Online Advertising Degrees: Promoting Products While Promoting Yourself

Whether we realize it or not, advertising affects us all. The field is truly omnipresent, with advertisements posted alongside highways, in stores, in magazines, online, and even, occasionally, in movies as a result of product placement. Though advertising itself is not new, the multi-platform nature of its use is distinctly current. If you think you might be interested in becoming a part of this growing field, an Online Advertising Degree might be right for you. But first you'll want to know what people learn in an Online Advertising Degree program, which online program you should choose, and what your career prospects will be like once you graduate.

What do people learn in an Online Advertising Degree program?

Online Advertising Degree programs are often extremely multifaceted. You will be required to take certain general education courses for your bachelor's degree in advertising, including English, social sciences, and writing component courses, all of which will be extremely relevant to your ultimate goal of working in advertising. The courses for your specialization or major in Advertising will likely include classes such as: Introduction to Statistics, Introduction to Advertising and Design Graphics, Elements of Advertising, Advertising Strategy, Advertising Research, Advertising Campaigns, Principles of Marketing, Media Planning, Copywriting and Visualization and Law of Mass Communication.

Overall, you'll have a balance of practical courses necessary for the business of advertising and theoretical courses that give you a sense of how advertising works on a deeper philosophical and psychological level. You may also have to do quantitative work in mathematics and statistics in order to read reports or materials and understand demographic information. Your coursework should provide a mix of all these important elements to the field of advertising as a whole.

Which online program should I choose?

There are, undoubtedly, a lot of Online Advertising Degree programs to pick from. The most important thing, however, is to avoid being taken in by a scam called a "diploma mill" when you make your choice. Diploma mills are fake online degree programs that award a student a degree simply for their check. In other words, students pay, but do little else. Employers and other educational institutions will not recognize these diploma mill degrees as valid, and thus the students will have spent their money for nothing.

But this scam is relatively easy to avoid; all you have to do is make sure your intended program is accredited. Determine which agency has accredited your program by checking on the program's website or by contacting the appropriate parties. If this accreditation information is hard to come by, this is most likely a red flag. Next, after having taken note of the accrediting agency, compare it to the list of approved agencies on the United States Department of Education's website. If the stated agency is not on the list, then you are dealing with a diploma mill. Sever your ties with this program and, if you wish, report it to the proper authorities. A few national accreditation agencies are: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), and the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Bear in mind that this is only a partial list, and a full list is available on the U.S. Department of Education's website.

What are my career prospects like once I graduate?

Advertising professionals are relatively high earners, making an average of $51,370 annually. Top earners, who usually hold a master's degree or an MBA, can earn salaries in excess of $145,600 per year. With an expected job growth of 8% from 2008 to 2018, you can't go wrong with your Online Advertising Degree. The sooner you start studying, the sooner that dream ad job will be yours.

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To learn more about Online Advertising Degree Programs, including curriculum and program info, visit Design Schools. To learn more about design school accreditation, visit the Diploma Mills Accreditation.