The Benefits of Online College

If you are looking for the traditional college experience complete with co-ed dorms, keg parties, pizza, and wasting mom and dad's hard earned money, read no further, this article is not for you. But, if you are simply looking for a college degree in order to advance in your current job or obtain a better one, read on. Online college provides a host of benefits not associated with the traditional college experience.

The benefits of attending college online from you computer screen are tremendous. You can take classes at home in your pajamas at midnight, at work during your lunch break, or even on a family vacation to Disney World, if you are so inclined. For convenience, online college cannot be beat.

I think back to the early 90's, my sister was a newly divorced mother of 2 preschoolers. She had been a stay at home mom since her youngest was born, but suddenly found herself as the main (only) breadwinner in the family. For 4 years she and her girls struggled as she attempted to go to college (the closest one 30 miles away), study, and work to continue to provide food, shelter, and most of all stability for her children. Stability would have been much easier to come by had she only been away from them for a standard 9-5 day, but instead she found herself taking night classes after work, resulting in her not seeing the kids many days. Had online college been widely available it would have made her degree much more attainable, without a lot of the struggle.

The cost of online college is usually not any highter than the cost of attending classes on campus. When you factor in no gasoline, no wear and tear on your car, no babysitter, and no lunches out, just to name a few, online college is an extrememly cost effective way to get a college degree.

Online college is not a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. It takes a huge amount of self motivation, since there will be no professor breathing down your neck reminding you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 3 weeks that you have a paper due on the 30th. To be successful you must be willing to work hard and push yourself to succeed. While granted you will not have the same college experience you would have had on campus (a decade or two earlier for some of us), online college programs offer a great option for students simply looking for a quality education. Sometimes attending school in a traditional classroom is just not practical. If what you are looking for is flexibility, convenience, value, and a college diploma, without all the parties, beer, and frills, online college is for you.

These online colleges are approved by the US Department of Education:

University of Phoenix - www.universityofphoenix-online.com
Devry - www.devry.edu
ITT Technical Institute - www.itt-tech.edu