Are Online Colleges a Waste of
Time?
By Dr. Thomas Slater
If you're an older adult who's always wanted to
continue your education and you just haven't had
time to, or if you want to go back to college for
that advanced education but a full-time job keeps
you from signing up for classes, you're in luck.
Today, online colleges afford nontraditional
students, parents, those with full-time jobs, and
others not able to go back to class full time in a
traditional university setting the chance to
continue their educations on their own schedules.
It used to be that if you wanted to go back to
class, you had to go to college part-time, at night,
or otherwise arrange your schedule inconveniently,
so that you could attend classes on campus.
Alternatively, of course, you could quit your job if
you had the means to do so and go back to class full
time. However, today, you can keep your full-time
job and your regular schedule intact and still get
that associates degree you want. Got kids you need
to be home for? No problem. An
online degree program lets you be at classes on
your own schedule, be home for your kids and
anything else you need to be there for -- and
oftentimes, you won't have to step foot outside your
house to do so until the latter part of your
learning, at least. It's likely that you'll need
some hands-on fieldwork study eventually outside
your home, but you can get the early parts of your
education done completely at home and on your own
schedule.
One of the first things you need to do is to look
for a two-year college that is fully accredited. For
this, check the school and make sure it has
accreditation from the Department of Education and
the Council for Higher Education; the Distance
Education and Training Council is the accrediting
organization for these types of universities, also
called "distance learning" institutions. You can
also ask the college itself for references and find
other students who have attended a particular
distance-learning program, to make sure that it
provides the quality schooling you want. Of course,
you'll also want to check your field of study and
find a distance-learning college that specializes in
that.
Another consideration for many students is financial
aid. Previously, students attending
distance-learning classes were not offered financial
aid unless at least 50% of their learning was
completed on a physical campus. This is no longer
true, which is perhaps as a result of both the
improvement of distance learning training training
and the recognition that this type of learning is,
some say, the wave of the future. Today, it is often
considered a luxury to be able to go to school full
time as a student, and these types of training
recognize that no longer can many people simply drop
their lives and go to school full time. Many
students these days are nontraditional students with
other responsibilities beyond their own lives, so
that they do not have the indulgence to devote three
or four years' time exclusively to an education.
Perhaps the number one place to help you determine
your potential school's accreditation is to look at
the regional accreditation board in your school's
area. If your school is accredited by this board, it
will be fully accepted by employers and other
professional organizations as a admissible school.
This, in turn, makes it much easier to get hired and
recognition. In fact, many organizations and
employers will not recognize a masters degree unless
it is from an accredited college. However, if you
take the time to make sure your certificate program
is accredited, your online learning is every bit as
valid as one you would obtain on campus.
Find out the
Online Colleges. You can register for online
schools in various career fields.
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