A lot of people choose online degree for variety of reasons, which including personal fulfillment, career advancement, and love of learning. If you want a degree that's taken seriously in the workplace or help in your career advancement, you need to consider two factors when choose your online degree program. First, make sure you choose an online university or college that has the proper regional accreditation. Second, if you expect to get a promotion in your workplace after completing your degree program, make sure that you choose a program that is appropriate for your workplace situation.
If you want a degree that'll look good on resumes and be accepted without question, follow these simple guidelines when selecting an online university or college:
1. Make sure the university has the proper regional accreditation
When an online university is accredited, it means that it has passed or surpassed a set of nationally recognized standards for its teaching process. Many employers are more opt to hire graduate from an accredited online university. The rule of thumb, select an online university which is accredited by regional accreditation agency will ensure you have a worthy degree accepted by most employers; regional accreditation is the highest level of accreditation a university can obtain and is recognized throughout the United States.
2. Try to find an Online University that has an active physical campus
More and more employers are recognizing the validity of online education. However, be aware that it is not completely accepted by all employers. Some potential employers may see warning signs if you announce that you earned your degree through the internet. A lot of employers are still ignorant of the advances online education has made in recent years and fail to recognize the difference between legitimate degrees and "diploma mill" certificates. Hence, taking online courses from a "regular" school that just happens to have a few online programs is an easy way to avoid concerns.
3. Check out the online university's track record
Internet has made easy for people to search for information, use this benefit to do some research and get as much as information on the online universities you are considering. Searching on the education news databases, message boards that discuss the universities you are considering, this will gives you some good information on the positive and negative feedbacks of the universities. Try to talk to current and former online students will help you avoid universities that seem to be having an unusual number of problems.
4. Make sure the school has a regularly open office
When you use your degree to apply for a job position, the employer may double check your record, an office staffed with competent employees can put their fears to rest and assure them of your degree's validity.
In Summary
It's important that you get your online degree from an online university which is well recognized in the job market, so that you can earn a degree that value the most and that will look good on resumes and be accepted by employer without any question.