Economics and mass higher education have become firmly coupled not only in the minds of distance educators but also in those of policy makers, politicians, educational economists, and social scientists. These conference proceedings add to the knowledge and experience of colleagues from around the world who address the topics of cost effectiveness, efficiency, and benefits of distance education. Author, title, and an abstract are provided for the keynote address and two plenary lectures. The remaining 37 papers are provided in full-text, and address the following issues: public funding of distance education; government funding; planning and workforce needs; work based training; estimating the benefits of higher education and distance education programs; containing costs; student support; course feedback; videoconferencing; human resources; in-service teacher development; physical education courses; collaborative publishing in distance education; and materials production. Papers emphasize the cost factor, and address distance education in many world countries, including England; China; Thailand; Australia; Japan; Canada; South Korea; India; Sri Lanka; Fiji; Singapore; and the United States. An author index is also provided. (MAS)