| If you're thinking about going back to school or | | | | It'll be the same academic level but you have so |
| getting an education to further your career right now | | | | much more flexibility. |
| or to start a new career or just be eligible for more | | | | Some universities or colleges or other schools may |
| jobs in the current economy, you may be thinking | | | | require you to attend an opening or closing class or |
| about getting an online degree or certificate. There | | | | both. But spend the rest of the time doing your |
| are many advantages to getting an online degree. | | | | coursework online. But many do not require any |
| One advantage to distance learning is you can take a | | | | attendance. |
| lot more credit hours in the same amount of time | | | | If you plan to go to graduate school make sure to |
| that you would be taking an on-campus course | | | | check with the online school to make sure that you'll |
| curriculum. | | | | be able to transfer your credits. |
| Most traditional colleges and universities allow you | | | | There is plenty of financial aid available and federal |
| take up to 18 credits per year. But if you're taking | | | | financial aid. All the online universities offer financial aid |
| online courses you're usually allowed to take up to 27 | | | | just as the offline schools do. Additionally you can get |
| credits per year. If you have credits from college | | | | scholarships and grants and education loans are |
| classes you've already taken or had any professional | | | | available. So there are many ways to finance your |
| training or have taken the CLEP (College Level | | | | education and in some cases get it free through |
| Examination Program) and can transfer that in then | | | | scholarships and grants. |
| you can graduate a lot faster. | | | | So you can get an online degree much faster and |
| By doing this you can actually cut your time down to | | | | actually cheaper than an on-campus university or |
| 2-3 years or so. Even less if you're transferring | | | | college degree. You won't have the travel costs or |
| credits in. | | | | accommodation costs that you might incur for an |
| Of course you don't have to take your courses | | | | on-campus school. If you need to go cheap or free |
| within a certain time-frame either. You can spread | | | | there are many ways to do it with plenty of |
| them out, work full time and work on your online | | | | research. Check out all your options and check with |
| degree when you have time. The versatility of the | | | | each school to see what they have available and find |
| online degree programs make them wildly popular. | | | | the best online degree school for you. Financial aid |
| And you can take it over a few years if that's your | | | | officers often know about scholarships, grants and |
| desire also, whether associate, bachelor's, master's, | | | | programs that the general public does not. Make sure |
| MBA or doctorate. And all the well-known universities | | | | to check out the school thoroughly to make sure it's |
| like Duke, Harvard, Yale and others have programs | | | | accredited. You can do that through the U.S. |
| as well as schools that are not as well known like | | | | Department of Education. Do plenty of research and |
| University of Phoenix and Devry's. | | | | ask a lot of questions. You can get an online degree |
| You'll need to plan to spend the same amount of | | | | fast and possibly for a lot less money than you |
| time studying to complete assignments that you | | | | thought. |
| would if you were going to a brick and mortar school. | | | | |