Education: The Key To Career Advancement

Black Enterprise, Feb, 2000

According to survey conducted by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans, employees rank the benefit of continuing education as more important than childcare reimbursement, flextime and family leave. It doesn't matter if you are continuing your education or just starting, there is a program out there for you.

Everything from full-time studies on campus to part-time distance learning at home is available. While many would like the benefits of ivy-covered walls and the sprawling lawns of a campus, their busy lives don't allow it. Fir them distance learning, online or part-time programs are the best.

Most students enrolled in distance education courses are over 25, employed and have previous college experience, according to Peterson's.com, the Website of Peterson's Publishing--the nations leading education information services provider. Over half are also women. As a group, distance learners are highly motivated and their course completion rate exceeds that of students enrolled in traditional on-campus courses.

Online study offers an opportunity to advance your education according to your own schedule and at your own pace. Like distance learning, there's no commute to a campus or ;earning center. Instead you access classes via the Internet from home or work. You also benefit from the level playing field that gives every online student an equal opportunity to participate and receive individualized attention from professors. Although online education tuition maybe somewhat higher than campus tuitions, the gains in personal and work time more than offset the difference.

These learning options are limited to undergraduate or continuing education degrees; they are also available at the graduate level. With employer demand for experienced professionals with MBAs still high, the busy manager can opt for part-time or executive programs. Part-time MBA students are often able to broaden their career options without interrupting their earning capabilities, stretching school costs over a longer period of time and often having some or all of the expenses picked up by the employer. Those with six or or more years of business experience might want to consider an executive MBA program. Usually held on weekends and lasting for approximately 18 months, these intensive programs are attractive to experienced managers.

However you decide to bolster your career for this millennium, chose a field you love and keep up with its evolution. Watch out for new opportunities and arm yourself with the knowledge and confidence to seize them. In a time when change is so pervasive, the lasting you want to do is to be left behind.

AMOS TUCK

Founded in 1900, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth is recognized around the world for its high-quality general management program. The smallest of the top-ten schools, Tuck otters access to an exceptional faculty, high-caliber students, broad career opportunities, and the best alumni support of any school. Because of our size and our focus on the residential MBA program, we deliver the most resources per student in the form of classroom and study spaces, library facilities, computers, and corporate contacts. Tuck's noble experiment in MBA education has spawned today's massive graduate business school industry. Tuck stands out, as it has for a century, as a school that combines the traditional values of great teaching, thought leadership, and personal scale with today's need to be innovative, global, and technological.

Tuck seeks a diverse student body and includes exchange programs in France, England, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. Joint-degree programs are available in international 'affairs, medicine and engineering.

Tuck also embraces the challenges of the 21st century and has laid the groundwork for the future with aggressive programs in technology, global alliances, magnificent new living and learning facilities, and a world class faculty. In its second century, Tuck will lead the world in creating the most relevant business curriculum, in providing the world's best career opportunities, and in helping its graduates throughout their careers. Tuck faculty are thought leaders. Through intense partnering with the world's great businesses, they will directly improve business practice and bring that knowledge back to the classroom.

DUKE UNIVERSITY

The challenges facing organizations in today's global business environment are of unprecedented scope and complexity. To prepare for these challenges, companies must develop leaders who possess a deep understanding of global issues as well as a sure command of core business skills.

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business is the recognized leader in meeting this need with our groundbreaking Duke MBA Global Executive program.

The Global Executive MBA program represents an entirely new paradigm of graduate business education. It innovatively combines traditional residential business education with advanced computer-mediated learning technology, thereby allowing executives from around the world the opportunity to engage in MBA studies at the highest level while they continue to work full-time.