Students enroll in online schools for advanced degrees

Students are now trying to earn their degrees from online schools. The cost is significantly less and the schedule is flexible. Will it pay off?

An increasing number of students are deciding to earn their degree online. Online schools such as Kaplan University and Jones International University allow students to earn their degree completely online without ever having to step foot in a classroom. Many say this innovation has allowed students to manage both school and other responsibilities that they may have, such as work, family, or travel. However, many employers show their apprehensiveness to schools that have very little reputation and do not allow students to gain the experience that they need. In 2000, Michael Mahony who is earning his degree online in executive communications, said that the interaction he received from earning his graduate degree online was more than he had ever received during his undergraduate years of on campus learning. He also explained that this online program allowed him to plan on finishing his degree in 2002. Though Mr. Mahony's online education allowed him to interact with students and finish his degree much faster, will it get him a job? Are his online credentials sufficient to match him up with his competitors who have earned their degree on campus at a "reputable" university? Bill Funk, a managing director in the Dallas office of Korn Ferry International, said no. He explained that a degree from a more established university like Yale or Duke, would take precedent over a degree earned "...from a lesser known online school".[1] Even Andrew C. Peskoe, a hiring partner at Golenbock, Eiseman, Assor & Bell, a law firm based in Manhattan, explained how questionable law schools without reputations are and the emphasis that most lawyers place on in-class interaction. The New York Times has said that it may be hard to focus on your education when there is no professor to motivate you to do your work. Students may find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of responsibility they have, completing their education on their own. On the other hand, Ms. Wright-Jukes of Durham, N.C., who was also earning her degree online explained how strictly focused an online education can be. Her daily routine consisted of getting up at 3 a.m. signing into her online classroom and interacting with her classmates, completing all of this before she would get her sons dressed for school. The cost of her degree from Jones International University online was ten thousand, five hundred dollars compared to the sky rocketing price of tradition universities which ranges from about forty thousand to ninety thousand dollars. So with all the benefits of earning online degrees, are they as inefficient as law firms and other companies say? Many established schools such as the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Illinois, MIT, and UC Berkley are getting involved in the online education business, offering courses and even entire degrees fully online. As for not being motivated to do work, with a class of usually twenty-five students online, professors have more time to focus on each individual student, which is not quite possible for an instructor who has about two hundred students in each lecture class on campus. [1]http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5DA133BF93AA25752C1A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1