When you hear the word, “higher education”, you mostly think of colleges and sprawling university campuses teeming with college students and hurrying professors. But that’s changing.
In today’s world of information and connectivity, more students prefer to take online degree programs because of the flexibility it offers to their lives. First off, they can be financially independent and can even fund their online degree programs. As a student, you can work anywhere full-time and fund your college degree, so at the end of four years, you have a degree and no student loan.
The other advantage is students can choose the degree they want from virtually any school/university in any part of the world. Geographical boundaries are no longer a hindrance when you opt for these online degree programs.
Third and the most important of them all – online degrees have greater acceptability than before and this means, you have the same opportunity as that of a person who has studied in a university.
Let’s look a bit deeper into this third point because historically, opponents of online degree programs have always questioned its acceptability.
Employers’ perception
Employers perception of online degrees is changing. Gone are the days when only a traditional degree was considered to be an entry point for employment. Today, recruiters are finding candidates from online universities also appealing because during the four years they have not only learned the basics of their course but at the same time, have enough hands-on experience, even if this experience is in a different field.
Such a combination makes candidates more aware of the outside world and gives them a sense of confidence that seems to be missing in many of the students who graduate from a traditional college setup.
Quality of offering
One of the reasons for recruiters to prefer graduates from a traditional college is their depth of knowledge. Since a college is well-established and has well-trained faculties and state of the art facilities, they are more likely to be aware of the basic tenets of their respective discipline.
But today, online universities have stepped up the quality of their course offering and many of them are on par with what is being taught in colleges. Take the case of a program called Masters in School Counseling by St.Bonaventure University Online. A quick glance at the contents of the course shows that it is as good as any degree offered in a traditional setup.
This example alone goes to prove that the difference is diminishing when you compare the quality of education offered, and this means, recruiters see graduates of both traditional and online universities as the same in terms of their knowledge.
The other big reason for the acceptability of online degree programs is the reduced financial burden. Today, many students are grappling with student loans even before they graduate and this impacts their mental development. So, when students come with little to no financial burden, they are a much happier bunch, from a recruiter’s perspective.