Online degrees rise in popularity
By Tatiana Kopaeva, contributing writer
Posted on February 12, 2007

Instead of suffering icy winds ripping through campus to get to class, some students are choosing to earn their degrees from the warmth of their own homes.

“I decided to take online courses in getting the degree in business management, as I was working and could not attend [a] university,” said Jason Decker, a 26-year-old business management graduate working for a trade company in Lynchburg.

Online colleges and universities are growing in popularity, offering students a variety of programs to receive or enhance their education and be more marketable in the professional world. Programs range from undergraduate to graduate and postgraduate degrees.

“We will probably see more classes offered [at JMU] online as options for students,” said Kate McDaniel, an academic and career advisor for Career and Academic Planning.

 Some online universities have job resources for online their students, while others do not offer help in job searching and online students have to search for a job on their own.

In other cases, students already have jobs or job opportunities and need additional education for a particular job position.

“Online isn’t a good option for everyone,” McDaniel said. “Students need to be disciplined in order to keep up with assignments and be very comfortable with Blackboard.”

McDaniel added that some students don’t like the impersonal feel of online courses. “But for others it may be a great option, and they aren’t penalized by employers,” she said.

Decker said, “The first month was quite difficult. I had to control myself, because it differed from what I used to have at my university, and then I began to take it seriously.”

Decker took online courses in business management in order to get a better job.

“Employers always examine your skills, your professional knowledge. [Fifty percent of the time] it depends on you, not on the university you graduated from,” he said. My own experience is positive; I got the job I wanted.”

Large and accredited universities provide high-quality education online and have thousands of online students, which explains their increasing popularity.

“With all the new technology, it will be interesting to see where this goes in the future,” McDaniel said.