Sunday, April 29, 2007

A Guide To Online Degrees – Types of Online Degrees

By: Jullie Harvard

There are various types of online degrees. As the job market demand increase and more employers are accepting and recognizing the degrees earn through online study these days, more and more universities are opening their degree programs online and they cover nearly every subject taught in traditional face-to-face learning environment.

Let review some of common degree types:

Business Degrees

If you are considering a degree in business field, you could consider degrees in Marketing, Human Resources and Management, E-business, Banking, Acquisition and Contract Management, Business, Finance, Legal Studies, and so forth.

Basically, there are 4 areas of business degrees which you can consider based on your interest.

  • Sales - In sales your focus is to connect and build relationships with consumers. You can consider a general business administration degree with concentration in area such as marketing and customer relationship management (CRM); or you can choose the specify degree that related to sales such as marketing degree, travel and hospitality degree, advertising & etc.
  • Retailing - refers to the specific act of selling directly to the customer. To be success in this field, you should have knowledge in understanding consumer behavior and needs, communication, problem solving, product evaluation and feedback. Any business degree with specialization in these areas can be your choice.
  • Health Care - Business oriented health care reforms handle the new demands of increased costs, human resource logistics, diverse economic considerations for patients, and insurance regulations.
  • Nonprofit Organization - Non-profit organizations need qualified business professionals to make the programs work, to service consumers and investors, and to uphold responsible financial management practices.

Arts Degrees

If you are interest in arts fields, you may want to look into arts degrees like professional accounting, acquisition and contract management, database tech, general studies, marketing, information systems, economics, network and security tech in either Internetworking or computers, and business administration. An arts degree open up a variety of career possibilities, almost half of all job vacancies available to new graduates are open to students with arts degrees. Hence, earning an arts degree can lead you to a brighter career future.

Education Degrees

If you are interested in teaching, then an education degree can be your option. The education degrees will provide you the advantage of working in private and public schools. Education degrees have various specializations such as school administration, education leadership, curriculum and instruction. You can select an area of your interest. If you are looking for a degree which can provide you teaching licensure, ensure your selected education degree has this package.

Computer Degrees

Earning a degree in Computer Networking Engineering will help you to use your human skills, including thinking critical and putting things in logical perspective. Whereas, computer networks management enable you to gain knowledge in problem solving and critical thinking patterns and internet technology.

Engineering Degrees

Engineering degrees include electronic & electrical engineering, bioengineering, chemical engineering, software engineering & etc. For example, you can find many options in electrical engineering degree program; those options are more than enough for you to find a job in a field of your choice.

In Summary

Almost all degrees offered in class-based universities are available online. These degrees cover about all the subjects in traditional study fields. Some degrees are offered the program entirely online (100%) whereas others may need some hours of physical classes or lab works.

About the Author:

Jullie Harvard is the author of http://www.studykiosk.com. This site featured over 120 online universities and you can get more information on over 1000 of Accredited Online Degree Program at this site.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie_Harvard

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Has Online Education Reached A Plateau?

Online college courses are more popular than ever, with enrollment reaching a record high in 2006, according to a report released by the Sloan Consortium. The report, entitled "Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006" gives the results of a recent study based on responses from more than 2,200 colleges and universities across the U.S. You can read the full text of the report at www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/index.asp.

In recent years online enrollment grew at a much faster rate than the general college student body. But last year's Sloan report showed a lower percentage rate of growth, prompting speculation that growth in online courses has started to level off.

Those concerns were proven groundless with the release of this year's report, which shows no indication of a plateau in the growth of online enrollments. More than 3.2 million students took at least one online course in the 2005-2006 school year. This record enrollment is a whopping increase of over 800,000 more than the 2.3 million online students the year before.

The report brings some other interesting facts to light:

  • Online students are generally older than the more traditional student, and are often working adults with family responsibilities.
  • The majority of online students are undergraduates, although the proportion of online graduate students is a bit higher in comparison to the overall higher education population.
  • More than 96 percent of the very largest institutions with 15,000 or more total enrollment offer online courses. This level of enrollment is more than twice the rate of the smallest institutions.
  • About 2/3 of the very largest schools have fully online programs versus about 1/6 of the smallest institutions.
  • 62 percent of chief academic officers believe that the quality of online instruction is equal to or superior to that of face-to-face learning.
  • While a majority of chief academic officers believe online courses are high quality, only 4.6 % of chief academic officers thought there are no significant barriers to widespread adoption of online learning.
  • 2/3 of academic leaders believe a lack of discipline on the part of online students is a critical barrier to online learning.
  • Barriers to online learning include faculty issues, with the acceptance of online learning and the need for greater time and effort required for teaching online as important barriers. On the other hand neither a perceived lack of demand on the part of potential students nor the acceptance of an online degree by potential employers was seen as a critical barrier.

With a record online enrollment growth on a numeric and percentage basis, any fears that online enrollment levels are leveling off can be laid to rest. Each year, ever increasing numbers of students are finding that online courses are an integral part of their learning experience. And while the rate of increase is sure to eventually slow at some point, it appears that online education is here to stay.

Students considering taking online courses need to be aware of these and other challenges, and be prepared to meet them in order to be successful online. If any challenge seems insurmountable, the student should reconsider the online option and perhaps take a traditional ground-based course instead.

Jesse Whitehead earned his B.S. in Business Administration from an online university in 2005. For more information about online education click here

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jesse_Whitehead

Thursday, December 07, 2006

How Do Employers View an Online Degree?

By: Harris Jhosta

If you considering pursuing an online course of study, there are probably several major questions on your mind. Most likely, the biggest of these questions is how will your current or future employer view an online degree. Although there is no clear cut answer to this question, there are several major factors you can take into consideration. It is important that you take the time to thoroughly consider and understand all of these factors.

The first factor that you need to take into consideration is the generation gap. The generation gap refers to the distance between generations. For example, if you are a twenty-five year old, there is an obvious gap between you and someone that is fifty-five. The generation gap applies to online education in the way that older generations view the internet and anything that is part of it. For some older generations, they do not actually understand the internet or what it can do, and therefore they are threatened or even almost afraid of it. For this reason, they may view something like online degrees as trivial or not even legitimate. Although this may seem like a major problem, it is probably not as bad as you may think.

The generation gap factor actually leads into the second factor that you need to take into consideration when taking a look at how employers view an online degree. The second factor that you need to be aware of is accreditation. Accreditation is what separates legitimate online education programs from scams that are worth more than taking your money. It is vitally important that you choose an online degree program that is accredited. By choosing an accredited degree, you can ensure that you are investing your time and resources into the correct program. Now, you may be asking yourself how the generation gap and accreditation are related. Accreditation is one factor that can help ease the worries of members of older generations. An accredited program allows an employer to look at the program of study that you followed to earn your online degree. By having access to this information, an employer (even one that is a member of an older generation) can see that the online education you received was just as valuable as the education that someone attending a four-year college or university receives.

When determining how an employer views an online degree, the final factor you need to take into consideration is your own performance. This factor is arguably the most important of all the factors that have been discussed. When an employer is evaluating your online degree, once they get over any initial apprehension that your degree was obtained via the internet, they will be scrutinizing your personal performance in your program of study. Just as they would look at someone’s grades at an actual four-year, your employer will be very interested in how well you did in the courses you took in order to obtain your degree. Therefore, it is very important to take your online education very seriously. It is not enough just to obtain an online degree, it is necessary that you excel in the program that you study. By performing to the best of your ability, your employer will see that you are a committed individual that takes important things seriously.

As you can see, there are quite a few factors that impact how an employer will view your online degree. Although there is not a specific answer, as long as you choose an accredited online program and take your online education seriously, any employer that reviews your resume will give your online degree the same respect that they give to a degree obtained from a four-year institution.

Harris Jhosta is holding the market experience of IT industry and immense business solutions for about 2 decades now. His vast experience in the related field gave him the acclamation and renown ship in many sectors of business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harris_Jhosta

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Types of Online Degrees

By: Sharon Greenslade

Popular online degrees for undergraduates and postgraduate qualifications are growing all the time. Online degrees can be obtained in various fields from business fields to computer science and many more. Regulations and enforcements by employers around the world are requiring that employees have official degrees that employees continue to upgrade and update their education so they are familiar with the latest information in their industry and in their field. Also online colleges and universities continue to meet the regulations and requirements for educators and for advancement in careers at the same time.

Various Type of Online Qualifications:

  • Some examples of online qualifications are listed below: Online Certificates
  • Online bachelor degrees
  • Masters (Different from MBA as this is more specialize
  • Master of Business Administration

Business Degrees Expanding Online:

The field of Business is quite broad ranging from accounting to management and so business degrees continue to outrank all other types of certificates and degrees for the online student, both in undergraduate and in postgraduate work. There is a large scope for online business majors including those in business administration, business management, business leadership, business & project management, information systems management, business finance, business technology management, entrepreneurship & business, human resources and business, and international / global degrees.

What Type of Qualification should you choose:

While it can be difficult to determine just which types of majors are associated with success, the personal choice should ultimately be one that you are truly interested in pursuing for your career. Distance education has been occurring long before the use of the Internet, through the mail system. As major colleges and universities offer individuals with careers and families methods for adding to their education and skill levels, the use of technology and the internet brought a new level the to words distance learning. The most popular online courses that are offered include that of the online graduate degrees, the Masters of Business Administration (the MBA) as many business owners, high end management and career professionals require ongoing education, but also a flexible form of study that can understand busy work schedules.

Find more about buy a degree Programs and cheap degree programs.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

How to get financial aid for your online education?

By: Mansi Gupta

Time has changed and over the years education is no more restricted to pen, paper, classrooms, blackboards etc. Today when time is deemed to be more crucial than money and people in even in remote corners of the world crave to acquire education and its benefits, online education has definitely come up as a desired boon.

Online education is education via the medium of Internet that can be gained synchronously or asynchronously. At present online education is far superior from the conventional mode of learning (i.e. going to universities, attending classes and so forth) in many ways. Online education is not just a means to make judicious use of time but it is also acquiring the best possible degree in academics anytime anywhere.

Though merits of online education outweigh the classroom education in many respects, its greatest drawback is its cost. Online education is significantly expensive in comparison to usual university education. This is precisely the reason that every individual cannot dream of getting an online degree.

But with a surge in enticement for online education some universities imparting it have devised several ways to financially assist the aspirants. The foremost and ideal step in this direction is education loans and giving scholarships.

Whereas loan or arranging finance for online education is concerned the foremost step is to fill up your FASFA i.e. Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FASFA is an application published by the Department of Education. This application gives the aspirant an idea of the kind of funding he or she is eligible for. Once the application form is properly filled and sent, wait for the confirmation. Usually receiving a confirmation letter is a matter of one or two days. The confirmation letter will brief you about the kind and number of programs you meant for you. This process is quite simple and easy to follow.

After acquiring the confirmation letter, contact the Financial Aid office of the desired college/s. The financial aid officer there will explain you the various types of financial aid packages available that vary from work-study programs to government aid. He will lend you the requisite forms for different colleges. Finally it is at your discretion which college to opt for though the officer will definitely guide you in your selection.

Once the loan application is completed, it will be sent to the school for the process of verification and processing. Usually banks do not fund the students directly but via the concerned institution. The bank sends the money at the commencement of the session.

This is helpful to both the student and the institution.

Apart from loans there are scholarship programs such as the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit that offers a maximum 100% on the first $1000 and 50% on the second $1000 spent for educational purposes. Similarly the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, the Higher Education Tuition and Fees Deduction are other means to save money on your online educational expenses.

About the Author:

Mansi gupta recommends that you visit http://www.onlineuniversitylowdown.com/financial_aid/index.html for more information on online education financial aid.

Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/26999.html

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Online Education A Better Option for Businesses Than In-House Executive MBA Programs

By: Search for classes

Many businesses related companies offer executive MBA programs for their senior executives through an affiliation with a traditional university. While these programs are aimed at those who do not wish to take a break from their careers and enroll full time, they are certainly not exclusive in their purpose. With the popularity of online MBA programs on the rise, it seems only a matter of time before E-MBA programs will see a decline in number.

The main advantage of an executive MBA program is that working adults can use prior business experience toward their degree. While online programs traditionally do not accept past experiences as credit toward completion, a few make exceptions. At one time, E-MBA programs were the only way working executives could obtain an MBA without full time enrollment. Online offerings have presented many more options for those in this particular situation over the last several years. While the end result of either choice will likely be a good education for the postgraduate student, online offerings are a better choice for businesses.

When businesses affiliate with a university in order to offer an E-MBA program, they are essentially guaranteeing themselves of executives with the exact same learning experiences, aside from chosen concentrations. Because businesses are better served by having a multitude of executives with independent experiences that can be brought to the table versus a collective conscience that details one institutions instruction methods, many companies are opting for allowing their employees to enroll in the online MBA program of their own choice. The obvious immediate benefit is that businesses can utilize a variety of approaches when marketing, problem solving, or simply conducting company affairs.

Since the different curriculum and instruction can vary widely between one online institution and the next, there is a better chance that interaction between executives will result in the best possible ideas, solutions and policies. Additionally, online MBA programs afford executives the ability to interact with other students who come from diverse backgrounds both socially and in the job market as well. Executives must rely on their online counterparts for group projects instead of their co-workers, which is often the case in E-MBA programs. Having interactions with different students who hold differing experience levels and an unfamiliar point of view can provide enrichment and understanding that staying within a close knit group simply cannot. Businesses who value well rounded employees would do well to take note.

About The Author:

Start your Business Degree Online today at http://www.degreesinbusiness.com

Earn a degree online on our other site http://www.searchforclasses.com

Click here to get the latest education news http://sfcednews.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com