RICHARDSON, Texas, -- Extending its reach into the insurance industry, WebCE this week inked an agreement to provide continuing education courses to QQLink.com's 1,500 insurance agents
Through the agreement with WebCE, agents with Chicago-based QQLink will have access to more than 55 state-approved continuing education classes for insurance adjusters, as well as agents who sell life, health and property and casualty insurance
The last month has been a busy one for Dallas-area online education companies. Earlier this week, HighTechCampus announced that it had won a $4 million capital infusion. WebCE has seen its share of the action as well. In late February, the company closed a deal to offer insurance classes in conjunction with CPAdirectory.com.
WebCE targets industries where professionals must complete annual continuing education classes to retain their licenses to practice. The company's primary customers -- lawyers, insurance agents and accountants -- fall into this category. Currently, 45 states allow distance learning to fulfill continuing education requirements
A co-branded approach
Under the agreement, QQLink.com will market continuing education courses to these agents and direct them to a co-branded site, which will list course offerings from WebCE. QQLink.com will pay WebCE each time an insurance agent visits the continuing education site, as well as a percentage of the fees insurance agents pay for classes
"With the Internet sweeping through all aspects of the insurance industry, agents are becoming more and more comfortable using their computers to get things done," Gary Henkel, chief executive officer of WebCE, said in a prepared statement. "I am excited about the opportunities created by this partnership with QQLink. It should make the process of obtaining certification much easier for agents."
Agents using the WebCE system can order a Web-based correspondence course and start working on the class immediately. After completing the self-paced course, agents can take a printed or online version of the test and receive pass/fail notification in real time.
A subsidiary of Ceres Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERG), QQLink furnishes Web-based services to the insurance agents who work for its parent company, as well as agents brought in through Ceres' business alliances
About WebCE
Based in Dallas, Texas, WebCE is a nationwide supplier of state-of-the-art continuing education courses to tens of thousands of licensed professionals. WebCE provides both custom-developed knowledge management solutions and an integrated family of continuing education courses and testing, which are delivered either electronically over the Internet or through traditional books. More information is available on the company's website, www.webce.com, or at (800) 488-9308.