Foster, a newspaper editor, founded what was named the International Correspondence Schools to provide coal miners with the education they needed to advance in their careers and increase worker safety.

Influenced by the popular Horatio Alger books, people were looking to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and climb the social and economic ladder."

In 2009, Penn Foster was resold to test preparation and educational support company The Princeton Review.

In 2012, the Princeton Review brand name and operations were bought for $33 million by Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private-equity firm.

To obtain a high school diploma, students take a core curriculum of classes and five elective courses.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Penn Foster High School has 11.5 FTE (full-time equivalent teachers) for about 13,000 students.