Jullie Harvard asked:


I am sure you have seen on various online degree websites, articles and newsletters about the important of ensuring your online degree program and online school are accredited by the legitimate accrediting agency. Do you know the reason behind it and why it so important to you?

Why Accreditation Is Important To Online Students?

Accreditation of online universities and their degree programs typically indicates these universities and their academic programs offered to their students had been undergone a rigorous review by one of a handful of Department of Education’s accrediting agencies. The accreditation is a measure of an online degree program offered by a school has followed the academic guideline of Department of Education. It’s also a common indicator of acceptance on a school’s degree in the job market.

That’s why if you are earning a degree online and you intend to use the degree to start your career or to make a career move, you need to ensure that the online degree program is offered by an accredited online school. Many employers use the accreditation information to determine the legitimate of your degree.

If you are apply a job position with a degree from an unaccredited online university, the employer might have doubt on the legitimate of your degree. They might ask you to provide proves on the legitimate of your degree. And, if there more candidates compete for the same position with you, then you might lose your competitiveness as employers will prefer to hire candidates who are holding a degree from universities they know. Most employers will have a list of accredited online universities or they can easily access to the list from CHEA.org or Department of Education website. Most employers are aware about the accredited universities, so if your degree is from an unknown online university or not listed in the accredited universities list, employers will have concern about your degree.

Beware of Fake Accredited Degree

Nowadays, as the important of accreditation awareness increase, many online students are concerned about accreditation. Hence, in order to compete with legitimate online universities in offering accredited online degree program, diploma mills (the organizations that issue fake degrees) do claim accreditation nowadays. The difference is the accrediting agencies that perform the accreditation process for diploma mills are not legitimate accrediting agencies which are recognized by Department of Education. The accredited degrees issued by those diploma mills are considered fake degrees.

You must carefully ensure that your selected online degree program is from a real accredited online university before you enroll into the program. Always check with the accreditation database from CHEA.org to confirm your selected online university is listed. The consequence of holding a fake degree to apply for a job position does not only affect your career, it may also causes you involve into a legal case if the employer found out that your degree is issued by the diploma mill. In order to ensure your brighter future with the degree you earn from a university, you need to spend some time and efforts to confirm that the claimed accredited online degree program that you are interested in is from a legitimate accredited online university.

Summary

Accreditation is important indicator on the quality academic program offered by online universities and it determines the acceptance of your degree in the job market. With the accreditation also being claimed by diploma mills, you must be smart enough to difference the real accredited and the fake accredited online university and avoid yourself from the trap.



Dillan Regos

Keith Londrie asked:


Because there are so many online degrees to choose from, you may be somewhat unsure of how to proceed in picking the right one. Here are some tips to help you choose from online degrees that will provide you with the type of credentials that you want because you do not have to worry about geographic location you literally have thousands of programs and online universities to choose from. However, you cannot depend on name recognition alone. There are many offers out there and you need to research the subject properly before making a commitment. In addition, price is not a reliable indication of an online universities’ value. We are going to present you with helpful information to help you choose the best online college for your online degree.

The first thing you must do is check on the accreditation of the institution that issues the online degrees. The Internet is full with diploma mills with dubious accreditation mixed together with those that are worth it. To prevent this unpleasant situation you had better check with accreditation associations that are available in your country, and make sure the institution is in good standing. By making sure you pick the right e-learning institution, you will save money and time. In addition, you will not have to go through the embarrassment of having your studies rejected.

You have to research whether or not a university or college that also operates a traditional campus as well as a virtual one issues the online degrees. This can prove to be very important, because you may have to attend a certain number of hours on campus before you are awarded your degree. If this is not something, with which you feel comfortable, then it is best to pass on that program and look for online degrees that can be earned by online study.

Do some research concerning the type of financial aid programs are offered by the institution, or if there are flexible payment plans. By knowing how you will have to pay for the courses, you are more likely to complete your degree on time. Never sign up for anything that you do not reasonably think you can honor or respect the agreement on time. Because online degrees are aimed at working adults, you are sure to find a program with a payment plan that fits with your budget.

Because of online degrees, many people can pursue their dreams of a college education, even if life experience has prevented them from doing so in the past. You will soon be able to claim the title of college graduate if you take your time and make the right choice after careful consideration of the offers available on the market.

Will You Get Tech Support When You Need It?

Online learning programs cannot afford to permit students to spend entire hours on the phone in order to fix a software mistake. Because their are students who have time do assignments at odd hours, tech support should be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Make sure that the teachers involved in the online program are certified. You should ask what their fields of activity are and in which field are them the most experienced. Their are online universities which use adjunct faculty members who are practitioners in their fields. In this case, students would work with somebody who has both knowledge and experience. They will not only learn information but also use it in real-life situations.

If you choose to submit to an online school, it is clear that you have many things going on in your life. That is why you have to make sure you have taken the best choice. Ask what happens in the eventuality that you need to abandon a course partway through. Most of the online students have jobs and families. When you have so much to deal with life unexpectedly gets in the way of studies and the only way to deal with it is to leave a course. Before applying, ask what provisions the online degree program makes if you have to drop a course partway through. You should ask if you will get a refund and if you can later on be readmitted to the school and continue your studies.

Nowadays it is very common for students to transfer credits from one school to another. Because this is so common and helpful you need to ask what is their policy for transferring credits. Transferring credits between institutions has gotten better since online education has become more accepted as a part of the educational system. Despite this fact, not every institution will accept online credits and it is better to be informed.

Before joining, an online school in order to obtain an online degree makes sure you can afford it. Besides the tuition, you have to take into consideration the additional costs. Education is not cheap, but is worth the expenses. You should remember that you need textbooks and software too, because education is a complex process. In your effort to cover all of these costs, make sure that you take into consideration the grants, loans, scholarships, and the other financial means that are offered to you.

When you choose to be a student at a certain University, you do it because you feel that the institution will help you to achieve your goals. That is why you have to make sure that the school fits your educational goals and your career objectives. Another thing to consider is the amount of time in which the program lets you earn your degree. It should be according to your needs, no more, no less. You should make some research on the pace in which you are going to study. You have to be sure that you can handle the information volume and the pace used in that school.



Bill Reinhard

Kadence Buchanan asked:


College degrees have long been available by correspondence but 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.

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. 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.

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 is 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.



Dmitry Aranov

Jullie Harvard asked:


Online degrees have been widely accepted by most employers nowadays, but there are still small of portion of people have skeptical on the value of a degree earned entirely online. You may meet this group of people who may be your potential employer, how you are going to show them you have an online degree which equal in value with other degrees earned from traditional brick-and-mortal universities?

Here are few talking points which you can use to explain the value of your online degree:

1. Online degree from an accredited university

Most people who have skeptical about an online degree is they doubt on the legitimate of the degree because there are too many diploma mills are offering the “fake” degrees which can be purchased with the need to attend any courses. That’s why accreditation has become a key measurement that distinguishes a legitimate school who offers legitimate online degree programs from a diploma mill. Beside telling people that your online degree is earned from an accredited school, you should also mention about the accrediting agency that perform the accreditation on the school and if there is a need, let them know how important of accreditation that can ensure the school’s programs are following the standard outlines by the Department of Education.

2. Self-motivation & effective time management

Let’s people know that being a success online student is not as easy as most of them think, you need to have a good time management skills and self-motivation to ensure you follow the program’s schedule without somebody looks at your back. Most of employers prefer to hire candidates who are able to demonstrate the self-motivation and effective time management to get their job assignment done according pre-plan schedule. You have learned the two important skills from your online degree program which had put you at the advantage position that your competitors to grab the job opportunity.

3. Proven leadership skills to lead team across the border

With today’s globalization, many companies have branches at difference location either within the country or at oversea. These companies need people who not only show leadership skills on face-to-face teams, but also be able to deal the remote workers through technology such as teleconference and web meetings.

Let’s the employers know that your online degree program have group coursework and syllabus which not only allows students to share and learn from each others while helping them to develop a sense of community. Each member in the group will have had the opportunity to lead the online team, and with that you had opportunities to learn the leadership skills such as decision making, chairing and running online meeting, project planning and leading your team to complete the project within the deadline set by your professor. You are trained with the leadership skills that can enable you to lead team not just locally but also across the border.

Summary

A degree earned from online education had been widely accepted in the job market, but there are still some skeptical among small group of employers which required you to explain further about the value of your degree, and you should know how to defend it.



Dillan Regos

Harris Jhosta asked:


If you considering pursuing an online course of study, there are probably several major questions on your mind. Most likely, the biggest of these questions is how will your current or future employer view an online degree. Although there is no clear cut answer to this question, there are several major factors you can take into consideration. It is important that you take the time to thoroughly consider and understand all of these factors.

The first factor that you need to take into consideration is the generation gap. The generation gap refers to the distance between generations. For example, if you are a twenty-five year old, there is an obvious gap between you and someone that is fifty-five. The generation gap applies to online education in the way that older generations view the internet and anything that is part of it. For some older generations, they do not actually understand the internet or what it can do, and therefore they are threatened or even almost afraid of it. For this reason, they may view something like an online degree as trivial or not even legitimate. Although this may seem like a major problem, it is probably not as bad as you may think.

The generation gap factor actually leads into the second factor that you need to take into consideration when taking a look at how employers view an online degree. The second factor that you need to be aware of is accreditation. Accreditation is that separates legitimate online education programs from scams that are worth more than taking your money. It is vitally important that you choose an online degree program that is accredited. By choosing an accredited degrees, you can ensure that you are investing your time and resources into the correct program. Now, you may be asking yourself how the generation gap and accreditation are related. Accreditation is one factor that can help ease the worries of members of older generations. Accredited degrees allow an employer to look at the program of study that you followed to earn your online degree. By having access to this information, an employer (even one that is a member of an older generation) can see that the online education you received was just as valuable as the education that someone attending a four-year college or university receives.

When determining how an employer views an online degree, the final factor you need to take into consideration is your own performance. This factor is arguably the most important of all the factors that have been discussed. When an employer is evaluating your life experience degrees, once they get over any initial apprehension that your degree was obtained via the internet, they will be scrutinizing your personal performance in your program of study. Just as they would look at someone’s grades at an actual four-year, your employer will be very interested in how well you did in the courses you took in order to obtain your degree. Therefore, it is very important to take your online education very seriously. It is not enough just to obtainan online degree, it is necessary that you excel in the program that you study. By performing to the best of your ability, your employer will see that you are a committed individual that takes important things seriously.

As you can see, there are quite a few factors that impact how an employer will view your online degree. Although there is not a specific answer, as long as you choose an accredited online program and take your online education seriously, any employer that reviews your resume will give your online degree the same respect that they give to a degree obtained from a four-year institution.



Hershi Rothman