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Finishing Your Degree in Online College

May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Though we know how important and valuable our educations are, life doesn’t always make going to college easy. Many students today have to juggle school with full-time jobs and other commitments, and in too many cases, students find themselves overwhelmed and step away from school so they can focus more time and energy on the demands of their hectic lives. But when things slow down, going back to school and finishing your degree is one of the smartest moves you can make, as a college degree comes with a great deal of opportunities and chances for a brighter future. And online college makes earning that degree more accessible than ever.

College degree holders enjoy many benefits that put the costs of college and hard work into perspective. For one, many entry-level jobs in many different industries require a bachelor’s degree in any field for an applicant to even be considered. Having a bachelor’s degree entitles you to better employment positions, more opportunities for promotions, and higher earning potential. All of these things will benefit you and your family in the future, as satisfying and fulfilling work with a livable salary make an excellent framework for continued success and overall quality of life. If you have or intend to have a family, your financial stability and acknowledge of the value of dedication, perseverance, and hard work will benefit them exponentially well into the future.

Benefits of Online College

Even if you began you education in a traditional brick-and-mortar school, you can see it through to the finish line in a distance learning program from an online college or university. For students who stepped away from college because of such challenges as a full-time work schedule, a family to raise, or the realization that trudging to class each day simply isn’t for them, online college is a great alternative that provides increased flexibility in scheduling. Students can go to class from their living room couches or favorite coffee shops, creating a less stringent yet still quality work environment. Not having to commute to campus saves plenty of time which allows students extra time to spend with family or at the office.

You can transfer credits and transcripts to accredited online colleges and pick up with your program where you left off. Or, if your time away from school has changed your mind, you may want to pick up a new field of study. Online colleges offer degrees of all levels in virtually any major, so a bit of research will reveal the school and program that works best for you. Do be sure to check on your school’s accreditation before enrolling; degrees from accredited online schools are just as valuable to employers as degrees from traditional colleges and universities.

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Online College Background Check

April 27, 2012 By 2 Comments

Online college is a great alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar schools for students with busy, demanding lives. More popular now than ever before, distance learning programs make higher education possible for everyone from stay-at-home-moms to students working two jobs to pay the bills to learners who do their best with minimal supervision and stringency in scheduling. Before you enroll in any online college program, don’t forget to do a thorough background check of the school to be sure you’re getting the most for your money – and time – and your chosen college will get you to where you plan to go.

Is Your College Accredited?

One of the most important things to be sure of before you do any class selections or pay any tuition bills is that the school you have selected is accredited. This means that your college has been recognized by an accreditation board as a quality school with reputable programs, resources, faculty, and staff. Accredited schools are recognized by the United States Department of Education; those that have not earned accreditation have not been evaluated (or approved) by an accrediting commission and as such, are not guaranteed to have resources and programs available to you that you need to be successful as a student and earn a quality education. Be certain of your school’s status before you enroll so as to waste no time or money on schooling that will not aptly prepare you for you future career. Additionally, employers will be curious of your training and preparation for any position you apply for, and whether or not your online college is accredited will matter.

Does Your College Offer Your Major?

Not all schools, offline or online, offer all programs. Certain schools are restricted to liberal arts, some are best to attend for math and sciences, and many simply do not have the resources or faculty to reach all types of students. In online schools it is especially important to ensure this before enrollment. Though distance learning programs are offered in most fields, many online colleges offer a less varied selection of majors than a traditional school. Save yourself time and tuition by making sure you can study your preferred subject at your school before making any commitments. If it turns out the online college you’re in does not offer your major, you’ll have a tough decision to make down the line: switching schools or switching your major.

Are Students Successful at This School?

When everything else checks out, it’s important to familiarize yourself with certain rates of student success at your online college. Some research on the website may help you find your answers, or you can speak to someone in the college’s administrative offices for the information you need. Your school should be able to identify such things as student retention rates, graduation rates, and the rate of student employment upon graduation. All of these figures can tell you a great deal about the experiences of students similar to you in the school, and may give you an inside look into your prospective future. These figures can also help demonstrate the effectiveness of the school’s academic programs and help you to see if an education from this school will help to set you up for a successful future and career.

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GED to PhD: Online Degrees for All

April 20, 2012 By 3 Comments

Students of all ages and levels of education are becoming increasingly aware of all the benefits online colleges and distance learning programs have to offer. Particularly for those who must work full-time or manage a family, the accessibility of online schooling offers second – or third, or fourth – chances for students to reach whatever next level of education they set their sights on.

Online education has grown in not only popularity but in possibility as well. Where it used to be favored by graduate students working full time and trying to earn master’s degrees, or busy moms and dads going back to college to complete an unfinished degree, online learning is an option for everyone from high school students to PhD hopefuls.

General Equivalency Diploma (GED) Online

For students who were unable to complete high school for whatever reason, the business world can be unforgiving and unwelcoming. Without a high school diploma or equivalent, there are much, much fewer opportunities available to job applicants. Luckily, obtaining that essential diploma doesn’t have to mean four-hour night classes and impossible exams anymore. Accredited online high schools such as Lincoln Academy and GED Academy offer courses and exams to help students graduate high school, whether it’s been months or years since their last quiz.

Associate’s and Bachelor’s Degrees Online

A large portion of distance learning participants are undergraduate students earning associate’s or bachelor’s degrees. So many various fields are available for online study, ranging from arts to business to science. Studying for your bachelor’s or associate’s degree online can be a great way to balance an otherwise busy life or fast-track your education and, ultimately, your professional career. The business world is catching up with the times as well, and many, if not most, employers report viewing graduates of online colleges and brick-and-mortar schools as being on equal footing. There are a great deal of colleges that are comprised strictly of distance learning, as well as a growing number of traditional colleges offering partially or fully online programs.

Master’s and Doctorate Degrees Online

Accredited master’s and doctorate degree programs are increasing as well in the online learning world. Because of the focused and intensive nature of this level of education, some fields of study will require students to complete an amount of coursework offline, whether in a practical, on-the-job setting or in a traditional classroom. For students juggling jobs, families, fieldwork, and undergraduate debt, attending graduate school online slightly lightens the burden by taking away the time factor of commuting to a campus and increases the scheduling flexibility with home study.

For students looking to advance an their education with a graduate degree, or for those looking to get their educations started, online college may have your perfect accredited program for anything from your GED to your PhD.

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Social Media and Online College

March 6, 2012 By 2 Comments

As the first decade of the 21st century came and went, the college degree transitioned from helpful perk to resumé requirement, with the National Center for Education Statistics reporting a 45 percent increase in full-time student enrollment from 1999 to 2009. Throughout this growth period, an alternative arose for those unable to attend traditional class sessions on campus: online courses. A simultaneous technological boom came in the form of social media, with websites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter becoming a daily Internet pit-stop. Colleges and universities offering online courses have capitalized on the increase in people using social media by setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts to give current and prospective students access to a hub of useful information.

Keeping Up with #Trends

While many online colleges have campus locations, not all students live within driving distance. A disconnect in location may be inevitable, but Twitter has made it simple to connect to campus life through real-time conversations and informational updates. National University, ranked the number 1 online college in 2012 by the Online Education Database Organization, Tweeted an announcement for a campus event with a link to the event webpage. This tweet will appear in the instantly updated Twitter feed for all those who follow the school.

Going a step further, those attending the event can tweet a trend (a word or phrase preceded by a hashtag, for example, #NUinfosession) on National University’s Twitter account and start conversations with other attendees or those who are following from home via Twitter. This leads to a domino effect of students, faculty and community members following one another, conversing and sharing links and information with people they may not have encountered otherwise.

Do You “Like” Your School?

Whether the answer is yes or no, it could benefit at least saying so through Facebook. Similar to Twitter, Facebook provides a venue for the instant update of important information, solutions to problems, and answers to begging questions. Colorado State University (ranked the number 5 online college) posted “Tune into the live webcast of tonight’s first Stadium Advisory Committee meeting, 7 p.m. MST” with a link to the online broadcast. Status updates like these not only bring awareness to the event, but instantly spawn discussion on the topic.

As soon as the meeting began people were weighing in on discussion topics through that status update in variations of one sentence opinions to well-thought-out paragraph responses. If the school has a good following (like CSU boasting 34,385 Facebook friends), questions and comments are reaching a broader audience in a centralized location. This allows even the more specific questions, such as, “what time zone do I have to follow for the assignment’s due time?” have a chance at being answered, and fast.

Connect to Your Campus

According to a 2011 study conducted by Pew Research, 47 percent of the population are using social media regularly. Putting these resources to good use by connecting with your college or university can allow you to engage from a distance, something that may pose as a challenge for an online student only using email communication. WIth a swift click of the mouse on your favorite social media site, you can be sure that you will never be the last to know.

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Keeping Organized in Online College

March 1, 2012 By 2 Comments

Online college means no dorms, no fighting with other commuters for a parking spot, no dealing with campus traffic, no terrible cafeteria food, no slushing through rain or snow to get to class, no 8 AM exams, and no annoying classmates reminding the professor to give you assignments he’d already forgotten about. What a relief! No wonder more and more students are picking online college over in-person classes.

But, just because you’re not on campus doesn’t mean you’re free from the rest of the hallmarks of college: syllabi, essays, exams, quizzes, textbooks, essays, readings, discussion questions, and so on. The difference is you won’t see your professor in person twice a week to hear him remind you a thousand times that your paper is due on Monday. In-person or online, a deadline is a deadline and assignments are assignments. If you don’t get and stay organized, you can easily fall behind and veer off track in online college.

Keeping organized is key to success in college. One of the first and most important things you must do after enrolling in classes is create a system of organization that makes sense and that you can stick to. If you need to have copies of papers in front of you, be sure to print out your syllabus right away. If you can keep it on your computer and still stick to it, save a copy to a folder dedicated to that class. Folders, whether they be paper or electronic, will be crucial to keeping you organized in online college.

To be sure you don’t fall behind or scramble for instructions at the last minute, go through your syllabus as soon as you have it. Make a list of other documents you will need, and download them as soon as they’re available. Either print copies to keep in each class’s folder, or save them to computer folders along with all other class documents. Keep all materials together and get them as soon as you can. Check-lists should be your best friend. There’s no better way to keep track of all assignments, materials, deadlines, and steps.

Keep a deadline calendar. If you’re taking multiple classes it’s important that you have all the information in an accessible place. Go through each syllabus and write in each deadline and exam date for every class. Then, add in other time commitments and appointments you have. Sometimes this is the only way to realize that you have four papers due, an exam, and a dentist appointment all on the same day. You can start planning now how to budget your time.

The most important tools you’ll need for keeping your online classes organized will be folders. Keep a separate one for each class, and create sub-folders for individual assignments or projects. Keep contact information for your professor or classmates together with other class materials, so you don’t have to scrounge when you have a question. Budget your time carefully and don’t forget to look at both the small picture – taking each assignment step by step to keep from being overwhelmed – and the big picture.

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Getting Started with an Online College

February 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

So you’ve made the decision to get your higher education online. That’s one huge step out of the way! Now that you have decided to make the commitment to get your degree through an online college or university, there are a few more things to check off the to-do list before you can jump in with both feet. The following are things you should be sure to take into consideration before handing over any money or picking out classes.

Make Sure it’s the Right Time

College, either in-person or online, is a huge time commitment and will require a large amount of your energy and attention while school is in session. And even with all the available financial aid out there, it’s going to affect your wallet too. But a commitment is a commitment, and the commitments you make to yourself and your education are among the most important ones in your life. Before shelling out money on tuition and textbooks, and rearranging your life to accommodate classes, be sure that you are in a position to stick to your commitments. It will be difficult at times, to be sure, but if you feel like you’d be tempted to drop out or not give it your all, you’re robbing yourself of the opportunities you’ve worked toward. Be ready to commit your time and attention.

Pick the Right School

Getting your education from an online college or university has many advantages over going to a traditional school. You can tailor your class schedule and work time to fit your schedule or personal life and still get a quality education. But there’s no campus for you to visit, no one to interview you for acceptance, and just about anyone can build an official-looking website. It is of the utmost importance that you research your online schools and be sure that the one you select is an accredited college or university. You can begin your search right here, and narrow down to a top few schools with good research. Online colleges’ websites should offer you all the information you need about their accreditation, faculty and staff, procedures, and programs. You need to know these things about every school you’re considering. After researching, you should be able to narrow it down further by exploring their tuition and fees schedules as well as majors, minors, and certification programs they offer.

Make Sure They Have Your Major

Though this problem is becoming less and less frequent in recent years, there’s nothing worse for a college-bound student than to fall in love with a school, only to realize that it does not support their field of study. If you know what you want to major in, or have an inclination toward one field or another, be sure you can get a good education in your subject at whatever college or university you choose. Some colleges are known for their programs’ strength in specific fields, and some notorious for their lacking in another. Be sure whatever college you attend will allow you to study what you like and will provide you with a quality education in the field of your choosing. Otherwise, you’ll quickly find out how much time and money you’ve wasted, and that transferring credits is not always easy.

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Top 5 Online College Degrees

January 26, 2012 By 1 Comment

Going After One of the Top Five Online College Degrees

Each year recent high school graduates and adult continuing education students enroll in online college degree programs at accredited postsecondary schools.  Although you and other students likely enroll in one or more undergraduate or graduate degree program that align with your passions and that provide you with the greatest chance of working jobs you enjoy, you (and other college students) may find yourselves enrolling in some college courses more than others.  Top degrees and/or schools are reviewed and/or listed in national magazines and organizations such as Petersons, US News and World Report and The Princeton Review.  Some of the top five offline and/or online college degrees are in subjects that may or may not give you the job training you’re looking for.

Popular Degrees at Online Colleges and Distance Learning Schools

According to The Princeton Review, the top five college majors include:

  • Business Administration and Management/Commerce (You might consider this major if you like to lead teams or organizational groups.  Good communication skills and decision making abilities can help you to succeed in this major, and in jobs (e.g. department manager, chief executive officer) associated with a classroom and online college bachelor degree you get in the field.)
  • Psychology (Although you may or may not be able to find free online college degrees in this subject, if you enjoy figuring out what motivates people to behave and communicate the way they do, majoring in psychology might prove rewarding for you.  Types of courses you may take in this degree include early childhood development, abnormal psychology and the role of the family on individual mental and emotional health.)
  • Nursing (Combines traditional and liberal arts courses; also allows you to participate in clinical trials, giving you first-hand experience caring for patients.  You can work in a variety of medical departments after you get a nursing degree and pass your licensing exams.  For example, you can work in pediatrics, oncology or geriatrics.)
  • Biology/Biological Studies (Courses cover and/or examine plant, animal and human life.  Laboratory work may be required to earn biology or biological studies degrees.  Jobs you can work with these degrees include veterinarian, ecologist or environmentalist.)
  • Education (If you have a desire to teach others new skills, majoring in education at online colleges might be what you’re looking for.  Depending on the state you live in, you may have to pass a licensing examination before you start teaching elementary, middle, secondary or postsecondary school students.)

Depending on the year the top five online college degrees are identified by media and educational organizations, the degree fields might align with the highest paying jobs.  Of course, majoring in top five online college degrees may provide you advanced education in fields that are largely populated by other college students who are majoring in similar subjects that you are, making it important for you to get innovative when you connect with prospective hiring managers during job interviews and professional networking sessions.  Before majoring in an offline or accredited online college degree, consider taking the time to research the job outlook for the degree field using resources available to you through your college’s career counseling office or through government agencies like the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.  This way you can increase your chances of majoring in subjects, whether they are popular nationally amongst other college students or not, that offer you plenty of employment and job growth opportunities.

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Top Ten Online Colleges and Universities

January 23, 2012 By 1 Comment

Attending the Top Ten Online Colleges and Universities

Top online colleges and universities as well as public and private brick and mortar postsecondary schools offer distance learning programs in a variety of courses.  You can also complete your entire undergraduate and/or graduate degrees by attending online accredited schools.  Despite the fact that many schools offer rigorous academic courses, professors having licenses and/or in-depth working experiences in the subjects they teach, only a few schools earn the status of being top colleges and universities.

U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review are some periodicals that list top US colleges and universities.  School information reviewed by these periodicals includes:

  • Student enrollment (breakdown by male and female student populations)
  • Undergraduate and/or graduate programs available for students to register for and take
  • Costs of tuition
  • Percentage of college admissions applications accepted by the school
  • Financial aid offered and/or accepted by the school
  • Amount of endowments associated with the school
  • Academic calendar (e.g. semester, quarter) the school operates on
  • Number of years the school has been in operation (founded date for the school)
  • Minimum college entrance examination test scores (e.g. SAT, ACT) accepted by the school
  • Student survey responses (feedback that students provide about the school)
  • Administrative services offered at the school

Ranking of Top 10 Largest Online Schools

When it comes to online postsecondary schools, academics and student services can help determine how valuable the school’s offerings are.  Some popular online schools also enroll large numbers of students.  According to U.S. News and World Report, the top 10 largest online colleges and universities are:

  • University of Phoenix (founded in 1976 with approximately 380,232 students)
  • Kaplan University (founded in 1937 with approximately 70,011 students
  • Strayer University (founded in 1982 with approximately 54,325 students)
  • Ashford University (founded in 1918 with approximately 46,835 students)
  • Liberty University (founded in 1971 with approximately 46,312 students)
  • Walden University (founded in 1970 with approximately 40,714 students)
  • University of Maryland – University College (founded in 1947 with approximately 37,347 students)
  • Grand Canyon University (founded in 1949 with approximately 34,205 students)
  • Capella University (founded in 1993 with approximately 31,998 students)

Top Black colleges and universities such as Spelman College, Morehouse College, Hampton University, Tuskegee University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Fisk University and Claflin University are also ranked in publications like U.S. News and World Report.  Keep in mind that some of these schools, including the top 100 colleges and universities, also offer on-campus, classroom courses which might help to increase their overall student enrollment population.  Furthermore, top schools are generally accredited institutions of higher learning, a factor that may further help to establish the schools’ credibility.

Publications and organizations that review top colleges universities do the hard work of examining factors such as the schools tuition costs, student activities and course offerings so you don’t have to.  If you use these resources to review the best schools you can narrow the numbers of schools you want to enroll in after you graduate from high school or while you juggle work and your continuing education goals.

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Top 20 List of Online Schools Based on Enrollment

January 19, 2012 By 2 Comments

Earn College Credits at Popular Online Schools

By using a list of colleges and universities you can review several schools offering online courses and degree programs in a short amount of time.  Some of the lists are affiliated with major publications like U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review, while other lists are created by organizations that support continuing education and academic achievement.

In addition to U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review, the United States Department of Education also list accredited schools offering online programs in their database which you can access free of charge.  Organizations and/or publications like College Board, Peterson’s, Online Education Database and Washington Monthly provide list of colleges and universities in Florida, list of colleges and universities in Georgia and other parts of the country.

Details provided in the lists include:

  • Numbers of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the schools
  • Dates that the schools were founded
  • Types of distance learning programs available at the schools (e.g. degree, certificate)
  • Location type for the schools (e.g. urban, rural)
  • Majors (e.g. engineering, nursing, law) the schools are known and/or highly regarded for
  • Tuition costs
  • Whether or not the schools accept financial aid, and if they do, the types of financial aid accepted at the schools
  • Religious affiliations the schools have, if they have any religious affiliations
  • Minimum college entrance test scores accepted at the schools
  • Whether or not the schools offer athletic programs that are recognized by organizations like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and if so, the types of programs (e.g. football, basketball, track and field) offered

Large Online Schools You Can Enroll In

The top online colleges and universities based on student enrollment as reported by U.S. News and World Report are:

  • University of Phoenix (380,232 students)
  • Kaplan University (70,011 students)
  • Strayer University (54,325 students)
  • Ashford University (46,835 students)
  • Liberty University (46,312 students)
  • Walden University (40,714 students)
  • University of Maryland-University College (37,347 students)
  • Grand Canyon University (34,205 students)
  • Capella University (31,998 students)
  • American Public University System (31,331 students)

Another organization providing a list of colleges and universities in New York, a list of colleges and universities in Virginia and other states, schools with large student enrollments, is the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  The NCES reports additional schools with student populations that provide distance learning programs include:

  • Arizona State University (68,040 students)
  • Miami Dade College (59,120 students)
  • Ohio State University (55,014 students)
  • Houston Community College (54,942 students)
  • University of Central Florida (53,401 students)
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (51,659 students)
  • University of Texas at Austin (50,995 students)
  • University of Florida (50,691 students)
  • Texas A&M University (48,702 students)
  • Michigan State University (47,071 students)

Trying to find the online school that’s right for you may feel like a daunting task until you familiarize yourself with a list of colleges and universities providing you with specific details about each school mentioned in the list.  Rather than visiting colleges and universities in person or telephoning administrators at several online schools, consider taking the time to review the lists so you can find out schools offering the best tuition rates, student activities and distance learning credit and/or degree programs in subjects you’re most interested in majoring in.

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Take Translation Courses Online

January 5, 2012 By 1 Comment

Translation Courses Online Can Help You Become a True Global
Citizen

Taking an online translation course is a way to expand your job skills and everyday use of foreign languages.  Through these courses you can learn how to interpret and translate a variety of documents and/or conversations including government reports, non-fiction books, novels, college course materials and business records.  The courses are offered through accredited colleges and universities.  You can also take tuition based and/or free online translation courses offered by professional translators.

If you major in foreign languages, you can take one or more translation courses.  Depending on the online college you attend you might be able to take a course in foreign languages like Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Hebrew, Italian, French and/or German.  By taking one or more foreign languages, you can gain a basic foundation that may prepare you to excel at online translation courses.  Because  you can complete the courses from anywhere in the world, not only can you complete your studies, you can also travel abroad and put what you learn in the distance learning programs into real life practice as you communicate with people from other countries and translate what they say to people less familiar with the languages.

To start, types of online translations courses you can register to take include:

  • Arabic to English translation of governmental and international documents
  • English to French legal translation
  • The Making of a Literary Translator
  • Introduction for English to French translation
  • Project management for translation
  • The Literary Translator and the Internet
  • Translation and Interpretation
  • English to Portuguese translation
  • English to Portuguese translating for international organizations
  • English to German translating for international organizations
  • English to Spanish translating for international organizations
  • Portuguese to English translation
  • German to English translation
  • Spanish to English translation

Using Online Translation Courses to Secure Employment

Generally, more popular languages are offered at accredited online college and university distance learning programs.  Some free online translation courses use basic short stories to teach you how to translate information from one language to another.  Again, a basic understanding of the language the material is written or spoken in (and the language you’re translating the material into) helps you to get a firm understanding of lessons.  You can also find reading guides at organizations like the American Literary Translators Association that provide you with additional understanding of what’s involved in creative types of translation work.

The United Nations, United States embassy offices, hospitals, attorneys representing clients from foreign countries, military and international tourists attractions are a few types of employers you can get hired by after you learn foreign languages and graduate from accredited online translations courses.  While you complete your online translation course, and after you finish the course, you can receive support from organizations like the American Translators Association and the American Literary Translations Association.  You can also get certified through these organizations, learn about conferences and seminars for professionals in the industry and search for jobs.  Local translators associations also provide training and networking events that you can take advantage of.

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