Online degree programs

[CommunityEditor]

Residential universities have historically dismissed online education, but as society becomes more high-tech, the option of pursuing an education outside a traditional university has been gaining popularity.

Enrollment for online courses is projected to reach about 1.7 million U.S. students this year, more than three times those enrolled in 2002. The number of online students represents nearly 10 percent of the total students enrolled in postsecondary education nationwide, according to the reference book, released in fall 2006.

Industry leader
The University of Phoenix became the nation’s first university to offer online education in 1989.

The University of Phoenix has been successful because it has taken access to education to levels that a traditional experience can’t provide. Nearly 300,000 students are enrolled either online or at one of the 191 University of Phoenix locations in North America and Europe, university officials said.

“Online education allows a greater array of classes to be offered, because online classes aren’t bound by time and location,” Pepicello said. “In some cases, online education is an enhancer to class-size issues, because students who may not be able to physically attend class can attend class online.”

Unlike degree mills
Degree mills are fake universities that sell college diplomas, not an education.

Studies say that next to a home mortgage, a college degree is the second-most-expensive purchase people will make in their lifetimes. For this reason and others, selling fake degrees is big business.



Full article: http://www.navytimes.com/careers/col...olleges070305/

[CommunityEditor]

Don’t be fooled by ‘degree mills’ (http://www.navytimes.com/careers/col...egeSide070305/)