Can You Really Get Your College Degree Online?

About 20 years ago I decided I wanted to go back to school to get my bachelors degree but the town I lived in only had a community college and I did not like the prospect of driving an hour or more one way several times a week to take classes.

I found a program from a small accredited college in Indiana that had a self-study curriculum that used proctored exams that worked perfectly for me and I began taking classes.
That was cutting edge back then but now there are so many more options available, particularly online, for what used to be called distance learning that it can be very confusing in finding a good online school.

Stay Away From Diploma Mills
There are many shady operations that will sell you a fake degree from a bogus college that isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Stay away from these as they will only end up causing you problems if you try and use one to get a job. You will eventually be found out and terminated for lying about your credentials and could easily ruin your career.
In fact, there have been several high profile people in business and government recently that have been exposed for using fake degrees and as a result lost their jobs and all credibility.

Avoid Life Experience Based Degrees
Some phony colleges will grant you a degree based on your life experiences. Sometimes you need to write up a few small reports to show that you have the knowledge but really I think this is so you think you are doing some work towards earning the fake degree.
These degrees are also pretty much worthless and any colleges that promote this type of higher education should be avoided.

Be aware though that there are legitimate institutions that will grant some credit for life experiences provided that you can detail (and I mean detail) your knowledge of a subject sufficiently enough to convince a professor that you should be granted the credit.
I got credit for a few classes this way but there were some where I failed to show enough knowledge in the subject to get credit so I had to take the classes.
Usually there is a limit to how much credit you can get this way because the bottom line is you need to take real courses with real homework and projects and tests in order to get a valid college degree you can be proud of.

Accreditation Is Key
The most important thing to consider when you are evaluating an online college program is whether or not it is accredited by a legitimate accrediting board. There are many online programs that say they are accredited by XYZ, etc. but many times these are not state recognized and have no validity in the real world.
You want to look for a program that is accredited by the same boards that accredit real brick and mortar colleges and universities so you can be sure you are getting a legitimate education.

Since many mainstream colleges are starting to have online programs you can be assured that taking classes from one of them will be OK but for others do your due diligence before signing up.
Remember, there are no shortcuts to getting a quality education that not only benefits you but your employer so remember the old adage that if it's too good to be true...

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/687733

A New Age In Nursing Education: College Degrees Online

It can be difficult for anyone who works to obtain a college degree or to increase upon their current level of education. This can be especially difficult for those people who are pursing a degree in a nursing field. The attempt to juggle work, classes, family and clinical hours can be overwhelming and discouraging. Advances in technology have now made it a little easier to obtain your degree and reach your goals.

Numerous colleges now offer degrees online, including nursing degrees. The advantages of taking nursing courses over the internet are numerous. With online courses a student can continue to work while attending college, without having to adjust a work schedule around a class schedule. Students no longer have to commute to a campus only to waste more time searching for a place to park. No more paying for a parking permit to park on the campus that you are paying to attend. No more sitting in a classroom for hours each day only to listen to an instructor lecture on the topics that you have already read about. Imagine being able to log onto your class when it's convenient for you. These are just a few benefits of obtaining your degree online.

Online nursing courses are not as difficult as one may think. Once classes begin the student will log into their internet classroom. Most college sites will have a list of courses that you are registered in. Clicking on the course name will take you to more information about that particular course. You can locate your syllabus, assignment schedule, contact info for your instructor and classmates, forums and chat rooms to talk to other students, and detailed instructions on how to submit assignments and complete your course. Help is always available from either the instructor or other classmates.

Online college students qualify for the same financial aid as the traditional campus based student. Federal Student Aid, State Student Aid, student loans, scholarships, and grants are all available for application. Federal and State Aid have financial requirements for qualification, but anyone, regardless of income or credit history, qualifies for student loans. Make sure you apply by the due dates for student aid so you don't miss any assistance you might qualify for.

People who are already working in the medical field as a nurses aid, LPN or RN who would like to increase their education and certification usually have even more advantages available to help them succeed. Many healthcare employers now provide tuition reimbursement and/or scholarships to employees who want to expand their education. If you can't afford to pay the tuition and await the reimbursement then consider a student loan than you can repay once you receive your tuition. Contact your human resource department to find out what is available. Another advantage is that many hospitals have set up study groups for online nursing students. This provides nursing students with the advantage of personal interaction with other nursing students of varying education.

To obtain a nursing degree, you may be required to complete clinical hours within a medical and/or hospital setting. You may wonder how you can do this if the college you are taking online courses through is across the country from where you reside. Your instructors will help you set up these clinical hours at a medical facility near your home.

The demand for nurses has risen dramatically and shortages in the nursing field continue to be a problem. With the advent of online nursing classes, more people are able to obtain their degree and provide much needed medical care to the people of your community.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/341744

Earning Your College Degree Online

I love technology, it's constantly changing and constantly advancing. A lot of people don't know this, but you can actually earn your college degree online by taking courses available to you by many of the top colleges available through e-classes. So who would do a thing such as this? Well first and foremost the best applicant I can think of off the top of my head is a stay at home mom or dad. You want to continue to stay home with your kid(s) but you also want to advance yourself with a college degree so that when your child gets a little older you can be advanced enough to get a good paying job starting at the middle wrung, instead of the lower wrung. The second best applicant would be a person that simply cannot afford (either financially or otherwise) to go to a college.

Maybe they don't have the time, the money, the transportation, or maybe they have a certain circumstance going on in their life that won't allow them to tromp around at college! And lastly, online colleges are good for those that literally cannot pay admin fees, student fees, transfer fees, etc. Hey, college can get expensive! I went to Culinary School in 98 to become a Chef and that alone cost me around $25k! And the price gets even steeper for doctors, nurses, lawyers, etc. Online college classes and programs cost a lot less, and in some cases you can even find free classes online but, they usually won't count towards credits for graduating, but still they are good courses you can use to brush up your techniques along the way.

In fact, just recently a friend of mine who has been in the "job" world for the last 10 or so years has been unemployed for the last few months and looking around for a new job. The problem is, is that most places nowadays want you to have technological abilities, abilities that my friend simply doesn't have or was never taught. So she found a few course studies online, and is now learning html and java web design at home, on her computer, on her own time, for free.

Now as said above most of the colleges online will charge certain fees for the courses or classes you take, otherwise you probably won't be able to get credits to graduate. Some of the colleges I can think of off the top of my head are University of Phoenix (the best), DeVry University, eLearners, Florida Tech, etc. These colleges and universities will allow you to pick from whatever classes and courses you want (just as you would be able to offline), along with minors, majors, time you want to do your courses, credits, extracurricular programs, and more. So it's still, the same exact process online as it is offline. The one tip I have to mention is to be careful about what "schools" you pick.

Try to go with some of the more popular ones I mentioned above or what you can do is call some of the colleges in your state and ask them if they have an online degree program available. This will keep you from getting scammed, and yes there are people out there like this unfortunately. Also, make sure the school you are looking for is noted as being accredited! Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of an educational institution or program are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met. Should standards be met, accredited status is granted by the agency. Other than that, what else have you got to lose? Now you can go to college when you want, for whatever you want and you won't have to worry about missing credits, getting someone to watch your kids, or all the fees that offline colleges can impose upon you. Take a chance! Move ahead! You won't regret it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1587305