What is the public perception of getting your college degree online?

I really think the public perception is shifting in regards to online degrees.
It makes more sense for people especially for those who also work.
And, more and more, bonifide schools offer on line courses. Our local junior college offers them on line and I’m sure many others do too.

My daughter is going through college on line from the local community college because she is a stay at home Mom, and she is very ill. As long as the place you choose has good credetials, getting your education online is fine.

Being there in person would be best because you would have more personal interaction, but my daughter says there are ‘forums” where the students can share ideas. Good Luck with your studies!!

Like basp, I think it’s becoming more mainstream than ever.

My mother received her MBA from the University of Phoenix online and she loved it as well! It was very convenient while she was working full-time.

I think for the right fields it is the logical “evolution” of learning. I am involved in hiring people, and depending on the major, I prefer people with online degrees because I know how much more discipline and determination you need to get them. (Provided of course you’re at one of the “reputable” schools like Phoenix, DeVry, Kaplan or NY).

I think many people still fail to realize the “qualities” a person must have, to successfully get a good degree online.

On the school side, I think they make a mistake in that they produce too many late-night commercials always emphasizing the wrong worthless degrees. Everyone knows that ITT’s Associate’s in Law Enforcement will get you a job at Humperding Inc. walking the nightly rounds at WalMart.

Other than that, people are starting to catch on. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to miss the experience of campus life.

I think an online degree from an intitution with a reputation is a very different thing that a degree from a place that only exists online. It’s difficult to accredit such an “institution.” Until I’d heard much more about the reputation of the institution, I wouldn’t trust a degree from it.

The reality is, regardless of the public’s perception of it, your competition (there probably are 100 other applicants) got their degree the usual way and, most probably, so did the hirer. Which one do you think he’s going to select?

@Mr_M -

Not always true. As you gain more experience, you will be judged more and more on the body of work you have produced, and less and less on the degree you have or where you got your degree. It’s what you do with that degree that matters…otherwise it’s just a piece of paper. And honestly, if a company would shoot you down simply because you didn’t go to a school they liked, it’s probably not a place you’d want to work anyway.

@KrystaElyse , you’re absolutely correct. I’m talking all else being even.

And it isn’t a question of the employer not liking the school. It’s an employer’s market, especially now. Someone might not even NEED a degree to get the position. I’ve had vacant positions like that. But even with that type of position, for every one resume I received withOUT a degree, there were 100 with degrees. For every one resume a company gets where the applicant went to an on-line school, there are 100 resumes where the applicant got it the usual way. THAT’s what one should be concerned about, more then the public perception IMHO.

@Mr_M – Ahh, ok, I see what you’re saying.

I’d really like to see what the person above said…

[mod says] Spam removed.

Ah… Gotcha

I guess if it is online degree vs high school grad or GED, it is a step in the right direction.

When the Ivy League schools start offering online degrees and correspondence courses (from which these likely evolved), then the mainstream will likely take note.

I guess there are many people who are not aware that just about every college and university either offers courses online or is preparing to offer courses online. There are so many variations on the theme that there is something for everyone. Many schools are offering blended and hybrid programs too. Schools are running out of real estate, there is really a point that a school has to stop adding desks to classrooms. Our world is wired and there is no way education can ignore what is happening in the way information is distributed among students and between faculties and students.

Earlier someone noted that online degrees do not have the same value or perception of value that traditional degrees carry; however, I think that is changing quickly. As more students experience the difference between taking a course in a 300 seat lecture hall at a time when the school could manage to have the hall for the professor versus signing in on their laptops at wherever they happen to be to hear or read the same lectures but with the added ability to pause and rewind the lecture, the more the public perception is changing. Instead of reaching 300 students during a class lecture, the professor can reach thousands. This is yet another way the masses can experience what only the privileged could be part of once upon a time.