Posts published on July 27, 2010

Progress,Momentum,And Completion Aspects Of Online Degrees

Guest Blogger: Anna Miller

Online degrees have always been a working professional’s best friend, more so when they’re the only way to achieve a raise or facilitate a climb up the career ladder. Today however, even high school graduates are taking to this route for various reasons – some prefer to jump straight into the work arena after school since they don’t want to incur huge debts in trying to gain admission into a prestigious college; some want to gain some experience before they earn a degree; and others just want to take the most cost effective option and so choose to earn their degree online as it allows them to learn and earn at the same time.

Online degrees may not command the same level of respect as degrees from traditional colleges; even so, they’re similar in more than a few ways. If we were to compare students from both categories regarding their progress, momentum and completion aspects, we would see that:

Progress: depends more on the individual rather than the school they’ve enrolled in. So whether online or traditional, it’s the student who determines the amount of progress he or she is making when it comes to their degree. If they’re the studious kind, they tend to progress faster than their peers, and if they’re laidback, they take things as they come. Most schools allow students to pursue an accelerated degree and complete their course within four years, in three or less. This usually means taking more classes and cramming more papers than required into a term. The student may also have to forgo vacations and other social activities and spend more time with their nose to the grindstone. So any extra progress made is all on the part of the student and how motivated they are to complete the course at the earliest.

Momentum: is mainly set by the courses that the student has enrolled for and the staff members who conduct the courses – if the lessons are completed faster, the student has to keep pace or be left behind. In this regard, traditional schools have an edge over online schools because they set a faster pace than the latter. However, students of online schools do have the option to boost their momentum if they’re interested in finishing their degree, or just a particular subject, sooner.

Completion: While it’s true that a higher number of online degrees are left incomplete, traditional schools too have their share of dropouts for various reasons. However, online students generally have too many balls in the air, and in the juggling process, the degree ball gets dropped more often than not. Some students put their degree on hold when they’re pressed for time while others just forget about it as they get caught up in other aspects of life.

So while there’s not much of a difference between traditional students and online students in the progress, momentum and completion aspects of the degree they’ve chosen, online students do have to struggle harder than their regular counterparts, simply because they’re hindered by the lack of visible communication and real-time teacher-student and student-student interaction.

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This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degree . She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com