MUCH is being written about the preposterously high cost of college. The median inflation-adjusted household income fell by 7 percent between 2006 and 2011, while the average real tuition at public four-year colleges increased over that period by over 18 percent. Meanwhile, the average tuition for just one year at a four-year private university in 2011 was almost $33,000, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. College tuition has increased at twice the rate of health care costs over the past 25 years. Ballooning student loan debt, an impending college bubble, and a return on the bachelor’s degree that…
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Online Colleges
This is a recent 2014 list of the top 20 online bachelors schools in America. Rank School Faculty Credentials and Training Student Services and Technology Student Engagement #1 Central Michigan University 69 78 100 Mount Pleasant, MI #1 SUNY College of Technology—Delhi 100 60 88 Delhi, NY #3 Pace University 83 78 81 New York, NY #3 Pennsylvania State University—World Campus 76 56 80 College, PA #5 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University—Worldwide 68 100 66 Daytona Beach, FL #5 University of Florida 74 62 78 Gainesville, FL #7 Daytona State College 93 62 78 Daytona Beach, FL #7 University of Alabama—Huntsville 78…
Bachelor’s: Most online undergraduate students study business, according to a June 2013 report by Learning House. Within business, the most popular degrees include business administration and management, accounting and finance. The online bachelor’s rankings saw significant changes as a result of the updated methodology and the higher number of programs evaluated. Central Michigan University moved up from No. 39 last year to tie for first place with SUNY College of Technology—Delhi, which did not submit data to U.S. News for the 2013 rankings. Pace University, which earned the highest distinction last year, tied for third with Pennsylvania State University—World Campus.…
This is a recent 2014 list of the top online graduate schools in America. Rank School Faculty Credentials and Training Student Services and Technology Student Engagement Admissions Selectivity #1 Indiana University—Bloomington (Kelley) 79 51 88 84 Bloomington, IN #2 Arizona State University (Carey) 78 55 93 83 Tempe, AZ #3 University of Florida (Hough) 81 52 88 90 Gainesville, FL #4 University of Texas—Dallas 79 57 97 100 Richardson, TX #4 University of West Georgia (Richards) 92 55 97 86 Carrollton, GA #6 University of Nebraska—Lincoln 87 57 84 87 Lincoln, NE #7 Washington State University 85 43 90 79…
Maureen Johnson doesn’t regret her decision to earn an online master’s degree in management from Troy University. But if she could go back in time, the 38-year-old says she would have asked the school more questions about resources provided to online students. “I had to be self-sufficient,” she says. “There was no hand-holding.” As online education continues to explode, graduate schools are adding virtual programs alongside their traditional on-campus offerings. As a result, students like Johnson have a choice to make: Should they earn a master’s degree through a school’s online program? Or should they complete that same degree on…
For adults juggling jobs and family commitments, earning a degree can seem like a Herculean task. But it doesn’t have to be. By joining the millions of Americans pursuing online education, it’s possible to prepare for the next great job opportunity from the comfort of your couch. “Online learning can do two things: It can lead to advancement in an existing profession, or it can lead to a completely new profession,” says Leah K. Matthews, executive director of the Accrediting Commission of the nonprofit Distance Education and Training Council. “It spans almost every field now.” The following six jobs were…
When Erik Schnackenberg, 28, decided to get his bachelor’s degree at Pace University several years ago, he was confident about his decision to take courses entirely online. If anything was going to get in the way of his job prospects, he figured it would be the lack of a master’s degree – not his choice to pursue distance education. “I’ve interviewed several places and no one has asked me if I’m going on-campus for classes,” says Schnackenberg, a train conductor instructor and full-time student. “I think they care more about my major and my GPA.” Schnackenberg might be onto something.…
In the field of higher education, reality is outrunning parody. A recent feature on the satire website the Onion proclaimed, “30-Year-Old Has Earned $11 More Than He Would Have Without College Education.” Allowing for tuition, interest on student loans, and four years of foregone income while in school, the fictional student “Patrick Moorhouse” wasn’t much better off. His years of stress and study, the article japed, “have been more or less a financial wash.” “Patrick” shouldn’t feel too bad. Many college graduates would be happy to be $11 ahead instead of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, behind. The credit-driven higher…