For many people, moving up the career ladder or landing the dream job requires a degree. But it is not always as simple as enrolling on a three- or four-year course. Some cannot afford to give up a job or move to a new part of the country or the world, while others have families and young children that their lives revolve around. More and more people are choosing to study online every year. Here are some advantages and disadvantages to help you decide if studying for a degree online is right for you:
Advantages
Costs
Generally speaking, the cost of studying a degree online is less than that of campus-based education. If you take into account the money you will save on travel, the fact that most of the materials you will use can be downloaded and that you can continue living with parents or in your current location rather than in pricey university halls of residence, online education is definitely cheaper.
Practicality
Studying a degree online is a good way to achieve your educational needs while not overly disrupting your day-to-day life. If you were to enrol for a full-time degree at a campus university, at best, you could hope to hold down a part-time job at the weekend. Studying online, on the other hand, lets you work at a pace suited to your lifestyle. For example, a student undertaking an online degree can happily juggle a full- or part-time job, and a parent will find it easier to deal with child-care arrangements and the school run.
Entry requirements
When compared with traditional university study, online degrees tend to take a more flexible attitude with the specific entry requirements for prospective students. Distance and online learning is generally thought of as a way to give people a second chance at education. Of course, if you are considering studying a degree online, it is certainly worth researching and enquiring about specific requirements.
Disadvantages
Face-to-face contact
You will not have any direct human contact with your university professors and lecturers while studying online. This lack of social interaction and networking opportunities may hinder certain degrees. For example, language students will find that it is not the same to learn French online as it is to learn French in France – when you study French in France, you become immersed in the environment and meet the native speakers, which just isn't possible when you learn online.
Prestige
In general, traditional campus education is respected more by employers. This is certainly something worth researching by contacting potential employers to ask if an online degree is held in lower regard than a traditional campus degree at their workplace.
Accreditation
It is without doubt worth checking that a course has been accredited by the correct body. Degrees are monitored by national and sometimes regional boards – it could prove to be a costly and wasteful mistake obtaining an unaccredited degree.