Online Degrees-
The Perfect Solution for Mom

For Vicki it was time to decide what she was going to do with the rest of her life. Her children were grown and her husband was well-entrenched in his career. After years of carting the kids to soccer practice, volunteering at various school activities, being there when her husband needed a supportive shoulder, she was ready to do something for herself. But what? Her former paralegal training was not sounding very exciting anymore, and the last thing she wanted to do was go back to college at 43 years old. Or did she?

Sure, going back to school as an adult is difficult and part of the problem is that we have an adult life with adult responsibilities.  We’re busy with work, family and community activities and have significant financial  responsibilities, making it harder to find the time or or the money to go back to school.  Not only that, adults learn differently than young people do, and the traditional college education is based on a pedagogical (child centered) learning model.

Enter the 21st century and the growing number of academic organizations taking to the 'Net and offering online degrees and adults are responding en masse. Now, getting a bachelor degree online is more realistic for many adults than going to a traditional “brick and mortar” school.  For instance, online schools usually offer “asynchronous” learning, which means you don’t have to show up at a specific place at a specific time. Instead, you go to class when your schedule allows.  And most programs that offer a bachelor degree online have accelerated programs, too. In fact, some degrees online can even be completed in just two years!  This drastically decreases the cost of education, and even more important than cost, minimizes the time school will disrupt the rest of you life.

Did You Know - Over a lifetime a degree holder can earn over $1 million in extra income (Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Surveys, March 1998, 1999, and 2000).

In today's job market it’s especially crucial to have a degree and set an example for employers who are emphasizing solid educational backgrounds. Working adults now have an option to get a degree that fits in their busy schedules. Plus, a bachelor degree online is a revolutionary way that encompasses technology and education and provides hassle free access which doesn’t require a person to travel and attend classes or pay out significant amounts of fees.

The Graying of American Students
Perhaps the most important advantage of getting a bachelor degree online is that most online programs are designed around adult learning principles. They recognize that adults who go back to school are motivated and disciplined. Adults are there because they want to be; they have specific goals they want to meet;, and they're not interested in wasting their time or money.

Adult students bring life experience and areas of expertise with them.  They regard instructors as peers who have expertise in a particular area. What's more, adults aren't as easily intimidated as their younger counterparts and are very likely to want a collaborative learning environment.

Adults also know how to learn independently.  They are skilled in finding and assimilating what they want and need to know but are not very patient with "learning for learning’s sake."  They prefer practical, applicable learning experiences. Adults also typically learn well in groups or teams.  Although this can be a challenge for an online accredited degree, most programs are designed to include group learning opportunities.  And these programs are innovative when it comes to technology. They use forums, chats and teleconferences to simulate face-to-face time.  Some programs will even have groups of students meet if possible to reinforce the group learning experience.

Now the ending to Vicki’s story is that she found a school offering a bachelor degree online in Library Sciences. The transitional role of the traditional library was an area she had become very interested in and where she had spent many hours volunteering. What’s more, the top school in the field had a very successful distance learning curriculum. Vicki was able to complete her degree in two years and will be starting a new job running the community library.

Like Vicki, for many adults, getting a bachelor degree online is a better option than getting the same degree at a brick and mortar school. By applying principles of adult learning, online educational programs have created a user-friendly way for many adults to complete a college education. Traditional schools are now beginning to discover what online universities have been saying all along...the quality of education received in the virtual classroom is just as good or maybe even better than in standard classroom settings. With mainstream higher education now jumping on the web based band wagon, it's not surprising that we are seeing even more online universities popping up every day.