| I got my Bachelor of Arts degree in communications | | | | compared to the costs of traditional classroom |
| after four years at a prestigious liberal arts college, | | | | learning. |
| and I shelled out around ten thousand dollars per | | | | Of course, lower cost is not the only attraction of |
| year for tuition even after subtracting grants and | | | | getting an online associate degree. The online |
| scholarships. Looking back, that was quite a big | | | | program also offers great flexibility in scheduling. That |
| expense, and I was not even taking into account my | | | | way, if you have a full time job or have young |
| room and board costs! But here's the rub: I could | | | | children at home, you can customize your program |
| have taken my degree online and saved a huge | | | | schedule to better fit your day. You have a lot of |
| amount of tuition--and still ended up with the right | | | | leeway on when to take classes and complete |
| educational credentials. | | | | assignments and tests. If you can only schedule an |
| I discovered a community college that was offering | | | | online class at midnight, you can adjust the program |
| various online courses, many of which could be used | | | | schedule accordingly. I know of no college that would |
| to complete credits towards a degree. The same | | | | hold traditional classes at such an hour. That may be |
| college was also offering online associate degree | | | | the only time of the day you can allot to class time, |
| programs. That piqued my interest, especially as the | | | | thus making an online degree program your only |
| online program cost only a few hundred dollars per | | | | viable option. |
| semester, since it was a community college and the | | | | An online associate degree program is just as |
| program did not make use of their classrooms. From | | | | challenging as the classroom course. It is important to |
| their point of view, that meant a classroom could be | | | | take it seriously and keep yourself motivated about |
| freed up for some other course, saving them money | | | | completing your degree. It is easy to get caught up |
| and thus accounting for the lower cost of the online | | | | in your work and family life to the point that your |
| program. The community college would still have a | | | | progress on your degree ends up suffering. This is |
| professor on their payroll to supervise the curriculum, | | | | especially true when you are the one setting your |
| assign readings and give exams. Nevertheless, the | | | | schedule of classes. But stay on course, and you will |
| online program came out as more affordable for both | | | | end up with the best of both worlds: a finished |
| the college and the students taking it, when | | | | degree and no undue change to your current lifestyle. |