Is an online degree good and/or worth it?
Depends on who you ask. I will simplify this education realm the best I can though for you.
Back when online education became popular, it was the time of the rise University of Phoenix. I feel that school alone gave online education a bad rap, because of their costs and simplicity of passing and admissions. Suddenly, college was a free for all. Even the name, early on, was deceiving. To someone who wasn’t the wiser, it appeared to be a prestige University in Arizona. Today, it symbolizes a big fat black bird and resume eyesore…lol UoP took advantage of the low-income and ignorant, and other like universities followed. My best and only advice is never waste time on those types of schools.
When it comes to education, people need to be realistic. I will give an example. I knew a girl, who was a career juvenile criminal among other things…who suddenly had a hankering to work in the criminal justice system. I am all for positive attitudes and improving your life, but this was a stretch. As expected, she took a few online semesters and quit, only to be followed by drug related arrests and other things. Who does she blame for not finishing? The online school. Nevermind she would never have a snowballs chance in hell working in such fields. If you follow reality TV, another example is of Jenelle from Teen Mom 2 on MTV. The girl has felony drug related charges and at least 10 arrests on her background yet pursued a degree in the medical field. No hospital that does a simple background check will ever hire her. Common sense.
There are also people known as career students. They have degrees and study capabilities pouring out of their ears but have never worked anywhere above a Starbucks. I too know a girl that went to GWU, dorm experience and all, got a Master’s…and here we are today. Where does she work? A retail store. And she refused to work for a long time because she was “above” many jobs. She attended a live respectable university and has nothing today to really show for it except for a massive student debt. People need to be just as eager in the job field as they are in college. Be willing to take internships, step outside their comfort zone, and also seek careers within reason.
Education in my opinion, these days, is just an emphasis to what you can already bring to the working table. If you are a difficult person to work with or for, a degree will do nothing for you regardless of where it is from. I think the best way to be realistic is to select a school with a good reputation, fair price, and have some working experience to accommodate for your field. Those types seem to be the people who have the most success.
Someone on here said also to never attend an online school with commercials. I whole heartedly agree. The current boom of the market is WGU, and slowly but surely they have the problem students trickling outward. They have legitimate issues a lot of “big name” online schools have. I have heard of hopeful teachers having licensing issues, and a large number of students having programs revised mid-term where numerous extra classes are added. WGU likes to separate themselves with throwing around the word, “non-profit” a lot, but that means nothing when it comes to quality. I think they use it to separate themselves from schools like UoP, however I see them as a cheap version of the same thing. Mentors to keep you engaged a.k.a. babysit you. Recruitment tactics. The whole shebang. With large publicity of an “online” university, that too can hurt your resume to employers that do not respect online schools as a whole. Name has a lot to do with it, even if it is the best school in the world in your opinion.
Find established brick-and-mortar Universities that offer online degrees. Most do these days. Weed through the abundance of Ads when you google, which isn’t easy, but google everything to death and search for flaws so you can be most informed. The best part is, your diploma at most of them is the same as an in-person student. I always recommend utilize your local or in-state community colleges to earn your AA degree first. I did this, online, and it reflects on my resume just as if I attended in person. I never once had it questioned for job interviews. I plan to do the same with my bachelor’s.
With people having work much younger, and technology consuming our lives, I suspect that online schooling will continue to grow. Many improvements have already been made in online environments, such as proctoring, etc,. So, moral of the story, or topic…is, yes online school can work for you. It is idiots that taint it, however there are still ways to earn a respectable degree online.
thanks you! i am definitely applying!