By Lilly Vitorovich
LONDON--Pearson PLC (PSON.LN), which has extensive educational
publishing operations, said Tuesday that it will launch a higher
education college that will directly deliver degrees in the
U.K.
Pearson College will offer a business and enterprise degree
course, which will be validated by existing universities in the
U.K. The degree includes a guaranteed internship program and a
company-based mentor for every student. It will be run from
Pearson's offices in London and Manchester.
Pearson--which generates around 60% of its earnings and sales
from its education business--said in a statement that it will be
the first time a FTSE 100 company has directly delivered a degree
course. Pearson also publishes Penguin books and the Financial
Times newspaper.
"Given its academic publishing heritage and over 150 years of
commercial experience, Pearson is uniquely placed to develop and
deliver degrees that combine a solid academic foundation with
meeting business and employer needs," Roxanne Stockwell, managing
director of Pearson College, said.
The college is due to be launched September 2013 and tuition
fees have been set at 6,500 pounds ($10,192) a year.
Write to Lilly Vitorovich at lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com;
Twitter: @LillyVitorovich
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