Though there are plenty of online business degrees available from a variety of reputable and accredited institutions it's also possible to design a "first-class online business education" outside more traditional learning systems, writes Coppyblogger's Sonia Simone.
According to Simone, when she first got the brilliant or insane idea (depending upon your point of view) to strike out on her own, leaving the safety of traditional employment far behind, she read voraciously, first and foremost much of the free information on the Internet.
Among resources she recollects during her personal quest were gurus like Dan Kennedy and Michael Port and tools like Personal MBA.
Of course, there were also the bloggers, including Brian Clark's own Copyblogger, Darren Rowse's Problogger and Seth Godin's blog.
Simone calculates a considerable amount of investment in both time and money went into her personal business education with the purchase and use of many books and other information products but says the same would have been true with a more traditional education.
Does she have a plaque to hang on her wall or a traditional diploma from an accredited school that she can use while trying to get a job? Nope. But she probably created a program more customized to her needs and interests than most available even from online universities.
When looking for an online business degree, consider what you are trying to accomplish. If you are seeking a degree to parlay into more traditional employment then be sure you receive a diploma from an accredited education facility but if knowledge alone is what you are after (for the purpose of starting a small business of your own, for example) consider designing your own course of study. The result could be priceless.