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Who Goes to School online?

By Stephanie Coleman

You may be wondering what kind of people participate in online and distance learning programs. These students come from many different walks of life and educational backgrounds, but for the most part they are just like you and me. They all share a desire to learn, a life with multiple interests and responsibilities and a willingness to give up some of their free time to further their education.

Let's take a look at some of these students . . .

Francis M. - online class in Fundamentals of Purchasing

Francis M. is a procurement manager from Charlotte. She is taking Fundamentals of Purchasing online from the Institute for Supply Management. She is new to her position, having been promoted from Accounting. Francis received her degree in Accounting a few years back and really is not interested in obtaining a Master's degree at this time. However, she recently had a meeting with her supervisor and discussed her need for professional training in procurement.

While there are lots of procurement classes available, her company is small and currently has a very limited travel budget. Training also takes employees away from the office and there's really no one to back Francis up when she's gone. So finding this foundation course in purchasing was terrific, Francis is able to work on the class from her desk in the office. All of the readings are self paced and online. She spends some time each day reading the responses of other students to discussion questions from the class leader, and making posts of her own. Not only does the class offer relevant articles and examples, it also provides additional resources Francis can read at her leisure.

Francis is enjoying this class so much she is considering working towards her C.P.M. (Certified Purchasing Manager) designation.

Keisha R., in Atlanta is working on her MBA. As an HR manager for a small security firm with nationwide customers, Keisha must travel to help staff new job starts; projects that last up to two weeks at a time. Obviously, this keeps her on the road a good bit, making an "on the ground" MBA an unfeasible option.

Keisha wants this degree to enhance her opportunities for promotion to a more general management position. Her employer, who is paying her tuition, has indicated that she needs to learn more about other disciplines than HR.

Keisha started her MBA at the University of Phoenix about a year ago and will finish soon due to the accelerated and condensed program that UOP offers. "I like that the classes are filled with students with such diverse backgrounds, both geographically and professionally" stated Keisha. "I am learning so much from my fellow students about their firms and the roles each of them plays in their organization." While the accelerated schedules mean there's a lot of tough work to be done, Keisha is looking forward to receiving her degree. Her company has even offered to send her to Phoenix to receive her diploma!

Dorothy B. - distance learning artist program

Dorothy B. lives in Greensboro Georgia, at least 50 miles from the nearest classes in Art. However, when she retired last year after a 30 year career as a registered nurse, she wanted to fulfill a life long dream of becoming a painter.

Her daughter-in-law guided her to the programs offered by Thomson Education Direct and now Dorothy is in their "Artist Program." She likes how the instructional materials include readings, videos and learning aids like post cards, drawing kits and matting kits.

Dorothy also likes the convenience. Even though she'll probably complete this program in a little more than a year, she still has time to play tennis three days a week, ride in the boat, play with her grandchildren and work in the local charity clinic. So even though she's learning, it doesn't interfere with her busy retirement!

Dorothy also feels the lessons are a success; she's already sold a few watercolors and won an award in a local art show!

Cathy T. is working on her Project Management Certification at Villanova University. She's had an excellent career in the Finance Department of a major telephone company but sees that her position maybe done away with in a new restructuring plan.

Most recently she has been working on a large ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) project which involved both business process redesign as well as software implementation. While she has learned much about project management in this role, she feel that earning her PMP (Project Management Professional) certification will make her more valuable to her current company and more marketable should she leave. The program not only covers Project Management and Team Effectiveness, it also covers preparation for the PMP exams.

Cathy already has a bachelor's degree in accounting and her MBA, both from traditional "on the ground" schools so she's not interested in pursuing a degree program. She likes the online format for its flexibility and really likes the ability to continue life long learning without having to be in a formal degree program.

Cathy T. - Wants to make herself more valuable to her current company

What are your education goals?

From the profiles above, you can see that online students are from all walks of life with all kinds of objectives. What are yours? It's likely you can find a program that will fit your needs!