Distance education has become a major form of education in the United States. This surge in popularity has launched a plethora of scholarship emphasizing the distillation of those strategies which inform effective, learning experiences in the distance environment. A growing consensus among researchers recognizes the need for a holistic approach to discerning these strategies of effective practice, which can then also be articulated as principles for application. This article presents such a synthesis, detailing the administrative, instructional design and development as well as pedagogical implementation strategies which support effective distance education and summarizes these strategies with a set of guiding principles for practitioners to apply in their individual environments.