In fiscal years 1963-1985, the World Bank had experience with 32 investments in distance education projects in developing nations, including Malaysia, the Ivory Coast, Thailand, the Philippines, Malawi, and China. (Distance education is an educational delivery system that uses a variety of media and a system of feedback to provide education to people who are unable to attend traditional schools.) Lessons learned indicate that investments in distance education are most effective when there is agreement between the bank and the borrower on the educational objectives of the distance education component. It was also learned that distance education has been used to advantage when: (1) it is sharply focused on improving the quality of teaching available; (2) it is used to teach nonformal "equivalency" education to students otherwise without teachers and classrooms; and (3) it is used to meet special needs and answer urgent needs for the formation of human capital. The text is supplemented by nine tables, and an appendix provides a list of key performance indicators. (8 references) (Author/EW)