across the globe. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT and advice regarding college...

 from its previous owner, the Wicks Group, a private equity

Private equity

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

 firm that had bought the college from Thomson Corporation

Thomson Corporation

The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies.Thomson was active in financial services, healthcare sectors, law, science & technology research, and tax & accounting sectors...

 in 2007.

Accreditation

Penn Foster College is nationally accredited

Educational accreditation

Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...

 by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council

Distance Education and Training Council

The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...

 (DETC). Penn Foster College is licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education and is authorized to grant Associate of Science and Bachelor of Science Degrees. In addition, the Penn Foster Veterinary Technician Associate Degree program is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association

American Veterinary Medical Association

The American Veterinary Medical Association , founded in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 81,500 U.S. veterinarians working in private and corporate practice, government, industry, academia, and uniformed services....

 (AVMA). Also accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. Because Penn Foster College has a national rather than regional accreditation

Regional accreditation

Regional accreditation is a term used in the United States to refer to educational accreditation conducted by any of several accreditation bodies established to serve six defined geographic areas of the country for accreditation of schools, colleges, and universities...

, schools with regional accreditation may or may not recognize credits, though this policy varies among regionally accredited institutions.

Licensing

Penn Foster College is licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education. Penn Foster College is authorized to grant Associate of Science degrees and Bachelor of Science degrees.

Academics

The college focuses on associate of science degrees in the fields of business, criminal justice, early childhood education, engineering and computer science, technology, health care, and the legal profession. Students can study online, in print, or in combination. In 2008, the college started offering bachelor degrees for the first time, with Bachelor of Science Degrees in criminal justice and business management.