<p>My 21 year old son is going to be working out of the country for the next year. He was taking classes at community college and is a business major. He would like to continue taking classes while he is away. Can anyone recommend a good online college? Thanks!</p>
<p>Karen</p>
<p>Does the community college have online classes?</p>
<p>Check out [Free</a> Online Course Materials | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm]Free”>MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)</p>
<p>For a business major, can’t do much better than courses from Sloan. Only problem is I don’t think he can get official credit for taking these courses… but the price is right.</p>
<p>Some on-line courses do require students to go to test centers to take tests, so that is something he will want to check. I do not have personal experience, but University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has been doing on-line programs for a long time.</p>
<p>Thanks - we will look into the community college that he has been attending and also UMD - he definitely wants credit for any classes that he takes. He will be in Cuba and is leaving on Monday so no time for testing centers. </p>
<p>Karen</p>
<p>There are many, many schools that offer online programs. State universities almost all have them, as do many private colleges (all UMass’, Lesley University, Northeastern, Harvard, BU, just in the Boston area alone). There are also alternative programs like Union Institute. And, of course, for profit schools that many of us avoid, like U. of Phoenix.</p>
<p>For some reason, it seems that psychology and business are most often online.</p>
<p>Continuing with the community college that he is already in will make the transcript more continuous, contribute to his GPA there, and will make sure that the classes he takes will qualify toward his major there. </p>
<p>But if he intends to go on to a 4 year college, it may be that he can take classes from any school that offers an appropriate class, then provide transcripts from all the schools where he has taken classes, when he applies to the 4 year college.</p>
<p>The main point is that your son does not have to take classes from an “online college” (such as U. of Phoenix, Kaplan etc.) but can probably just continue with the community college or possibly a state college/university in the state where you now live. Most schools offer online classes these days.</p>
<p>I have taken several online courses, and have never had to go to a testing center. Many classes require papers, which are submitted as attachments in a course “drop-box.”</p>
<p>One other thing: having tried one of the free online courses through UPenn (Coursera and EdX are two different organizations now offering these, and include top colleges such as Ivies, Stanford, U. of Chicago, and MIT), I would say that these classes are still in early stages of development. The one I took has 30,000 people in the class! These are helpful for those who already have degrees, since certificates are possible, but also many just take them for enjoyment. They are not for credit.</p>
<p>For courses that do require proctored tests, I’ve seen situations where the schools have allowed a supervisor or HR person in the workplace to proctor the test.</p>
<p>you can also try ashworthcollege.edu or devry.edu. U of Phoenix is always an option and kaplan but they are pricier I think…</p>