Online Education Blog

Are you considering an online degree program? Are you deterred from online education? Regardless of your stance on distance learning, here are some valuable insights into online degree programs that could help you determine what to do for your academic future, from the cost of online education to the convenience. With fifty benefits to consider, there’s bound to be something about online education that’s of interest to you!

1. Students can attend a course anywhere.
2. Online degrees are beneficial to military students that are sent out on deployment or are living at a military base.
3. Businessmen that are traveling frequently can utilize an online degree program to further their career regardless of where their company takes them.
4. Performers that are constantly changing locale can attend an online degree program regardless of their schedule.
5. Students from out of country can attend a United States university (or university in another country!) online.
6. Students can attend class anytime.
7. Parents that take care of children during the daytime and afternoon can attend class in the evenings on their home computer.
8. Students that work swing shift can sleep and attend class whenever, even if that means finishing their online degree program in the middle of the night.
9. Students working a full-time job can still pursue an online degree program with it fitting around their work schedule.
10. Students that simply would prefer taking classes in their pajamas in the middle of the afternoon can do so with an online degree program.
11. Students can afford an online degree program.
    
12. Students do not have to pay additional living expenses, such as a college dorm, when pursuing an online degree program.
13. Students do not have to pay the commuting costs involved in driving to-and-from campus.
14. Students often receive their reading materials online instead of having to invest hundreds of dollars a semester into printed textbooks.
15. Many online degree programs come from universities that pride themselves on affordable enrollment costs.
16. Online degree programs enable student-centered learning.
17. Students decide how long they spend on each assignment and each test, provided they complete coursework by its given due date.
18. Students can choose whether to learn by reading out loud, absorbing material visuals, or applying theory to hands-on practice at home; online education opens the door to new possibilities for each student’s learning style.
19. Students develop a sense of time management and independent work ethics by developing their own school schedule, with the guidance of an instructor available one e-mail away.
20. Students can opt to work together through forums or alone through individualized assignments.
21. Online instructors are able to work one-on-one with students via e-mail.
22. Because online instructors are available from literally any location across the world, they often come with hands-on experience in their material.
23. Students do not need to set up appointments to speak with instructors “during office hours;” instructors are available via e-mail, forums, and/or phone for the student’s needs.
24. Instructors from accredited online universities have the same credentials and academic background as campus-based professors, if not more.
25. Instructors monitor the actions of students in the online classroom in order to determine attendance, so each student is guaranteed to receive some form of individualized attention.
26. Students are guaranteed to interact in the online classroom.
27. In a traditional classroom, only the loudest students–the ones that speak up–really get involved in a class discussion. In an online classroom, on the other hand, everyone is involved in the classroom as part of the online degree program’s attendance.
28. Online students can establish networks with other students in online degree programs, just as they would through the friendships at a campus-based program.
29. Students can correspond via e-mail regardless of time zone and schedule differences and work together on long-term projects.
30. Students learn how to utilize technology to communicate with one another. This valuable skill carries on to the business world.
31. Students are proficient in today’s computer technology.
32. The online degree program’s classroom demands a certain amount of proficiency in a computer. Students become versed on all the ways to share and create media on a computer as part of the online degree program.
33. Students learn how to research online in order to complete distance learning projects.
34. Student typing speed is guaranteed high in an online degree program.
35. Students attending an online university acquire the computer program skills necessary in the business world, such as MS Office.
36. Accreditation agencies make it easier than ever to find a quality online degree program.
37. Accredited online degree programs may be eligible for transfer to campuses all over the United States and the world, especially online programs, universities, and colleges accredited by the Six Regional Accreditation Agencies.
38. Online degree programs are accredited by the same agencies that accredit private and state campus-based colleges and universities.
39. Accreditation happens on a continual basis to make sure online degree programs maintain a high level of quality.
40. Online degree programs often receive specialized accreditation, such as American Sentinel University’s online nursing program receiving accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
41. The length of time students spend studying can range from 20 minutes to hours.
42. Students are no longer required to learn in 2 or 4 hour blocks once or twice a week; classes can be divided however the student wishes.
43. Many online degree programs allow coursework to be completed ahead of time so students that are on vacation for several weeks do not miss material.
44. Since students determine the when and where of studying, they can do it congruently with other activities–such as reading on a treadmill or with an iPod. No more instructors telling you to stop texting in the middle of class!
45. Students can take phone calls, answer e-mails from work, or any other number of immediate activities in the middle of “class time.”
46. Statistics are in favor of online degree programs.
47. Over 75% of colleges and universities in the United States offer online degree programs.
48. According to the U.S. Department of Education, online learning and hybrid learning is considered more effective than strictly campus-based learning.
49. Online degree programs are just as respected by the employers of today as campus-based degree programs.
50. Students that graduate from online degree programs generally are satisfied with the education they pursued.