Four attempts to use telecommunications in education are reviewed: educational television in Columbia, the Bavarian Telekolleg, ALPS (Adult Learning Program Service), and the proposed Edu-Cable. The lessons that have been learned from them bear on the application of cable television to education and higher education in particular. The analyses are concerned with the economics of the delivery systems and not with the relative effectiveness of TV learning versus face-to-face learning. It was found that selling education requires a continuing marketing and promotional effort whose costs are high. Also, selling education via television on a per-course or per-program basis compounds the sales difficulties. For this reason, it may be desirable to market access to a wide range of educational experiences including courses. In addition, if feedback is necessary, expensive two-way cable technology can be replaced by telephone, the mails, and periodic on-campus visits. Moreover, educators should expect that for every dollar of technology between $3 and $6 will be spent on support services to make it work. Finally, cable operators must be assured that the educators will share the operating and financing responsiblities and risks of such a system. (WCM)