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As technology evolves, more and more colleges and universities are adding online degree programs to their offered courses. An online degree is becoming a popular option, as they are great for those who want to further their education but aren’t able to commit to – or don’t want – the full college or university experience.
There are many online degrees being offered by reputable institutions, but some are offered by shady institutions that are focused on the profit they make, not the education you receive. So, how can you, as a prospective student, make sure that the college or university you choose to provide your online degree will be a good investment of your time and money?
Here are 11 questions you should ask when looking at institutions that offer online degree programs.
Table of Contents
What is the University’s History?
Try to choose a university that has a long history to guarantee that your degree will have value. A school that has been around for a long time is more likely to provide you with a quality education and degree program, as they have been helping students achieve academic success for a long time. Fortunately, as the need for online degree programs increase, more and more traditional colleges and universities are offering them, so it’s worth researching them the same way you would an in-person degree.
If the course you’re interested in is only offered by relatively new institutions, make sure to research their relationships with other educational facilities and try to find out any successes of the alumni. It is a good idea to look at The Princeton Review and U.S. News and World Report’s annual Best Colleges rankings for insights on student satisfaction and key demographics of any institutions you are considering.
Is the University Regionally Accredited?
When a university is accredited that means that it has been recognized as a legitimate institution and you can be sure that these higher-level institutions will provide you with the best quality of education. Degrees earned at accredited universities will have more respect from potential employers than those earned with unaccredited schools.
You should also be aware that if you think you may consider transferring credits earned from an online degree to a traditional one somewhere down the line, you will not be able to if you have earned these credits with an unaccredited university.
Is it a “Real” University?
You need to be careful that the university you are considering is not a fake institution – and this is a big issue when it comes to online degree courses. They will just take your money and not give you the proper education you were trying to invest in. If you suspect this might be the case with one of the institutions you are looking at, make sure to do meticulous research into whether the university and its online course is the real deal. If you have any doubts, move on. If you’re attracted because they cost significantly less than the other universities, this should also be a red flag.
Use comparison sites like BestColleges.Com which will match you with genuine colleges and universities. You can also look at University Rankings to get a feel for the reputation of an institution but be aware that this may not include top universities for online courses, especially if their online degrees are more recently established.
Is the University Honest with Their Marketing and Recruiting?
There is information that should, as a rule, be readily available to the public when choosing a university, such as tuition costs, extra fees, accreditation, job placement records, and anything else a student may wish to know.
Accredited universities are very upfront with this sort of information. If you find that you have to work hard to access this basic information from an institution, it is likely a signal that they have something to hide. Don’t even bother wasting time to try and find out this information from employees at the institution, they will probably avoid giving it to you and it will not be the sort of place you will want to be associated with.
Accredited universities will be confident that this information are big selling points for their institutions and programs and will be happy to provide you with any information you may need to make your choice of who you want to study with, they just want to help you make the best decision for your future. Marketing how good they are is fine, trying to sell you on them for their discounted rates is not.
Does the University Provide Academic and Technical Support?
You need to be sure that the university provides a strong support team, such as online tutors and student advisors, that will give you any academic support you may need, whenever you may need it to keep you on the right track. You want to know that you, as an online student, will have the same access to support regarding study and career prospects as on-campus students.
You also want to know that the institution will help you out if you are having technical difficulties at any time, through methods such as live chat, phone, or email. If they don’t do this, you can be fairly certain that they do not care as much about the education of their online students and you can disregard this university as an option for you. You don’t want to risk throwing your money, time, and education away based on constant technical difficulties.
Does the University Provide Financial Aid?
Online degree programs are generally not as expensive as traditional ones, but you may still need financial help so you should find out what the school can do for you. One of the benefits of an online degree is that you should be able to avoid the huge amount of student debt a three- or four-year in-person degree incurs.
Is the University in a Good Financial Position?
Try to avoid universities that are having financial issues. You should be able to recognize this if they haven’t shared any of their financial data, if there have been rumors in news outlets, or they have a lack of credentials previous to when they were set up.
If a university has strong relationships or partnerships with respected institutions, you can be fairly certain that they are in a good position and will pose no threat to you down the line.
Do They Teach Up-to-Date Material?
You might find that some universities are offering online courses with old, stale material that will leave you behind others in your field of study, giving you lower prospects when it comes to starting a career. Where possible, find out which textbooks or sources of information are used for study and discover whether they are reputable and up-to-date academically.
The best online programs are likely to be partnered with award-winning courseware providers to give you the latest information to learn from and technologies to use. This will give you greater success in your education and your career further down the road.
How are Their Online Programs Taught?
Choose a university that uses technology that will work best for you. How interactive will your online course be? Will you get to communicate and collaborate with other students? You may get answers to these questions by just reading through the course information and content, but seek out information from past online students, if you can.
Who Teaches Their Online Degree Programs?
You want to learn from the best. Research the faculty members at the university you are considering and make sure that at least a majority of the staff has a doctorate or the highest possible level of education in their field. This will show that it is a very academically strong school that will provide you with the best possible education. These educators will also be the ones who are passionate about their specialty and will want to share their vast knowledge with you to expand your thinking.
Do the University’s Online Courses Have Good Track Records?
As you can imagine, a good, accredited university will have a history of high graduation rates, but they will also have high retention rates. This means that the school is successful in engaging its students so that they will stay from freshman year right through to graduation.
If you do your research and find that a large number are dropping out or transferring universities during or after their first year this is not an institution you should even consider. Yes, some of these drop-outs may not have been academically strong or just hard to please and wouldn’t have been happy at any university, but it is much more likely to be down to the fact that the online program or whole institution is of low quality and did not give them a proper education.
Make sure to consider all of these questions before deciding on a university to provide your online course, and you are sure to make the right choice for a prosperous future in a career you love!