Online Degree Programs


With the development in technology, getting engaged in online degree programs has become very easy. While busy with your career pursuit, it is possible for you to earn a good degree in any discipline of your choice from the online colleges or universities. The usual distance, financial constraints and the time required from the traditional higher education is not the case with the online education. People who are already in the workforce can take advantage of this numerous programs online to add value to their resume.

However, getting involved in online degree programs requires individuals to know some technological experience, adequate self discipline, and current computer tool. Technology has made it possible for individuals to get a good degree from some of the best universities and colleges in the world without having to visit the school. The number of individual colleges and universities offering online degree programs to students cannot be underestimated.

There are some conglomerates of universities that act as portals for different courses from about fourteen universities across the whole of Canada. An example of such conglomerate is the CVU which stands for Canadian Virtual University. Another of such conglomerate is the Global University Alliance which is a conglomerate of ten schools from England, United States, Switzerland, China, Australia, Denmark, Singapore and Japan. Many people try to proffer an answer to the question about the accreditation and the legitimacy of the online universities and the degree being offered. The fact is that many employers in the IT industry place great value on the online degrees and this is basically because of the nature of the job in the field.

However, many Human Resources professionals are of the general opinion that the traditional university degree more valuable when compared to the online degree. According to a study carried out sometimes in 2001, it was succinctly reported that about seventy seven percent of those who responded agree that getting an online degree from a legitimate and accredited institution is far more reliable than a degree from an internet- only university or college.

It was also reported that that about twenty six percent agreed that the bachelor degrees earned online are as reliable as the degrees from traditional universities. One big drawback that was discovered about the online degree programs is the problem of social interaction among students. Lack of adequate data on the effectiveness of the program does not give the true picture of the quality of the online education.

There are three major industries that would always regard online education as valuable and these are media and marketing, consulting and telecommunication. Those industries who would not want to embrace online degree programs are medicine, law, health care, academia, finance and government. For medicine, law and health care, it is understandable. And this is because of the nature of the workings of the fields.