Degrees that are delivered entirely online without any face-to-face contact with a tutor are to be offered for the first time in Britain by a leading US company. The two- or three-year foundation degree courses in four areas of business studies are to be devised by Kaplan, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, and validated by the University of Essex. Although the company has said it wants to take advantage of recent deregulation that in theory allows non-universities to award their own degrees, the deal with Essex gives it an immediate foothold in the higher education market.

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