Students coming out of high school eventually land upon the stress of choosing between a college with a traditional on-campus program and an online degree program. Online colleges are opted by students who might want to cope up with other obligations and find it difficult to attend the in-person classes consistently. While the online education sector is blooming, make a right decision that fits your value system. Read on to get a clear picture on the online college; is it worth your money and time; how impactful is it compared to the education on paper and other questions.
What are Online Colleges?
Online colleges offer an academic degree solely on the internet rather than attending a traditional on-campus class. The advent of technology has increased the online classes with flexible schedules and pursuing degrees at different levels.
They are scheduled similar to the traditional college which covers the same course, offers similar assignments and a deadline to complete it while there is a difference in what is delivered. Online platform makes it easier for the students to communicate with the professors in the virtual classroom by contributing to the discussions.
Explore the best online colleges, scholarships and careers for you!
Choose the right Accredited College!
Students must consider accreditation as a primary criteria to select the online program. You must research on the colleges accredited by any of the six regional accrediting bodies such as Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and others. Regional accreditation is considered the highest form of accreditation in the United States.
Choosing a non accredited program is a loss of time where you might not be eligible for easy transfer of credits to the next school, ineligible for the federal student aid, your degree may not be worthy to land on a job.
Choose the degree based on the career you’re seeking for!
Students must look up to choosing the right Online Degree that aligns with their respective careers. Confused with choosing the right career path for you? The online degree helps in advancing your career better with the specialized courses offered. It may not seem important but when you complete your education and try settling at a job offer it may pay off.
For instance, if you’re looking to pursue your career as a software engineer, the software developer may seem like a similar profession. But the chances of getting hired might be lower due to the degree you earned differs on the coursework. Hence choosing the right degree to pursue your dream job is important.
How does it scale up numerically?
While choosing the college, you must also be aware of the numerical figures that determine whether the online college is valuable. Some factors that are used are the student loan default rates, national ranking, cost per credit, completion rates.
To understand the statistics better, you must know the Return of Investment(ROI) where the money you invest in your studies must be returned back as you get employed.
We advise you to check if the college could transfer credits to the future semesters which could save you some money. Some colleges also offer grants, loans and other financial aids to reduce the cost of tuition.
Why choose an online college?
With the new format of learning, students may be benefitted by the advantages of choosing an online program,
- Flexible schedules: Online Institutions are great when you have other responsibilities to catch up with and cannot spend time at a traditional college, flexible study hours help in better learning.
- Affordable: The online programs are cost-friendly, you pay only for the tuition, application fees, and book supplies and not for the transportation, parking and other. This reduces your need for financial aid and increases savings.
- More options of courses: You could choose the courses you want to specialize in and also besides your interests you could explore other career concentrations through the online programs which offer a variety of courses.
- Career advancement: When you pursue an online program, the flexible study hours help in gaining practical experience simultaneously. You could learn at your own pace and attend an internship in the meantime for the better advancement of career.
- Self-motivation: Online programs mean you could learn the course depending on your learnability, you must also be a highly motivated individual with time management skills. However there is no professor to monitor closely, you must keep an eye on the deadlines.
Now we know how the online colleges work and how it can be a good investment by providing flexible study hours, live coaching, assignments, and deadlines similar to the traditional classes. The best colleges have online programs for students and this is the impact of technology in the field of education. Hence the online college always strives to meet the accreditation standards. Hence, we can conclude that an online college is a good investment to make, as you plan well on the right college and the best course for the advancement of your career.
