Take the decision seriously
Before we say anything else, know that you when pursuing online education, you have to be very careful! For every legitimate online university or valuable online course, there’s a degree mill that will take your money, teach you little of value, and give you a piece of paper that’s practically worthless.When searching for online education, the best thing you can do for yourself is to research the program thoroughly before you enroll.
- Is it accredited?
- By whom?
- Are graduates in your field satisfied?
- Are they getting jobs?
Validate this information yourself, don’t rely on your “admissions officer” who may be incentivized to enroll more students, not by ensuring the school is a good fit for you.
Even when you attend a reputable online university, no degree will guarantee a job. Understand that your results will largely be based on the effort you put into choosing the right program, learning from that program and proactively applying your knowledge to your career.
Is an online degree less expensive?
The short answer? Not always.
As you saw above, Penn State’s bachelor’s degree will set you back over $60,000 for an undergraduate degree. Not exactly spare change.Even schools that specialize in online degrees can charge quite a bit. DeVry University, for instance, costs new students $609 per credit hour. For a measuring stick, this is about triple what I paid for my undergraduate degree at a public state university.
One thing to consider, though, is that I’ve farmed out the top schools for online degrees in this article. You very well may be able to find schools or degrees that are less expensive than their in-person counterparts. You just may need to dig a little.
Is an online degree right for you?
Online degrees aren’t for everybody. Getting a degree online can be much more complicated than it seems. A friend of mine got an advanced degree online a few years ago and said those years were some of the most difficult of their life.When you go to school online, you have to be self-motivated. You need to manage your time well and make sure you’re keeping up with the often heavy workload.
Managing assignments, for instance, can be a little easier when you’re physically sitting in a class at a particular time each day, having a professor remind you of assignments that are due.
I took some online courses while going for my bachelor’s degree and I hated them.
While I got “digital interaction” by reading people’s posts on our message boards, I missed the human interaction from sitting in class. When I went back for my MBA, I specifically chose classes that were in-person for this exact reason.
For people who don’t like a lot of face-to-face interaction, though, an online degree might be more your speed. Plus, you can go to school in your pajamas. (Though you can also do this at most in-person universities, too.) You can also interact with people from all over the world.
Another consideration is your learning style. If you’re an auditory (you learn by hearing) or visual (learn by seeing) learner, you may benefit from hearing lectures online or via a webinar. If you’re kinesthetic (you learn by doing), you may find more value physically going to class and interacting with others.