Competition for jobs has motivated professionals to augment their skill set with additional education. Other reasons for the surging enrollment in online colleges and universities include the fact that distance learning is far more convenient, cheaper and faster than traditional classroom-based education.

What are the Top Online Colleges?

If you are one of the millions of potential students who may be considering online education, here is a list of some of the top online colleges to choose from.

Kaplan University

Kaplan University is one of the most popular and largest accredited online colleges. It offers online bachelor’s, master’s, associates degrees, and certificate programs in many most in-demand professions. It also offers several financial options. By going to their website you will find information on financial aid, military aid and even employer reimbursement. The program emphasizes real world knowledge, making this university a great gateway to the future potential job market.

Ivy Bridge College

This online university is designed to have student attain their associates degree online with them and then they provide a smooth transferring process to continue education (such as attaining a bachelor’s degree) to their 100+ partner colleges and universities throughout the United States. They boast about their outstanding student support team that will help each student every step of the way.

University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix is the largest private college in North America with over 200 campuses. The curriculum is designed as a gateway to the workplace and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Some of the areas of study include: Business, Criminal Justice, Education, Human Services, Nursing and Health Care, Psychology, and Technology.

Walden University

This University was founded in 1971 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Walden University is accredited that offers bachelors, master’s MBA, and PhD degrees. The program is geared toward working professionals so they will not have to take time out of their busy schedule to continue their education. The university offers more than 60 accredited online degree programs with more than 300 specializations and concentrations.

Ashford University

This university is popular because it has lower tuition rates. Ashford allows you to share the college experience with other students and faculty from around the world. Its innovative and high-quality learning experience is perfect for students who want to complete their degree quickly and inexpensively.

Choosing Among the Online Universities

Each University or College has its own specialty or advantage. When choosing an online school be sure to have a clear idea what your needs are. Some ideas to think about are: accreditation, credit transfer, degree programs, cost, and financial aid. Hopefully, with this list of the top online colleges, you will be closer to finding the one online college that is right for you.

What Are Online Accredited Colleges?

Accreditation is a validation process by which institutions of higher learning are evaluated against a predetermined set of standards. The accreditation process for online degree programs is typically accomplished through peer reviews done by faculty from accredited institutions. The appointed faculty will evaluate the online accredited colleges by assessing the institutions’ mission, goals, objectives, student admission requirements, resources, the quality of faculty, and educational offerings.

In some countries accreditation is conducted by the government. In the United States accreditation is done by private non-governmental accrediting agencies. The only role the government currently plays in accreditation in the United States is to regulate the criteria the “reliable authorities” use to define the quality of higher education institutions.

Why Choose Accredited Online Schools?

Knowing if online accredited colleges you are paying a lot of money for are properly accredited, can save you a lot of heartache when looking for a job. For example, some online certificate programs that are non-accredited will not be recognized by employers as formal training for a specific profession.  In some cases, you may have to go back to school and retrain for your dream job.

Sometimes you may find the class credit will not transfer at a non-accredited school. It is also important to understand which online colleges and universities are accredited so you can identify “diploma mills”. Diploma mills are unaccredited institutions that award online degrees without properly qualifying them.

What To Look For When Choosing Online Accredited Colleges

The word “accredited” is a loose term many online universities use to attract new students. It is important to understand and look for proper terminology that can help identify the best online schools.

All accredited online colleges should freely communicate their accreditation to prospective students. After identifying if the school is accredited, one must also look for the accrediting agency.

It is not uncommon for some schools to be vague about accreditation by using words such as, “pursuing accreditation”, “chartered”, licensed or registered”, “recognized”, “authorized” and “approved”. If you see these phrases, it is important to do some more investigation on whether or not the “accredited online university” is indeed accredited. You may also want to check out the institution’s qualifications for accreditation.

How To Find A Reputable Accrediting Agency

An easy way to find out if the college in question has used a reputable accrediting agency is to check out whether it has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education by visiting their website ED.gov

http://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg4.html#Nationally%20Recognized

Another quick way to determine if the institution is accredited is by visiting the CHEA’S (Council for Higher Education Accreditation). Here you will find an international database in case you are interested in a college outside the United States.

A Final Word About Online Accredited Universities

So, here are some ideas on how to determine if a college online is accredited.  Many people each year are fooled by an institution’s deceptive wording. As a potential student, your first assignment is to take a closer look at the foundation of your education. If you want all your hard work to count, make sure you are enrolling in online accredited colleges before starting your pursuit of an associates, bachelor, masters or PhD online.

Reasons To Get Your Associates Degree Online

Flexibility

Time is of the essence. Many people have chosen to get an Associates Degree as a stepping-stone to getting their Bachelors, Masters or even Doctorate. It is not feasible for them to quit their jobs and conform to a typical daytime in-classroom school schedule. Online school allows you the opportunity to create your own schedule 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Personalized Programs and Coursework

There are hundreds of online classes for college. Not only can you tailor your education to work around your work schedule, but you can also choose from hundreds of teachers, class times, and subjects. You can literally create a personalized education in line with your future goals and timeline.

Technology

Gone are the days of lugging around huge textbooks in backpacks. Today you have high-speed World Wide Web at your fingertips. Everything online is done faster. Faster equals more productivity. It saves time to do research and write papers from the comfort of your home vs. driving to the library, searching for books, finding the correct information, taking notes, etc. There is also the writing and turning in papers, grades, feedback all done electronically as well.

Saves Money

Associates Degrees are typically a two year program. If it is a stepping stone to your higher education aspirations then why spend a bundle in a conventional classroom setting? Getting your degree online is like a cheaper version of a Junior College. Not only is the tuition cheaper in some cases, but you have less cost in textbooks, housing, transportation, parking fees, and meals when getting an Associates Degree online.

Adds Value to Your Resume

Not only does getting an online degree save time and money, but it can also make you money. By simply taking online courses to get you Associates Degree you can add value to your resume and possible increase your salary. In this fast-paced and extremely competitive society, it is nice to have an edge when it comes to the workplace. It will also serve as a base if you ever have to change careers, which many have done during difficult times in the economy.

The Best Reason To Get An Online Associates Degree

So, it seems that online education is the magic answer to the student who has the desire and drive, but has limited time. There are clearly five strong reasons to choose accredited online degree programs. Nowhere else can you get the flexibility, personalization, technology, and savings while adding value to your resume. It is for these benefits that getting your Associates Degree online instead of in the traditional classroom setting is a win-win.

Amazingly, online education grew by more than 20 percent from 2009 to 2010, which tells you all you need to know about students’ desire to take online classes for college.

Growing Trends

Some of the reasons for the growth include the desire for many adults to secure the bachelor’s and/or master’s degrees. With more competition than ever in the workplace, having these degrees is more important than ever, both in an effort to qualify for certain jobs and to always remain ‘one step ahead.’  Moreover, career advancement may hinge on either one of the aforementioned degrees, as many businesses now require such educational fortitude before they will acknowledge someone’s talents.

In terms of flexibility, there is nothing more convenient for working parents, and those trying to hold down part-and full-time jobs while going to school. Coinciding with those groups, there is now a growing respect for online colleges and universities in the workplace, whereas before it was often thought of as a slightly easier path than the traditional college experience.

Ranking the Best Online Schools

Despite the fact that many schools offer a plethora of degrees — and the tangible uptick in respect that accredited online degree programs now carry — it’s still invaluable to ensure that the program you choose has desirable attributes, separating it from ordinary online options.

Certainly, you want to ensure that your college has a strong, reputable online program. Students should also look for strong graduation rates, teacher reviews, cost flexibility and financial aid programs, and school credibility — in terms of accreditation, reputation and stature.

Following a thorough collection of data from qualified sources, using some of the key values noted above, and a handful more which factor into a quality online education, a group of institutions was established as being among the best online schools.

And The Best Schools Are …

Certainly there are instances where this does not apply to every single student, but taken as a whole, with given factors figured into the equation, these are generally accepted to be among the best online schools – Liberty University, Virginia College Online, Boston University, St. Leo College, Western Governors University, Colorado State University – Global Campus, Northeastern University, Full Sail University, Keiser University and Champlain College.

Others certainly worth mentioning are Kaplan University, University of Phoenix, Ashford University, American Intercontinental University, Post University, Arizona State University and Strayer University.

Even with those recommendations, however, it is always best to conduct your own research, to find what’s best for your needs. Every student has goals in mind, and needs vary greatly. Therefore, it’s imperative to take the time to research a handful of schools, and then pursue your education at the best online schools for you.

Three Great Online Certificate Program Options

A trio of terrific schools which offer a wealth of online certificate programs are Penn Foster Career School, Ashworth College and DeVry University.

Penn Foster offers approximately 30 degrees, while specializing in the medical field, fashion design and wedding planning/bridal consulting. Penn Foster is specifically geared toward preparing its students for jobs of today and tomorrow, while offering the training students need in a quick, efficient and affordable manner. As one of the top online certificate programs, Penn Foster’s academics are geared toward being job-focused, while offering training to hit the job market in vital fields, such as business, technology, health care and particular trades where growth is steadily rising.

Ashworth specializes in programs such as education, marketing, finance, computer technology, construction, business management, psychology and even a few unique fields, such as locksmithing and private investigation. Even better, all programs are fully accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council. One of Ashworth’s key benefits is speed. With classes that take as little as six weeks, and the dialed-in approach to deliver the specific skills needed to excel in a given field, Ashworth delivers many viable options for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

DeVry University emphasizes personal attention to help its students succeed through its online classes for college. Tying in with that theory, DeVry focuses heavily on current market needs, therefore delivering graduates from an accredited university who are ready to jump into the workplace and stay step-in-step with today’s challenging demands. DeVry offers five distinct colleges, ranging from Business & Management to Health Sciences to Media Arts & Technology, thereby giving opportunity to a wide variety of professions for its students to pursue. Once inside each of the colleges, a plethora of specific degrees exist, satisfying most interests of today’s college graduates.

All in all, the three schools noted above are terrific avenues to begin one’s career.

Financial Aid for Certificate Programs Taken Online

One misconception about online colleges is that there is no financial aid. That is simply not the case. Just like on-campus universities, many online programs feature scholarships and grants, thereby opening the door that much wider. In fact, the best online schools award more than 10,000 scholarships each year, totaling millions of dollars that are available to in-coming students. Student loans are available as well, and can be deferred while a degree is being obtained via online certificate programs.

Turning a seemingly never-ending quest into a choice between 2-3 quality programs, there are certain websites (directories) that specialize in sorting through the overload of online classes for college, making your life easier when deciding which way to go in pursuit of an online education.

Finding Accredited Online Degree Programs

The task of identifying the best online schools for your particular area of interest can be achieved relatively easily through following a couple of basic guidelines. While there are certainly several different ways to approach this task, any strategy you employ should incorporate the two steps mentioned below.

Maximizing Online Directories

By tapping into these collegiate directories, you can quickly narrow down your search for the particular program that fits your needs. While doing so, however, make sure to read student reviews, check out online scholarships and view college rankings, so you’re more familiar with the school of your choice. When reading reviews, make sure to scam past general comments that can apply to virtually any good program, and look for key phrases that make your program stand above others.

Even if you quickly identify a school that seems to satisfy all of your requirements in an online program, it’s always a good idea to check out a minimum of 3-4 scholastic options. That way, you can see what other schools have to offer, thereby enhancing what you hope to get out of your accredited online degree programs.

Keeping Your Major Options Open

Although slightly different than attending a four-year university on campus, there are still many students who wish to change their major/emphasis after taking a few courses. Certainly this is less common for adults in their 20′s or 30′s than 18-year-old freshmen touring a college campus for the first time. Nevertheless, it’s commonplace for someone to alter their career goals after becoming more and more familiar with their field of choice.

What happens more often than not is people take certain skills they pick up while heading in one direction, and slightly alter their view. The net result is they end up in a related, but still different field than they started. If this happens while working your way through an accredited online degree program, just know many others have done the same before, and many more will experience the same type of shift.

A Final Word About Accredited Online Programs

It goes without saying that the operative word used throughout this article is “accredited”. In order to guarantee that your hard work and financial investment into an online education pays off, you will need to first make sure that the online universities you are considering attending are accredited.

Accreditation should be, at a minimum, from the state’s governing body for educational institutions, and may also be from more specific organizations related to the professional field covered by the accredited online degree programs.

The rise in online education vs. traditional classroom learning can be accredited to the numerous positive qualities (pros) that online education offers. It is also important to note that online education is not without some drawbacks (cons). Below is an outline of some important pros and cons to take into account when deciding to take online classes for college.

Pros of Taking Online Classes for College

The top 4 pros for achieving an online education through accredited online degree programs are as follows:

Location

Number one is location. Nothing can be more convenient than being able to take a class in the comfort of your own home. With no commuting expenses and everything you need at home, one can save a bundle. The money saved from gas, food and shelter can be put to better use…. such as paying for tuition.

Pacing

The second is pacing. Online classes can be done at your own pace. For example, at The University of Phoenix, an online class can be completed in five weeks whereas at Penn Foster College, a class can be completed in approximately eight weeks. A flexible schedule makes this type of education very flexible for people who work.

Availability

The third pro is the availability of subject. Gone are the days when you choose a college only to later find out a specific subject is not offered. Now, one can choose from dozens of schools with hundreds of curricula.

Acceptance

The fourth pro is acceptance. Today, online degrees and certificates are accepted as readily as traditional degrees and certificates. One does not have to worry about an online education losing value once in the work place.

Cons of College Classes Online

Unfortunately, there are just as many cons for taking online classes for college vs. taking classes for college in the traditional classroom. The silver lining to these cons is the fact that some can be avoided.

Motivation

The first con is motivation. Unfortunately, some students are not self-motivated and fail to get work done on time. Without the constant support and encouragement from traditional classroom teaching, one may find themselves failing out of an online class. Online teachers do not have the time or means to support online students the way they do in a traditional classroom, which brings me to my second con.

Lack of Instructor Feedback

Just like the old saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind”, it is difficult to get questions and queries answered when many instructors are already burdened with campus classes, lectures and grading of their in-classroom students.

Isolation

The third con is isolation. Because online students spend most of their time on their personal computers, many students lack the benefits of classmate support and interpersonal relationships essential to learning.

Technology

The fourth con is technology. With the growth and changes in technology, it is difficult to keep up-to-date on the newest programs and software supporting some of these online college courses. One does not only have to deal with the learning curve of a new set of technological expectations, but also the learning curve of the instructor and class itself. It is also not uncommon for work submissions to be lost or deleted from school’s main servers.

It seems there are advantages and disadvantages to all types of learning. The important question is what type of environment will you excel in? In an era when time, money and happiness are of the essence, it makes sense that accredited online schools have gained considerable popularity. So, if you are in the market for advancing your career through education, consider the pros and cons of online classes for college.

Best of all, today’s employers view most online degrees in the same light as those earned from a traditional school.

If you’re interested in finding out about the best online schools for a specific field of study, surfing the internet is undoubtedly a great way to conduct research. With so much information available, however, this process can sometimes become a little overwhelming. It is also important to first ask yourself whether or not you are the type of student who succeeds in a distance learning environment.

Are Online Colleges and Universities Right for You?

While the individual freedom and flexibility afforded by online colleges and universities is certainly one of their greatest attractions, studies have shown that not all students are cut out for self-paced, distance learning. Success in the virtual classroom usually comes easiest to students who possess a very specific set of characteristics. Among these common traits are:

• Proficiency with computers and the internet in particular
• Strong reading comprehension and writing skills
• A high level of self-motivation
• Good organizational skills
• An ability to understand and accurately follow directions

Because almost your entire learning experience as an online student will be governed by you and you alone, it is important that you are independent, motivated to succeed, and able to work with a minimum of direct supervision. The five traits mentioned above are indicative of a person who possesses these qualities as well as the technical aptitudes required to pass most accredited online degree programs.

This is not to say, however, that individuals who may be lacking in some of these areas cannot succeed through online colleges and universities. In fact, there are many examples of students who have used their time in a distance learning setting to develop the aforementioned technical and personal skills. If you know that you are someone who procrastinates, has a hard time staying motivated without a direct supervisor, or who struggles with reading, writing and technology, you should be honest with yourself and reconsider whether or not online learning is a good fit for you.

How to Choose an Online University

Deciding where to go to school is usually a difficult task, and it is certainly challenging where online institutions are concerned. With that said, it doesn’t have to be a chore to find an accredited online university where you’ll be comfortable, successful, and receive the type of training or online degree you want. It’s really just a matter of following a process.

Have a Specific Goal

Before you even start the process of deciding which online colleges and universities best meet your needs, you’ll have to know what your ultimate educational goal is. What is your intended field of study? Are you interested in earning an associates degree online or a professional certification? Perhaps you’re interested in pursuing a bachelors or masters degree?

These are the types of things you must decide before looking for a school, since finding the right one is entirely subjective to what exactly it is that you want to get out of it.

Find Accredited Programs in Your Field

One of the greatest challenges for any college student is finding a program that offers a high quality education in the specific field that interests them. For general areas of study (e.g. business administration) this can be relatively easy but, for others, it can be more difficult. When adding the online variable into this equation, things can become even further clouded.

For this reason, it is important that any school you consider be accredited by a recognized national governing body, and that any vocational courses be affiliated with a relevant professional organization. This step guarantees that you will get the high-quality education you deserve, and that your degree or certification will be recognized and valued by employers.

Financial Assistance and Job Placement

Finally, two additional things to consider are if an institution provides financial assistance to students who may need it, and if it actively works to place its graduates in jobs. The better schools will offer both of these services to their students, and the same should be true of any online colleges and universities that you are considering enrolling in.

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