Online Universities: Are They for You?

If you're a stay at home mom or dad or you work fulltime and are looking to move up the ladder, online universities may be an option for you. Before you sign up to take classes at a university online you need to answer a few questions about yourself to determine whether online is the way for you.

First you'll need to determine if you have the time to do courses online. Most online universities are not at your own pace. Classes will be conducted in a similar manner to attending a university in person. Each week you will probably have readings to complete, several discussion questions to answer and reply to, several projects and even attendance in live chats where you can interact with your classmates and professor. All these part of the class will take nearly six to eight hours per week. If you can dedicate that amount of time to your schooling then online university might be a fit.

Second you'll need to determine if your computer skills are appropriate to the online university setting. Many online universities require both message board participation and chat room participation. Do you understand how to use standard message boards and chat rooms? Do you know what netiquette is? Most universities will also require you to upload your projects to your instructor. Do you know how to find and upload documents from your computer? Do you know how to attach documents to emails? If you answer no to any of the above questions you'll most likely have a hard time with the online format and may want to rethink your decision to do college online.

Third, are you committed to finishing your degree? Online universities typically are accelerated so that you can finish your degree quickly. Because of this accelerated learning you will be bombarded with a lot of information in a relatively short amount of time. Often times too you'll find that classes are only eight to ten weeks long and there are probably four terms a year. If you're not willing to make a commitment to finish your degree online then you shouldn't start at an online university.

Overall online universities are viable options for people who do not have the option of attending a university in person. But attending a university online is hard work and requires a lot of commitment because it's easy to say that you'll do it tomorrow when you never have to look your instructors in the face. So before pursuing your degree online make sure you have what it takes so that you don't end up wasting money on something you won't complete.