NCS Pearson Wins $75 Million Navy Ed. Contract

KEI Pearson, a wholly owned subsidiary of NCS Pearson Inc.'s government solutions business unit, has been selected to manage a Navy program that provides postsecondary education to Navy sailors deployed worldwide, NCS Pearson announced Nov. 6.

KEI Pearson will provide program management and NCS Pearson Government Solutions will provide systems development and technology infrastructure under the five-year, $75 million contract for the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education, known as NCPACE.

Integration partners for the project include Middlesex Research Center, Landover, Md.; THINQ Learning Solutions, Billerica, Mass.; Institute for Higher Education Policy, Washington; Central Texas College, Killeen, Texas; Blackboard Inc.; Washington; HW&W, Bethesda, Md.; and Dell Computer Corp., Round Rock, Texas.

"This contract puts NCS Pearson and KEI Pearson products and instructors on board every Navy ship and submarine and with every aviation squadron," said Allen Zeman, the Navy's director of naval training and education. "NCPACE is an essential component of our Navy College Program. In fact, NCPACE is the fastest growing education service in the Navy. We have very high expectations for the NCPACE program and for our partnership with KEI Pearson."

The NCPACE program will be available to more than 85,000 sailors worldwide, allowing them to continue their postsecondary education while serving at sea. Through solutions provided by the NCS Pearson team, Navy personnel will be able to access course material through a centralized e-learning Web portal or through other electronic media, such as CD-ROMs. Sailors also will have the ability to attend online and instructor-led classes.

NCS Pearson, with headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minn., is a company of Pearson plc, the British-based international media company.