Online degrees are college degrees earned through distance learning using the Internet or from any place where you can access the Internet through a computer. This is a great relief for students who want to obtain an academic degree without attending classes in a traditional campus.
The proliferation of colleges that offer online degrees or online education has been significant because students can earn associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from a variety of fields or courses even at the comfort of their homes and through flexible schedules.
Those who will benefit largely from distance learning or the proliferation of the availability of online education programs are people with physical disabilities, soldiers and full time employees who do not have time to go to a campus, those living in countries outside the US but wants to earn a degree from a US school, and parents who cannot just leave their homes.
Choice of Online College or University
The quality of online degrees and the distance education program mainly depends on the integrity of the school of your choice.
The selection of an accredited online college is a must to ensure that you are getting quality online education. In the United States, a school offering distance learning and accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) would be a good selection since DETC is recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
Distance Learning System
Online degrees usually offer programs that use different combinations of textbooks, video demonstrations, web base sources, PowerPoint presentations and a management system that allows you to be guided by course materials, discussions and assignments through the Internet.
Assignments for a particular online degree is just the same as those done when taking traditional college degree programs and include working on individual or group projects, writing papers, commenting on discussion forms, selective readings, having quizzes and long examinations.
Best Online University
One of the best school that offers online bachelor’s degree programs is Pace University which has a campus in New York City while the top performing online master’s degree programs are offered by Ferris State University, Washington State University, St. John’s University in New York and the University of Southern California.
USC is known for its online Engineering and information technology courses while Washington State University boasts of its online business course. Ferris State University offers excellent online nursing course while St. John’s online education course is the best in this field.