We’re kicking off WWB with the most commonly flogged topic in online education: are online degrees worse than, as good as, or better than traditional brick-and-mortar schools? No doubt a discussion you’ve heard once or twice before, but the parameters keep changing.

More players are entering the field, from unscrupulous diploma mills to Harvard and Stanford. Technology evolves (and is fought over). New schools gain accreditation; others lose it. Tens of thousands of new students sign up every year (up to 3.2 million in the U.S. last year, according to the Sloan Consortium), despite reports that say employers don’t trust online degrees as much as they do traditional ones.

For my money, I say we’re having the wrong debate altogether. I’m going to guess that for the majority of students contemplating an online degree, the choice does not come down to the University of California versus the University of Phoenix. The real choice for these students, many of whom are working adults, is online education versus no education.

It’s undeniable that online degree programs lack certain elements of the college experience. From a cultural standpoint, there’s a good reason that few online students are traditional college-age teens. If you and your family have the means, a four-year, residential college degree program is a rite of passage and a valuable experience on the path to adulthood. I was privileged to do so myself and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

But online degrees weren’t designed to supplant these archetypal all-American experiences. They’re designed for the adult whose circumstances forced him to get a job straight out of high school. They’re for the professional who wants to boost her career but damn sure can’t take two years off to enjoy a full-time MBA program. They’re for the working parent who doesn’t have the time for a commute to campus.

There’s a reason that the online-ed market primarily comprises working adults: they’re the ones who need that flexibility. Online students see their degree programs as means to an end (to wit: better jobs), not necessarily as a life experience. An online degree is a useful tool for busy, overextended working adults who need more education to compete in today’s crowded economy.

Frankly, if you have enough pocket money to drop tens of thousands of dollars on tuition while simultaneously supporting yourself (and possibly a family) without an income for two to four years, by all means, head to the nearest ivy-draped campus.

For everyone else, other options come in quite handy.