Distance Learning: Sorting Through the Crap

There are so many options for online degrees that it can be difficult to find the program that's right for you. So the first step you have to take is to decide what you'd like to accomplish by getting your degree.

What kind of job do you want to get after you earn your degree? What are your skills, interests and aspirations? Deciding which major of study is right for you is a great way to narrow down the vast range of options in online degree programs. Consider not only potential salary, but also what you do in your free time. What are you passionate about? Remember: if you do what you love, the money will follow!

The next decision you have to make is in regard to the type of school you'd like to earn your degree from. Does the prestige of the school's name matter to you? Or do you simply need a degree to advance in your job, and would like to do so as inexpensively as possible?

If you are concerned about earning your degree from a college or university with a recognizable and respected name, then you might consider the stellar Distance Education program offered through Pennsylvania State University (www.worldcampus.psu.edu). Their course offerings are vast, and you'll graduate with a degree identical to that which an on-campus student receives.

Boston University (www.budegree.info/index.htm) offers an Executive Bachelor's Degree Completion Program to those individuals who have at least 64 credits toward their undergraduate degree and would like to complete their studies. If you're willing to pay for the convenience of completing your degree online and would like to do so through a world-renowned institution of higher learning, then Boston University might be the place for you. Again, the degree with which you graduate will be exactly the same as that which an on-campus student would receive.

If an undergraduate degree in a Business program interests you, then your best option is the distance learning program offered through UMass Amhert's Isenberg School of Management. (www.isenberg.umass.edu/underg rad/Online_Degree_Program/). The program itself is highly respected, and you will graduate with a degree that an employer will recognize and value.

If the name and prestige of a school are of no importance to you, and you'd like simply to earn a degree through a credible program as inexpensively as possible, then the options are legion. Any of the programs advertised on the left of this page are worth looking into. Try specifying the degree program and major you'd be interested in pursuing, and search for the right program that way.

You might also try looking over the advice on a resource such as the Princeton Review online. (www.princetonreview.com/col lege/research/articles/distanc e/distance_select.asp). An objective and trusted third party like the Princeton Review is useful when sorting through all the various options for online and distance learning.

The bottom line is that you have to find the program that will teach you what you want to learn, and will get you a degree that the world will respect and value.

Good luck finding the right program for you!

Because we all gotta make that money and drive that '92 Toyota Corolla! Holla!