From delivering correspondence courses by motorcycle to giving people who otherwise couldn’t afford it the chance to enroll in professional development opportunities, UW Continuum College has grown and evolved for more than 100 years, passing many milestones along the way. Explore Continuum’s decades of history and learn how we’ve become a bridge to education for our community.
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In 1921, the state legislature mandated the University Extension Services to operate as a financially self-sufficient unit. This mandate allowed Extension Services to become more flexible and responsive to the changing times and public needs. By the 1921 to 1922 school year, 1,057 students enrolled in 49 classes.
The winter quarter of 1923 introduced offerings, such as the classroom study of motor vehicles and a course in transportation covering Pacific Coast problems, which aligned with increased automobile use and related transportation issues.
In 1924, the courses cost $4 per credit hour and remained at that price for decades. In comparison, UW’s tuition for in-state students was $15 per quarter in 1921 ($50 per quarter for nonresidents). These tuition levels also remained unchanged for decades.