by Jeff Lakie

Choosing an online education program should be exciting and fun. While there many good, recognized diploma or degree programs available through online education, choosing the one which is right for you can seem like a daunting task.

There are many factors which you should take into consideration when choosing your online college. For example, you’ll need to consider which technologies are used in the program. Does the institution use print, audio, or video delivery media?

How will you interact between the instructor and the rest of the class? Will it be via asynchronous means, such as email, listservs, or newsgroups, via synchronous delivery methods, like streaming online audio and video, or shared whiteboards? The technological delivery of the course content will be key to your decision, as it will determine the amount and frequency of your interaction with the instructor and other students.

You should also be diligent about researching the college’s accreditation and its reputation. In order to be certain that you are getting the best education possible, you must be certain that the institution has some sort of official recognition. Accreditation is the process through which a college’s educational programs are evaluated to ensure that certain standards are upheld. This process is usually done by a form of peer review, and the standards tend to vary from awarding body to awarding body. Being aware of the university’s accreditation is usually a good indicator of what sort of value that you are getting for your tuition.

Likewise, it is very important to check out your instructor’s credentials and experience in the field, as well. Your experience of the course will depend upon his or her knowledge and delivery style, so make sure that you know with whom you will be working.

Finally, you may want to consider speaking with one of the college’s former students, as this will give you an insider’s look into the program and the university. Alumnae are often honest about their experiences- whether good or bad- and they can give you a better idea of what to expect from the course.

Pursuing a degree online can be a rewarding and memorable experience, especially if you do your homework before logging-in to the course.

About The Author

The founder of www.easy-online-degrees.com, a website providing information on learning online.

by Degreeclick

Chances are you are pursuing an online degree to reap benefits in the workplace. For this reason, you may be interested in accelerating your progress to get your degree faster. This article will explain seven ways to finish your degree faster. Keep in mind that you will work harder to finish faster and must be willing to make this commitment.

Check with an admissions counselor to see if you qualify for the Credit for Life Experience Program (CLEP). Experience in the business world can translate into college credits with this program. You will have to show documentation of your work experience. The school will verify this experience to determine how it fits into your degree program in terms of college credit. The credits you receive from this program can shorten the time you spend earning your degree. This program isnt offered at all schools or for all degree programs.

The Proficiency Exam Program (PEP) is similar to CLEP. This program allows students to earn college credit for independent study or other training received without college credit. You may have learned the subject matter in another forum and not need to take the class. You will have to show documentation and pass an exam to qualify for credits with PEP.

Many online universities offer shorter semesters. Some will give you the choice between six, eight and ten week semesters. Shorter semesters allow you to take more classes throughout the year. Keep in mind that these shorter semesters still carry the same requirements. The work load will be more intense, but the time period will be shorter. Be sure you have the time to devote before you choose shorter semesters. The pace is faster and you will need to work faster to keep up.

You can take more classes each semester. Even taking one additional class each semester can take a year off the time you will spend in school. You will have to make time for an additional class each semester, but you’ll finish faster. When you plan your classes, schedule a mixture of subjects you find easy with more difficult courses. This way, you won’t end up with all the subjects you find difficult at the end of your program.

Some online universities don’t require students take general education classes. Your program will focus entirely on your field of study. Often, this structure results in a shorter time spent earning the degree. If you plan to transfer your credits to another university, check before enrolling in the program to make sure the credits are transferable.

Saturday Scholars Programs are offered at many large universities. Students entering this program should hold an Associates degree before applying to the program. You travel to the university on Saturdays, usually from eight in the morning until five in the evening. These programs allow you to finish your degree in two years of Saturdays.

Self paced programs are offered through some online colleges. These classes can be started at any time and finished at your own pace. You can work through the material more quickly than is possible in the typical college semester. Quite a few of these programs set a minimum time you must take the course. Usually they require a six week minimum time frame for completion.

About the Author

Katie Robbins is the owner of degreeclick.com, a web resource where she regularly publishes informative articles about online education. Some of the topics she covers include online universities, education master degrees and criminal justice degrees.

by Online Degree Bulletin

Are you considering getting your bachelor’s or master’s or other degree online? It’s a growing field that’s receiving acceptance and approval for all types of career and education goals.

The biggest advantage to online degree education is that it’s a complete college degree program that is delivered via the Internet. All classes, materials, tests and lectures are delivered online. This process allows the student to “attend” class from anywhere at any time that is convenient to them.

According to educators from Cornell University, the web provides significant new functionality in transmitting information to the student and providing forums for exchange. The web is revolutionizing some areas of study through increased opportunities for learning and alternative formats for information. (Dwyer, Barbieri, and Doerr, 1995).

One of the ways it has done this is through enhanced student-to-student and faculty-to-student communication. Students and faculty can both benefit from using the communication and assessment tools that are made available via online learning.

The technology also enables students to exercise more flexibility in their approach to education, depending on what best suits their personal learning styles and busy schedules.

In addition, the class material and program is continuously updated for up to the minute, real world application. This allows the student to immediately begin applying their new knowledge to their existing work environment.

There are many different types of programs available. Students can receive a bachelor’s or master’s degree in many areas such as accounting, marketing, human resources, e-business, information technology, nursing and even elementary education.

The typical online program takes three years to complete. A master’s degree program may take up to four years depending on the type of degree sought and the prior education of the student.

Most programs are accredited and they usually accept the transfer of prior credits from other accredited universities. Some of them are also well-known off-line schools such as Duke, Stanford, Jones International, and Capella.

While enrolled, a student typically takes just one class at a time for a five to six week period. This allows the student to concentrate solely on that material before moving on to the next module of information.

The price of an online degree education program is comparable to that of a regular college degree. Plus, many students are eligible for financing in the way of a student loan. Sometimes employer education programs can even reimburse a student’s tuition fees.

Keep in mind though, that you may have to be a little more organized and self-motivated for this type of education and you will have to manage time demands in other areas of your life. Because you normally won’t have set class times, it will be up to you to the time into your schedule. Then again, some programs require that you log on to the Internet at designated times for virtual class sessions.

Another potential disadvantage is that some employers still prefer that their employees have degrees from traditional colleges. However, these views are rapidly changing.

A recent survey of 1,300 graduates and 80 employers asked supervisors to rate the value of the degree earned by their employee compared to a resident school degree in the same field. Sixty-nine percent of the supervisors rated the online degree “just as valuable” or “more valuable” than traditional degrees. This means that one out of three supervisors need to be convinced that an online degree offers the same quality and content as a traditional degree.

Plus, traditional brick and mortar universities who offer online courses often make no separation between their programs and the type of degree awarded. And transcripts do not indicate whether a course was done at a distance or on campus.

About the Author

Dan is the founder of www.aboutonlinedegrees.info, a site dedicated to providing a wide array of information and resources for those thinking of getting their degree online.

by Dr. Mark Stout

Medical Assistant distance education is emerging to meet the demands of a new generation of students in the twenty first century. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School distance education program for medical assistant presents a good model for this integration of technology with medical assistant education.

Distance education, particularly in its most recent form, online education, is being integrated into even the most cautious and conservative of educational institutions. Yet the impact of these alternative forms of teaching and learning on students, faculty, and institutions has yet to be broadly or deeply studied. New models such as that at St. Augustine Medical Assistant School are emerging. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School is available at: www.medassistant.org

Distance education is not new, and can be traced as far back as the first century. The Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christian churches, instructing them from a distance (even when he was under ‘house arrest’ in Rome). This was probably the first type of ‘correspondence course’, which was the only method of learning at a distance until the advent of the telephone.

Today, distance education and in particular online medical assistant instruction calls upon an impressive range of technologies to enable medical assistant instructor and the medical assistant student who are separated by distance to communicate with each other either in real time (synchronous) or delayed time (asynchronous). Currently and asynchronous model used at St. Augustine Medical Assistant School to instruct medical assistant students. This has proven to be a very effective model however the medical assistant program is currently investigating the benefits of synchronous online medical assistant instruction and the benefits it may have for the medical assistant student.

Medical Assistant distance learning epitomizes the move away from institute based learning to a more direct, student centered approach. As a concept, distance learning has existed for over a century, notably in the form of paper based correspondence courses including the less formal correspondence education for medical assistants. Now however, distance education is depending increasingly upon technology for its success and technological innovations ensure that distance learning for the medical assistant continues to evolve and grow as a valid and potent force in all forms of education for the medical assistant.

The task of the medical assistant distance educator is therefore to obviate these problems as much as possible by mixing and matching techniques, creating and maintaining a stimulating environment, and offering opportunities for medical assistant students to communicate with each other and with the medical assistant teaching staff on a regular basis.

The medical assistant educators will also need to change their traditional role as well. Many remote medical assistant students need a great deal of social support, and medical assistant distance educators may find themselves spending more time offering one-to-one tutorials and less time lecturing. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School at www.medassistant.org or www.MedicalAssistant.us is leading todays technology in medical assistant education.

When designing medical assistant educational systems and materials for medical assistant distance in delivery the medical assistant teacher must consider not only learning outcomes, but also centered requirements and technical constraints for the medical assistant. Also to be considered are the needs, characteristics, and individual differences of both the students, the teachers and future medical assistants.

Medical assistant distance education for the medical assistant then, should not be viewed as a means of reducing costs, but as an opportunity to raise standards. It is also about providing quality medical assistant learning opportunities for those who, for one reason or another, have previously been excluded from this basic human right. Medical Assistant distance education will quickly become the norm and not the exception for the twenty first century medical assistant. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School distance education program for medical assistant presents a good model for this integration of technology with medical assistant education. The St. Augustine Medical Assistant model can be reviewed at: www.medassistant.org and www.medicalassistant.us

About The Author

Dr. Mark Stout
Medical Assistant distance education is emerging to meet the demands of a new generation of students in the twenty first century. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School distance education program (visit: www.medassistant.org) for medical assistant presents a good model for this integration of technology with medical assistant education.

by Kathy Jones

There are a number of online graduate degree programs that are available on the net. You can virtually get a graduate degree program in each and every discipline you wish to search. These anytime, anywhere courses cover topics from business and management education to film production and journalism. You can even get graduate degree programs for fields such as fashion designing.

Many universities now offer online graduate degree programs as an extension to their regular degree programs. You can now earn a graduate degree sitting in home through the computer. All you need is Internet, which is not at all difficult to get.

Some of the programs have the stamp of approval from the respective accrediting boards, which speaks for their quality. Some courses have direct accreditation from the universities.

Many of these online graduate degree courses in technical categories also have accreditation from their professional associations.

Accreditation is stamp of approval from the respective universities that the course has a current curriculum and the course provides high-caliber teaching. The course also provides for meaningful interaction between students and a qualified faculty.

But in the vast array of online degree programs available, the task of choosing the right program for you may seem overwhelming. It involves a quite a lot of leg work on your part to choose the right degree program and then check its accreditation.

There is no need to get disheartened. There is another solution also. There are a number of resources on the net, which have done the groundwork of listing the online graduate degree programs in all the categories that the students are searching for. A proper scrutiny is done for the courses with respect to their accreditation, course content and the teaching methods. Only after the course meets the set criterion the course is selected for listing.

To get admission to these online degree courses through distance education, you are required to meet the general admission requirements of the university as well as those specified by the individual degree program. After you get admission you’ll retrieve lectures, questions and assignments from your instructor online and then review them offline at the times and places most convenient to you.

After you are through with your assignment, you can post it along with the activities sheets electronically. Youll also have access to online research libraries and services, as well as other successful professionals with whom you can share ideas, debate issues and learn from each others’ experience. The best part of online degree courses is that you can learn your subjects at your own convenient pace, and still get a degree that is almost equivalent to regular degree courses.

These credit-bearing online graduate degree courses through distance learning are made available to you on just half of the regular on-campus tuition rates. At the same time you dont have any bindings of time or space. You are required occasionally go the college or university to meet your Professor or for certain activities related to your course like the orientation or contact programs for a limited period of time.

All that you have to do is to browse through the graduate degree programs listed on the Ineedadegree.com and choose the course to suit your requirement.

Best of luck! Get the graduate degree online and find the job you would love!

Email: kathy@orientinfosolutions.com

by Degreeclick

The format of distance learning courses is different than what most students have experienced. The teaching style is more student directed, and you will have to become accustomed to these differences. Distance learning relies heavily on technology. If you aren’t computer and internet savvy, you will need to learn new skills, in addition to your coursework.

Look for classes or workshops on computers and the internet. These are often available in public libraries or community centers. You may feel overwhelmed at the thought of taking another class, but the time you spend learning to use the technology will save you time in the long run.

Most colleges offer support for new students. Some schools may have orientation sessions at the start of a new semester. If your school offers this, plan on attending. You will gain valuable information about the structure of the course and the technology used. Instructors often give advice for organizing your time at these sessions. In addition, you will get a feel for the teacher’s expectations. Most schools offer tutorials to help you learn to use the online classroom and other software used in distance learning programs.

Research papers are common assignments in both traditional and distance learning college courses. Utilize the resources offered by your college to help complete necessary research. If the school is in driving distance from your home, take advantage of the college library. Other colleges may allow you to use their library with a student ID from your school. Many schools offer an online library database. Learn to use the database to save time when researching. Quite a bit of research can be done online, which can save you time as well.

The workload in distance learning courses is similar to traditional college coursework. The basic format of most courses involves studying the text, completing assignments and taking exams. Just about all work will involve reading and writing, so take some time to improve your skills in these areas. You will most likely have a fair amount of reading assigned both in the text and from outside sources. Schedule enough time to complete all reading assignments. Get the textbooks early and read the first few chapters before classes start to become familiar with the material.

Taking non traditional college courses requires commitment and time management skills. The ability to work at your own pace can turn into procrastination. Set goals for yourself and make a schedule that will allow you to reach those goals in a reasonable amount of time. Plan on spending at least nine hours each week for each class you take. Schedule study time and stick to your schedule. It’s important not to fall behind and even better to stay a week ahead of the class schedule.

You won’t be completely isolated when taking distance learning courses. Stay in contact with your instructor and ask for feedback regularly. Instructors will have office hours when you can call, or you can stay in touch with email. You may be given opportunities to interact with other students through chats, message boards or online study groups. Take advantage of these opportunities, if studying with others is helpful to you. Some colleges offer online tutoring, usually in math and writing. Take advantage of every opportunity for the best experience.

About the Author

Katie Robbins is the owner of degreeclick.com, a web resource where she regularly publishes informative articles about online education. Some of the topics she covers include online universities, health care degrees and criminal justice degrees.

by Dr. Mark Stout

Medical Assistant distance education is emerging to meet the demands of a new generation of students in the twenty first century. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School distance education program for medical assistant presents a good model for this integration of technology with medical assistant education.

Distance education, particularly in its most recent form, online education, is being integrated into even the most cautious and conservative of educational institutions. Yet the impact of these alternative forms of teaching and learning on students, faculty, and institutions has yet to be broadly or deeply studied.

New models such as that at St. Augustine Medical Assistant School are emerging. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School is available at: www.medicalassistant.us

Distance education is not new, and can be traced as far back as the first century. The Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christian churches, instructing them from a distance (even when he was under ‘house arrest’ in Rome). This was probably the first type of ‘correspondence course’, which was the only method of learning at a distance until the advent of the telephone.

Today, distance education and in particular online medical assistant instruction calls upon an impressive range of technologies to enable medical assistant instructor and the medical assistant student who are separated by distance to communicate with each other either in real time (synchronous) or delayed time (asynchronous).

Currently an asynchronous model is used at St. Augustine Medical Assistant School to instruct medical assistant students. This has proven to be a very effective model however the medical assistant program is currently investigating the benefits of synchronous online medical assistant instruction and the benefits it may have for the medical assistant student.

Medical Assistant distance learning epitomizes the move away from institute based learning to a more direct, student-centered approach. As a concept, distance learning has existed for over a century, notably in the form of paper-based correspondence courses including the less formal correspondence education for medical assistants.

Now, however, distance education is depending increasingly upon technology for its success and technological innovations ensure that distance learning for the medical assistant continues to evolve and grow as a valid and potent force in all forms of education for the medical assistant.

The task of the medical assistant distance educator is therefore to obviate these problems as much as possible by mixing and matching techniques, creating and maintaining a stimulating environment, and offering opportunities for medical assistant students to communicate with each other and with the medical assistant teaching staff on a regular basis. The medical assistant educators will also need to change their traditional role as well.

Many remote medical assistant students need a great deal of social support, and medical assistant distance educators may find themselves spending more time offering one-to-one tutorials and less time lecturing. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School at www.MedicalAssistant.us is leading todays technology in medical assistant education.

When designing medical assistant educational systems and materials for medical assistant distance in delivery, the medical assistant teacher must consider not only learning outcomes, but also centered requirements and technical constraints for the medical assistant. Also to be considered are the needs, characteristics, and individual differences of both the students, the teachers and future medical assistants.

Medical assistant distance education for the medical assistant then, should not be viewed as a means of reducing costs, but as an opportunity to raise standards. It is also about providing quality medical assistant learning opportunities for those who, for one reason or another, have previously been excluded from this basic human right.

Medical Assistant distance education will quickly become the norm and not the exception for the twenty first century medical assistant. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School distance education program for medical assistant presents a good model for this integration of technology with medical assistant education. The St. Augustine Medical Assistant model can be reviewed at: www.medicalassistant.us.

About The Author

By Dr. Mark Stout
Dean of Education St. Augustine Medical Assistant School
Distance Education and Informatics Specialist

by SearchForClasses Newsletter

At Indiana Wesleyan University Online, a Christian-based institution, the type of distance that’s most important to their students is not measured in miles. Instead, students enroll in the program to gain the benefits of a quality education in a community of individuals who are allowed the opportunity to incorporate a faith-based worldview. IWU supports a self-described world changer initiative — a commitment to preparing students gto be agents of change on a global scale through virtual community.

IWUOnline’s approach to online learning has allowed for the creation of a broad spectrum of academic programs all targeted at providing excellence, increasing the opportunity for students to gain knowledge and skills that will have an impact. Whether pursuing a Bachelors or Masters degree in Business Administration, a Special Education licensure or Masters in Education, a registered-nursing BS completion, or a graduate degree in Nursing or Ministry, IWUOnline’s academic options are as robust as any traditional higher education institution.

Unlike other adult online learning curricula, IWUOnline’s curriculum offers a unique sequential skill-building progression wherein students are fully prepared for the next stage of coursework. Additionally, courses are built upon an asynchronous model that allows coursework to be completed according to individual schedules. The success rates are higher because the programs are strategically structured to advance students in a logical, easy-to-follow path.

Learning inevitably develops at a varying pace. To ensure strength at the onset, IWUOnline prepares, as part of its fundamental learning objective, a technological proficiency curve that furnishes students with the essential skills to succeed in their degree programs. Technological competency is integrated into each program. Students receive support via elective courses and supplemental materials, in addition to exercises and instruction that collectively and thoroughly develop all necessary technical skills.

An IWUOnline administration representative recently described the essential traits that a new-to-online learning student should possess as including gdiscipline, determination and endurance, though not necessarily in that order.

Such traits allow students to balance themselves, embracing the freedom distance learning provides while avoiding falling behind. The discipline ensures projects are completed; the determination lets adults juggle their professional responsibilities with their academic ones while remaining focused on their goals and not giving up; and the endurance provides the ability to successfully meet the demanding coursework, even when life doesn’t yield to the added pressure.

Even students who possess all the discipline, determination, and endurance in the world could be at risk of failing if they had to face their challenges alone. Students do not learn in an isolated bubble; they learn by surrounding themselves with others, they learn from their peers, their professors, from like-minded individuals and from their polar opposites.

In short, students learn best when they are part of a community, and that’s exactly what IWUOnline offers a tightly knit community that overcomes geographical distances to forge spiritual and academic bonds.

To learn more about online education visit www.searchforclasses.com. To read other related articles please visit the site or join our newsletter at www.searchforclasses.com/newsletter.

by SearchForClasses Newsletter

Traditional MBA programs provide students with a two-fold advantage: a wealth of business knowledge, and the credentials necessary to advance in the business world. Yet many of these programs require previous managerial experience, not to mention an expensive commitment to a full-time academic program. This means that many of the brightest, most promising managerial candidates can get left behind.

Now, two certificate programs from American Graduate University give nontraditional students the same advantages of learning and advancement associated with full-blown MBA programs. Called MBA Essentials and MBA Principles, these programs are designed for self-starters who may already have logged time in the working world, but who have no managerial experience, or for those who want to jump-start their career without the commitment and expense of a conventional MBA program.

“These programs are stepping stones,” says Toby Gouker, VP of University Affairs at American Graduate University. “They allow students to test the waters with minimal investmentin terms of dollars and of time.”

Both of these programs school their students in the core curriculum provided by an MBA, including marketing, purchasing, allocating, scheduling, and organizational and interpersonal skills. Together they comprise the art and the science of management. Yet in these unique programs, students learn at their own pace, in their own time. They can take six weeks to complete their studies, or two years. In other words, these programs break down the big leap of an MBA education into smaller, more manageable steps. Best of all, they can help you turn a job into a career.

With AGU’s rolling admissions policy, students can begin their studies any day of the year. The curriculum is text-based and web-enabled textbooks and study guides are provided for each course, while supplemental resources are available, many on the Internet. Unlike some distance learning programs in which students must post assignments to an email list or Internet message board, MBA Principles and MBA Essentials students are not tied to a rigid schedule.

“Here at AGU, we recognize that your family and job come first,” says Gouker. “We don’t impose artificial deadlines, but instead let students choose their own pace. From your first hour of study to your last, it’s up to you when you learn.”

Each course is broken down into units, which a student will master at his or her own pace. When the unit is completed, the student takes an exam and then moves on to the next unit. There are no outside deadlines, no trick questions, no pressure – just the materials and resources to help self-motivated adults who are eager to learn.

Every AGU student is assigned an individual faculty mentor, who is available to provide assistance on any given day. Faculty members are all experts in their fields. In addition, the student services office can answer any non-academic questions that may arise. This high level of individual attention, and the fact that these programs are about genuine learning, not about memorizing or beating the academic system, are all part of AGU’s student-centered philosophy of education.

American Graduate University has been in business for 35 years, and has been granting degrees for decades. These two programs were created in response to a need in the business community. Based on several years worth of feedback from people in government and industry, they are designed for real-life employees with experiential accomplishments.

Completing one of these programs will allow you to round out your skills and knowledge so that you can jump to that first rung of the managerial ladder, explains Gouker. Full-blown MBA programs are often too big of a bite to take, but we provide a multi-tiered approach towards a management career.

Many MBA programs try to be everything for everybody, and therefore produce students who have general knowledge but no specific, applicable training. AGU’s programs, however, are geared toward students who have been rising through the ranks in their current field, and who are now ready to advance into a supervisory position. In order to do so, they need to fill in a few gaps in their experience, to complete their personal inventory of knowledge.

The MBA Essentials and MBA Principles programs target the areas that are deficient in an individuals skill set, and therefore provide the most efficient way for a student to round out their education and experience.

The Principles program is designed for the employee who has the technical and quantifiable knowledge in his or her particular field, but who has little experience working in a supervisory capacity. The MBA Principles program will teach this student the softer skills of managementinterpersonal relations, organizational behavior, negotiation. On the other hand, the MBA Essentials program targets people who are already great motivators and negotiators. It takes those who have the people skills to succeed in the managerial world and schools them in the science of management: accounting, marketing, finance.

The certificate programs can provide the credentialing to help an employee move towards a managerial track. Together, these programs are the yin and the yang of managerial education, and provide the full spectrum of core courses most often seen in traditional MBA programs. Yet unlike these traditional programs, there are no experiential prerequisites. You don’t have to have three years’ worth of managerial experience before you even can even begin learning. All you need is self-motivation, a love of knowledge, and a desire to take your career to the next level.

If you’re thinking of aligning your career towards a managerial track, the student-centered programs at AGU can be a great stepping-stone. They can also be a jump-start for qualified individuals toward earning a full-blown Masters degree. If you’re ready to supplement your valuable on-the-job experience with the crucial skills and knowledge provided by an MBA degree, without the expense or inflexible schedule of a conventional MBA program, its time to find out more about American Graduate University’s MBA Essentials and MBA Principles programs.

For more information about AGUs MBA Essentials or MBA Principles programs, visit agu.searchforclasses.com For information about an education online visit www.searchforclasses.com or searchforclasses.blogspot.com To read about online education news, visit sfcednews.blogspot.com

by Nina Nocciolino

As technology advances and higher education scrambles to keep up, more and more students are going online to supplement their education and further their career. As a result, businesses have had to reevaluate prospective hires whose academic backgrounds run the gamut from traditional brick and mortar degrees to online degrees.

According to Vault Inc’s new Online Degrees survey, of 107 responses from employers representing a variety of industries across the U.S., 85% of employers feel online degrees are more acceptable today than they were five years ago.

However, less than half had encountered an applicant with an online degree, and only 20% said they had hired applicants with online degrees.

The e-education phenomenon is still gaining ground as more and more students take online courses in everything from health care to business with the click of the mouse.

Experts warn that while there are plenty of benefits to online education, there are plenty of things to watch out for. In a USA Today article, Stephanie Armour discussed diploma mills, or agencies claiming to offer accredited degrees to individuals, some of whom are then passing them off to employers as legitimate diplomas.

This poses a problem for businesses. The same article referenced a study by the Society for Human Resource Management which mentioned that, only 40% of companies regularly verify degrees earned. Diploma mills are making it increasingly more difficult to differentiate between the authentic and the counterfeit. This is unfortunate for the accredited universities who offer genuine degrees, and it is detrimental to individuals looking to earn actual accreditation.

Legitimate online colleges offering quality programs to their recipients are losing credibility because of this. The Philadelphia Daily News stated that, There are 500 phony accrediting agencies around the world and hundreds of phony schools taking people’s money.

There are methods to help prospective students differentiate between the real and the fake universities. An online education directory like ECollegefinder.org is one such directory designed to help students search credible online degree programs by discipline, degree, or accredited school.

Diploma mills have cast a shadow of doubt over online degrees, but as larger, better known universities begin to embrace online degree programs, businesses will most likely meet more applicants with online degrees.

According to Vault Inc’s survey, 86% of employers said they’d be willing to accept applicants with an online degree, and 91% said they would hire a candidate if they had everything the company was looking for accompanied by an online degree. If the survey’s numbers are any indication of the future of online education and the role it plays in the workplace, those numbers will only grow as degree programs online gain credibility in cyberspace and in the workplace.

About the Author

Nina Nocciolino is a writer for DMI Partners, a full-service, interactive marketing and e-business technology firm specializing in higher education, real estate, finance and retail. For more information visit www.dmipartners.com or email Ninan@dmipartners.com