this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . september 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message the topic of this article may not meet wikipedia s notability guidelines for companies and organizations . please help to establish notability by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond its mere trivial mention . if notability can not be established the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted . find sources ics learn international correspondence schools news newspapers books scholar jstor free images november 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article does not cite any sources . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message ics learn industry education founded usa 1890 headquarters glasgow scotland products online learning courses website ics learn united kingdom ics learn also known as ics and international correspondence schools ltd is a provider of online learning courses in the uk . 1 it was founded in 1890 in scranton pennsylvania . 2 the uk branch was set up in 1904 and it now serves around 10 000 students per year 88 % of whom are from the uk . 1 it has a large share of the market in cipd courses and online gcses and a levels . 1 it also provides courses on accountancy and business management among other subjects . 1 contents 1 accreditation 2 history 3 references 4 external links accreditation edit ics learn courses are accredited by a number of awarding bodies including association of accounting technicians aat aqa chartered institute of personnel and development cipd chartered institute of marketing cim chartered institute of purchasing & supply cips edexcel institute of leadership & management ilm history edit further information distance education ics learn was founded in 1890 in scranton pennsylvania by journalist and editor of the mining herald thomas j. foster . 3 alarmed by frequent mine accidents foster advocated better working conditions and stricter safety regulations which led to pennsylvania s adoption of the mine safety act of 1885 and the requirement for miners to pass a safety exam . 3 in order to help workers pass the new test foster began an advice column in the mining herald answering mine safety questions . 3 unsatisfied with this solution in 1890 he founded the colliery engineer school of mines the first distance learning institution in america . 3 the organisation changed names several times finally settling on international correspondence schools of scranton . 3 the mission of the school was to provide practical men with a technical education and technical men with a practical education . 2 to achieve its goal ics did not instruct its students by standard textbooks which it believed often contained extraneous amounts of material and demand ed too great a knowledge of mathematics and other subjects . instead ics created its own specially prepared leather bound instruction and question papers which provided exactly the information the student needed and questioned him only on that material . 2 it enrolled 2500 new students in 1894 and matriculated 72 000 new students in 1895 . 4 by 1900 one in 27 americans had taken a correspondence course with ics . 3 the pennsylvania magazine of history and biography states that it is by far the largest single educational institution in america s history . 2 foster remained the president of ics until his death in 1936 at age 93 . 3 the organisation expanded to the uk in 1904 . the us branch is now known as penn foster career school . this publication was also named the colliery engineer and colliery engineer and metal miner . 2 references edit a b c d ics learn keeping an eye open for deals . herald scotland . retrieved 2016 10 14 . a b c d e education for success the international correspondence schools of scranton pennsylvania . the pennsylvania magazine of history and biography . cxx 4 october 1996 . a b c d e f g singleton by david . 150 people who made scranton great thomas j. foster . retrieved 2016 10 14 . kett joseph f. 1996 . pursuit of knowledge under difficulties from self improvement to adult education in america . pp. 236 8 . external links edit ics learn homepage uk penn foster career school us the ics archive . lists of ics materials short history copyright information and selected course materials . international correspondence schools of scranton history 1891 to the present international correspondence schools of scranton pennsylvania history 1891 to the present retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ics learn international correspondence schools & oldid 744427729 categories distance education institutionseducational institutions established in 1890hidden categories articles with a promotional tone from september 2014all articles with a promotional tonearticles with topics of unclear notability from november 2015all articles with topics of unclear notabilityarticles lacking sources from november 2015all articles lacking sourcespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links 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