The document discusses the history and lessons learned from early online education programs. It notes that US colleges had invested $100 million in online courses by 2002 and $482 million in venture capital went to online learning companies in 2000. However, many early online education programs failed or were shut down between 1998-2001, including NYUOnline, Fathom, UMUC Online, and Virtual Temple. Survivors included for-profit eCornell and not-for-profit UMass Online and Penn State World Campus. Key lessons were that online education was not realistic as a profit center and enrichment programs had limited appeal - people wanted credit. Questions remaining included the format, funding, production, and defining success.