Over the last couple of years, it’s been hard to ignore the flurry of news reports detailing the fraught atmosphere on many college campuses. Undergraduate students may relish the opportunity to throw themselves into campus politics, but for older students working hard to earn their master’s degree, the overt and often hostile politics on display at many colleges can be a huge distraction and source of stress.
Online degree programs offer an alternate route to a master’s degree, one that avoids all of the fractious interactions that can blight college life.
Leading Universities Deliver First Rate Courses
As online learning becomes increasingly mainstream, the choice of courses on offer keeps growing. Leading colleges and universities around the world now offer a wide selection of robust bachelor and master degree courses.
Courses cater to students opting to study with an online master in liberal studies program, as well as to students who need to study more career focused programs like nursing, engineering, or computer science.
As all of the courses are accredited, the degrees are fully recognized by other higher learning institutions, which is important for any subsequent degree programs the student may wish to take, and for providing evidence of qualifications to prospective employers and licensing bodies.
Students Can Set their Own Schedule
An online degree is a flexible degree. Most courses are designed for part-time study, but some like the online master in liberal studies can be studied full-time. Many good online colleges and schools also offer rolling enrollment through the year, allowing students to begin the course when it’s most convenient for them.
Classes are delivered completely online so there’s no need to make long trips for any on-campus training, and students are free to set their own study schedules as long as they meet assignment deadlines.
The only exception is when a course uses synchronous classes. Synchronous classes are live classes as opposed to asynchronous classes, which are pre-recorded. Most programs deliver the bulk of their lectures asynchronously, but students may need to be present in an online classroom with their tutor and their peers on some occasions. Live classes are generally scheduled so that they don’t interfere with a student’s working day.
Online Programs Can Be a Better Financial Choice
Again, this depends on the course taken, but many students find that studying online is a more economical option that attending classes on campus.
A traditional degree program has two components that make up the bulk of study costs—tuition and accommodation. Since students don’t need to move to a college town, they won’t be faced with inflated accommodation costs.
Most courses are designed for part-time, and because of this students can continue to work a full-time job and keep their bills paid. Students can also apply for grants to cut their tuition costs.
Anyone wishing to learn more about online degrees can get further details from college and university websites, and for those who would like try an online course without making any financial commitment, many universities offer free MOOCS – massive online open courses – that give a good taste of online learning.
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