Are online colleges mainly for adults?

All kinds of students take online college courses but my personal belief is that they serve best as a supplement to an on-campus experience. One has to be very self-motivated to get the most out of distance education but it does serve its purpose.

In my experience they are looked down on as opposed to on campus degrees. Most campuses offer online courses. If it’s something you need to take because you work, I would suggest that. You only have to show up on the first and last day of class, and it’s just to make sure you’re name, face, and number on your student ID matches the name and student ID number on the roster. I mainly take night classes on campus for work reasons and looked into online colleges as well (before realizing they looked down on online college degrees) and decided on campus was a much better choice—for me. See what suits you and your life best first, if there’s no other option but an online college and you want to do it, then do it.

They are open to anyone.

Most employers do not weight online degrees the same as regular colleges or universities.

I had a relative who received a master’s degree from U of Phoenix in education. He had a 3.98 GPA, and had no problem getting a job. The type of career you are in can dictate how important it is to go to a stand-alone campus.

All colleges are intended for adults.

Make sure that you think carefully about such schools if you are getting a loan to go. I have heard they push the student loans, and then many students are stuck with loan repayments and no jobs, causing lots of grief for the students. Also, one of the great things about college is the comraderie—meeting in person people who might become friends for life.

@CyanoticWasp I think the reason they asked if it’s for adults only is because some colleges do allow high school students (Juniors+) to take primary courses to get them out of the way before they graduate. My college allows it and I know many others do as well, but not all.

nothings written in stone… their are aways stories of the principals daughter getting pushed ahead and finishing university with a Ph.D by 19… with the right person it can happen

Yes and no. Schools that are solely online have a tendency not to be too easy, but to simply be shite. It’s not the online part, it’s the shite part (largely because online schools tend to be for-profit and do some seriously shady things, like encouraging students to lie on their FAFSAs). If U of Phoenix opened up a campus, I have no doubt people would treat it the same. Likewise, I don’t think anyone looks at someone who went to Westward’s campuses better than someone who went to Westward online. Trade schools, which are for-profit, tend to have the same problem regardless of if they have an online component or not.

Not-for-profit colleges that have an online component are just fine. Many, many state schools and top universities have a way for students to take a couple classes online (if not their entire degree). There’s no way for your employer to find out that you took Organic Chem online instead of in a classroom, and a degree from CU Boulder or Duke is a degree from CU Boulder or Duke, regardless of how you got it.

Any college is mostly for adults.

Online colleges are primarily for people who cannot attend regualr colleges because of scheduling, geography or poor academic performance. They should be looked at as a last resort if regular colleges are out of the question. Even a degree or certificate from a community college (which may be more affordable) will be better received by the majority of potential employers than an online degree.

@kippy Did you?

janbb no my cousin is

It has been my experience that online courses are harder than a normal sit in class. Attendance is based on how many times you post in a discussion area, and is part of the grade. A person has to be more descriptive, in order to explain their stand on an issue, whether it be in a compositon class, or an accounting class, and some classes are more concintrated than others. I took a computer class for 5.5 weeks and learned more than a friend who had the same class while going to the class room. She had to take a second class, to get the equivalent of what I had in 5.5 weeks. Also, it takes more motivation to spend the time in the online clasroom. My instructor is the screen monitor, not always a pic to look at and interact with. More distractions, because while in the virtual classroom, you want to go online and do something else other then read a textbook all day.

I personally like the online colllege experience. If I can’t sleep, I can log in and get my assignment done, hand it in, and go back to bed. In a real classroom, I have to wait to go the next class, to hand in my assignment. :)