Finding the Degree Program that Fits

Though nearly 90 percent of education still takes place on conventional campuses--universities, career schools, or technical colleges--each of these sectors now has a competing online twin. In fact, private virtual schools anticipate a 24-percent increase in enrollments by 2008. Should you join the online "clicks," as Drs. Freda Turner and Jack Crews call them, or the campus "bricks"? Does convenience and flexibility trump a face-to-face campus experience? If you're torn between the new and the tried and true, let this checklist help you choose the education that fits:

Are you the "typical" student?

_____BRICKS: The traditional college student is a recent high-school graduate, though adults are increasingly studying on campus. When on-campus students procrastinate, their professors remind them of due dates, giving tests and quizzes that keep students motivated to finish the semester and collect their credits.

_____CLICKS: The typical online student is a busy working adult, average age 34, married with family, highly self-disciplined, with a strong desire to finish and a can-do attitude. Unless real life interrupts, this student finishes, though students who procrastinate or harbor unrealistic expectations will have a hard time.

Which instructional delivery fits your style?

_____BRICKS: If you're in the traditional classroom, you'll learn by listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Your discussions take place in real time, and if the encounter gets lively, you'll feel your fellow students' enthusiasm--even if you don't speak yourself.

_____CLICKS: Unless there's a live chat component, your online interactions will be limited to reading and writing to others from whom you're disconnected in time. Discussion via e-mail lists or threaded discussions is still generally required, so you'll have to participate.

Does money matter?

_____BRICKS: You'll have more financial-aid options at a campus-based school. You can get federal grants and loans, as well as scholarships from your own university. You'll have campus work-study options, too.

_____CLICKS: If you're a working adult with a busy schedule, online education may be your most cost-effective choice. You won't waste money and time commuting to campus. Also, federal loans and grants support online study, and many employers will pick up some or all of the costs of your online education.

Want a campus social life?

_____BRICKS: If you want a social life that involves face-to-face interaction with fellow students and instructors, you'll need traditional campus life for that. Since social life equals networking, you're also making face-to-face contacts with the professors and mentors who will write your all-important letters of recommendation when you graduate and seek a job.

_____CLICKS: Though your social interactions may be virtual and asynchronous, you'll be surprised and delighted at how easy it is to form online friendships with your fellow students--even though they're in other states or faraway countries. You'll exchange lots of e-mail with your professors, too. However, if you're taking e-classes from a campus-based school, you should make it a point to meet your professors.

Now, count your bricks and your clicks:

If you've marked mainly bricks, you need social contact to learn. You'll thrive on a traditional campus where deadlines and external time demands keep you on track.
If you've marked mainly clicks, your busy life schedule demands a flexible education plan. Online is the better--if not the only--educational option for you.
If you're undecided, your best choice is a traditional campus with a degree program that mixes bricks and clicks, giving you a smorgasbord of on-campus and online course options leading to a traditional degree. Many leading universities that have both on-site and online programs will offer a hybrid program that will integrate both options.

Sources:

"Achievement in Online and Campus-Based Career and Technical Education (CTE) Courses," by Angela D. Benson, et.al. Community College Journal of Research & Practice 29.5 ( Jun 2005).

The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings, by Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Eric C. Newburger.

Bricks and Clicks: A Comparative Analysis of Online and Traditional Educational Settings ITDL Journal, April 2005. http://www.itdl.org

US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

"College-funding battle lines drawn," by Shawn Vestal. The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA; Jul 11, 2005).

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