Should I take online classes or attend a Campus?

EDegreeUSA.com recommends that if you are a working adult, you should take your classes online. This will give you the flexibility to work as well as study for your degree on your time. Typically, an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree can take just 15 months (with prior credits for Bachelor degree).

Another inquiry was when, "Penny asked, "I have taken a few classes at a college campus, but I would like to finish my Bachelor's degree online. Does it matter to a company if you get your degree online as opposed to on campus?

Coach T responds, "It matters from where you get the degree far more than how it was completed. Different schools have different reputations and a traditional classroom degree from a school with a poor reputation has less value than an online degree from a school with an outstanding reputation.

There is recent (last year) academic research that solidly supports this. ie: an online degree from Top Elite University will be picked over a classroom degree from East Podunk State U. if all other things are equal. When the two schools are identical (ie: online at U Florida or classroom at U Florida) there is no statistical significance in hiring preference.

For the most part, companies don't ask on your application "was your degree done online?" and would have no way of knowing how you earned it unless you tell them. Some schools are assumed to have been online whether they were or not. University of Phoenix is one of these. But, most others are assumed to be classroom or a combination.

NBC News tells us that 35% of all institutions of higher learning are now offering complete degrees online. That's 1 of every 3. Your options are enormous and probably includes the State U where you live.

Understand that this is not the easy way to go. Online classes at a reputable college are very difficult and require considerable motivation and self-direction. For many people, it's the best way to go. I'd suggest you try a few classes somewhere (Louisiana State, Brigham Young, UMass, Harvard) online before you commit to a full program and the costs involved.

It's all about the reputation of your college. All of the universities on Prof 'Ranto's CV teach online - they don't think they offer a bad education. Harvard and Oxford teach online too. Ranto is one of those people who thinks any reference to online education means "for-profit" college and forgets that his UC-Berkeley and Duke are teaching this way.

He also seems to forget that most people don't attend one of those highly selective schools top-ranked by USNWR. Most people attend YourState University and the like and well over half attend a tier 3 or tier 4."

How long have online schools and courses been around

Online courses have been around for nearly two decades, but enrollment has soared in recent years as more universities increase their offerings. More than 4.6 million college students (about one in four) were taking at least one online course in 2008, a 17 percent increase over 2007.

Institutions like Rutgers University and the University of California system are looking at expanding online courses as a way to keep down tuition costs or increase revenues. Recently, Rutgers said it would triple online revenues from $20.5 million to $60 million in five years.