Feb 22 2009
Is Online Education the Best Choice for Me?
As the full time worker and a mother of 2 kids, going back to school seems like an unrealistic dream. After all, there’s how could I possibly find the time to drive downtown to the university? Impossible.
But lately, I’ve been reading more and more about online education. Some online colleges offer everything from a degree in health care management to a psychopharmacology degree. It’s crazy how technology has completely changed every facet of our lives. Now, you can get a bachelor’s degree from your house!
My only question is this. Do online degrees carry the same weight as traditional ones? I know that in the past people kind of frowned down upon this kind of education, but now, even the big universities are offering online degree programs. I think it’s become a credible, widely accepted way to get your degree.
I need to read more about it because this is something that could really change my life. Going to school would be manageable; I’d still be able to spend time with my family; and I could earn my degree at my own pace. The bottom line is that I need a degree if I want to advance my career, and this is the only way I can do it.
If a degree is through a normal University, then in most cases, future employers will never know that you got your degree online. In some cases, such as University of Phoenix degrees, the type of degree is obvious.
It really depends on the job. Some jobs only want you to have the piece of paper and could really care less where it is from. Others look at online degrees as shortcuts and do not treat people that have them the same.
My only recommendation is to make sure that you map out some type of plan when pursuing your degree. If you take too long, you may find some of your course work irrelevant to today every changing job market. I took six years to get a degree via the normal route and by the time I graduated, a couple of the computer languages I learned were nearly defunct.
Be careful and don’t fall into the trap that some people do by not taking an online education seriously. Some people will enroll for online courses and then not put forth the same effort as their live classes. I was one of those people and while I passed my class, it wasn’t with the best grade possible.
No, they don’t hold the same weight as a normal degree. At least that has been my experience. I know a couple of people that got their Bachelors online and were overlooked for jobs based on the fact that they were online. Now the problem may have been the hiring bosses, but that is just my experience.
If you don’t have that much of free time to join a regular college then an online degree will be the best option for you. You may save on expenses as well. But, that’s also true that you can’t get every degree online.