Online universities vs. on-campus universities
Many universities have online undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs. Distance learning offers the student flexibility, reasonably priced tuition and a wide variety of fields of study. Online education has proven to be as effective as traditional classroom study, but there are advantages to being inside of the classroom, too.
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Choosing a School
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The first step in choosing either an online college or traditional college is to find out whether the school is accredited. Accreditation is a voluntary process and must be periodically renewed. Thus, accredited schools closely monitor the quality of their faculty and courses.
Courses of Study
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A wide variety of degree and certificate programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are available entirely online. Many traditional schools have both face-to-face and online classes, which allow the student a great deal of choice, and there are hybrid courses that have some classroom time as well as online assignments. For fields such as chemistry and physics, online courses cannot offer the kind of laboratory experience that traditional classes can, but a student may be able to take local classes and transfer them to an online degree program.
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Student Support
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Online schools offer a variety of student services, including counseling, mentoring and financial aid assistance. Telephone, Internet and email support ensure that the student is never out of touch with the school. Online student clubs and alumni associations allow students to interact with one another. Honor societies also recognize distance education students.
Online Classroom vs. Traditional Classroom
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Most online classes are conducted in an asynchronous mode, which means the student can log into the classroom at any time and from anywhere there is an Internet connection. Traditional classes require that the student attend class at specific times. For both types of classes, attendance is often part of the grade. Asynchronous classes give the students the ability to break their school work down into multiple short blocks of time rather than one multi-hour session per week. Commuting and parking are also not problems.
Value of the Online Degree
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Degrees from accredited online programs are equal to the degrees conferred by traditional programs. The online classroom has proven to be a very effective learning environment, and online students are often more motivated to complete their degrees. Students who want to transfer to other schools are not discriminated against because they have an online education, and most graduate schools are receptive to online degrees.
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References
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- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Jo Guldi
