Kathi L. Samuels is traveling from Washington, D.C., to the University Park campus to receive a master's degree in adult education during Penn State's fall commencement ceremonies. There's nothing unusual about that, except that this will be Samuels' first visit to campus. She is among the first 10 graduates to finish the master's program completely online through Penn State's World Campus. Her fellow graduates hail from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Florida. They faced many challenges in reaching their goal -- juggling family, work and community responsibilities with their course work, as all students must do.

The big difference for the World Campus students was that they also had to adapt to learning in an online environment, including mastering the technology used in the courses. Samuels says she appreciated the flexibility of online learning, because while she was enrolled in the program, she and her husband were relocating. For the full story by Debbie Benedetti, visit

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