Posts Tagged ‘Accreditation’

Choosing Which School to Get Your Degree

If you are like I was then you have been thinking about getting your degree for a long time. Things like money and time have been keeping you from taking the next step and doing what you know will help you take it to the next level professionally and personally.

So if you are reading then I am assuming that you are trying to decide can you earn your college degree with the financial and time constraints that you have in your life? The answer is yes.

College degrees have long been available by correspondence to help individuals get their degree work, time, and money considered. With the growth of the internet, students can now pursue college degrees online.

There are hundreds of schools offering online programs for everything from Masters Degrees in Business Administration to advanced degrees in the fine arts. Because of the large number of schools offering online programs, it can be difficult to know what to look for in a quality program.

There are two basic types of institutions offering online degrees: Colleges and universities with physical campuses and online-only institutions. Online-only institutions do offer single courses, but tend to focus on degree programs. Colleges and universities with physical campuses offer both complete degree programs and single courses, which are often taken by on-campus students as well as online-only students.

Many of the same questions students ask when investigating regular colleges also apply to online degree programs. For example, a prospective student might ask how many courses are taught by graduate assistants rather than professors. In assessing an online degree, it is equally as important to determine how many of the courses are taught by full professors and how much experience those professors have with teaching online courses. Are there internship degree work related programs?

However, there are questions that are specific to online degree programs. One of the most important, particularly for graduate-level degrees, is how much contact you will have with other students and of course the professor. There are two basic types of online degree programs, those where you work at your own pace and those where you are admitted with a cohort, or group of peers, and proceed through the degree program with them. One is not necessarily better than the other. The learning style of the individual student will determine which type of program fits their needs best.

Accreditation is also an important thing to look for. All colleges and universities are required to be accredited by a regional governing body in order for the degrees they issue to be considered valid. If an online degree program doesn’t give accreditation information, prospective students should move on to the next program. Also some degree mills offering unrealistic get your degree work accredited 100% in 7 days type of degree even if they claim accreditation, move on….

After determining the credentials and structure of an online degree program, prospective students should research the details. How can books be purchased? What equipment, software and hardware are required to access the courses? How much time should a student expect to spend per course? Is financial aid available? Typically these questions are addressed on the degree program’s website. So here are your homework assignments class, research 3 schools using our college degree finder tool. Find out the following things from these schools:

• Is this an online or campus program?
• What are the tuition costs?
• What are the lengths of the program?
• Is there an internship required if so do they provide placement assistance?
• What about financial aid?
• Will they accept military, corporate, previous training and certifications toward your degree work included.
• How are they accredited?