The University Guide

Archive for March, 2010

With the wide range of opportunity available to obtain an online degree, it almost doesn’t make sense to go to a university or college. Of course online courses will never be able to match the full immersion that an actual insitution can offer, but for someone who is working, or tied down with other commitments, it can open doors that where closed before.

Whether you need to upgrade your education for a promotion at work, or to even just get the job that you want, an online education might be right for you. It’s generally more affordable and most importantly flexible then a competing course at a university or college.

Online universities are striving constantly to become more reputable, and to offer courses in competitive fields. Keeping that in mind, the entrance requirements are typically the same for both online & offline.

A typical online degree can be completed in about 3 years, but of course that varies on how much commitment you give to the course, and also if you have any previous credits that are applicable. One of the most important things to do when considering out on the path of an online education is to do your research! Research both the history of the school, as well as the current reputation, and if the degree you will obtain will be recognized for what it is you need down the road. There has been instances in the past where some online institutions have basically just been selling degrees, which can lead to several problems such as: Loss of jobs, and involvement with authorities.

Keep a level head on your shoulders, do your homework, and you will make out just fine!

Did you know that the word “college”, as in one definition supplied by Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate dictionary, is “a group of persons considered by law to be a unit.”

That’s easy enough to take in. I doubt that anyone would find much disagreement with that statement. However, there are differences in colleges — often very pronounced differences — in curriculum, based on traditional approaches to learning vs. more unconventional, or unstructured styles.

Ever since the times of the philosopher and educator, Rousseau, questioned the theory that education is not the imparting of knowledge but the drawing out of what is already in the student,
there have been both types of higher institutions of learning.

While a number of educational theorists have stressed the benefits of an unstructured or “open” educational environment, others assert that a highly structured learning experience is most likely to produce better educational success.

So, the question becomes, can student interest alone supply a structure for higher education, or must it be imposed by an educator?

Welcome to the debate that continues today, and, if current trends are any indication, they will continue. The good thing is that this is not an official “argument” among educators by any means; there are simply differently recognized ways of learning while also enjoying the college social environment.

Some research has suggested that students learn more if they are actively engaged with the material they are studying. This self-paced kind of curriculum conconsists of website learning, independent study, and mock “on-the-job” scenarios, which include students actively participating in the given material.

By contrast, much can be said of the traditional side of higher learning, in which students, though always encouraged to participate in classroom discussions or events, are largely listening, absorbing, and taking notes on what the instructor is teaching.

The styles are so widely varied, even in subcategories of each module, because educators have learned this for certain: To help college students learn, they must be prepared to offer courses that are more “personality-driven” than the old one-room-schoolhouse plan. In effect, teachers and professors are also engaged in learning — learning more about how to best teach and prepare programs of study for individual students; a relatively fresh approach that considers not only SAT scores and entrance exams, but personality tests administered prior to entry.

The world of education, even on the higher learning level, is indeed changing, and if administrators want to bump up the dropout rate, they realize they must structure this “group of persons considered by law to be a unit” into a plethora of opportunities for learning.

And the great thing about this ongoing process is that students are far more involved in the “style” of education they receive; it has become a world of “student centered learning,” as opposed to “teacher-centered.”

In either case, you can certainly rest assured there will always be a need for teachers — those who have studied extremely hard to then take upon themselves a position of great virtue, courage, and hard work.

Requirements for licensing and/or authorization for educational institutions vary from state to state in the United States. Most states require that a learning institution be certified, authorized and/or accredited in order to award degrees to students. There are some schools out there that do not meet these requirements. In fact, there are several levels of fraud found in some educational programs and “schools.” They range from using the student’s work history as the “learning” period that earned the degree to simply selling diplomas. These “diploma mills” have been around for decades. Online degrees programs like Degrees-R-Us promise a bachelor’s, masters or doctoral degree in about 10 days. (There is a higher tuition fee if you want to graduate with honors!)

Now, however, there are some states (Oregon, Iowa, and South Dakota) that are cracking down on schools within their borders that grant degrees without any type of approval and legitimate accreditation. There are also some states (Wyoming, Montana, and Hawaii) that allow unaccredited universities to do business as long as they have a physical presence in the state. The problem is that when a state does pass legislation that requires accreditation, those schools simply change addresses (when you don’t have a campus, it’s not that difficult to move). The question of jurisdiction also comes into play. If the institution has an address in one state but sends out degrees from another state, then which state is responsible for it?

For this reason, the most important thing to check out before you begin any kind of distance learning program is the accreditation the school has, or claims to have. Simply having a statement about being “licensed by the state” isn’t an accreditation and may not mean anything at all. There have been many violators that claim accreditation from agencies that either don’t exist, have been created by the school itself, or are legitimate agencies but have no record of accreditation for the school. Students who are enrolled or have completed degrees from schools that are not accredited have wasted a lot of time, money, and effort on a degree that may be rejected by potential employers. Credits from schools that are not accredited cannot be transferred to other universities.

There are several state-based and regional accrediting bodies. Each is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
To find out whether the school is truly accredited, contact the appropriate State Department of Higher Education.

Tribulations with non-accredited schools

Some of these violators have been awarding diplomas and degrees for decades. Courts that have shut them down have cited problems like:

• Too few qualified faculty members to maintain the number of students or level of education
• Too much credit given for previous life and work experience without properly determining the actual level of knowledge
• Not having course objectives
• Awarding PhDs to students who haven’t performed the type of research and analysis typically required of such a degree

Basically, the problem relates to the schools having substandard requirements for earned degrees. Some programs even allow students to earn masters or doctoral degrees without having first earned a bachelors degree.

The Best of the Practices

The best bet is to stick with a known, reputable university or college that is offering accredited degrees. That school’s reputation will be at stake so it is more likely to have the same quality online as offline. Of course, there are some good programs from universities that are strictly online. According to an article by a former student at the University of Phoenix Online, many students feel as connected with other students as they would if they were on a campus attending classes in the traditional way.