Getting Your Sheepskin Online

Home Office Computing, May, 1999 by Cristina Gair

GOING BACK TO SCHOOL. Many of us dream of it--whether it's to finish an abandoned degree, pursue a new career path, or learn accounting to better balance the books. But with long workweeks--frequently including work-at-home evenings and weekends--and family obligations, who can spend three nights a week in a lecture hall? And that's assuming your school is within commuting distance; if you live in a rural area, adding a long drive is impractical. But distance learning programs let you use your PC and Internet connection to earn degrees and certificates without setting foot on campus.

"I don't have time to sit in a classroom for three or four hours at a time," says Linda Blackmer, a Marietta, Ga.-based distance learning student earning a master's of science degree in quality assurance from Southern Polytechnic State University. The mother of a seven-year-old son, Blackmer works 40- to 60-hour weeks as a quality-improvement coordinator at Well-Star Health Systems. "I like the freedom of working at my own pace," she adds.

Blackmer is hardly alone. An International Data Corp. report predicts that by 2002, about 85 percent of two- and four-year institutions will offer Web-based curriculums. Performing an online search today yields hundreds of schools, some affiliated with an existing brick-and-mortar college, others dedicated exclusively to distance learning. (If accreditation is a concern, stick with the former.)

To meet the demand for online programs, some state schools have joined forces. The National Universities Degree Consortium (www.sc.edu/deis/nudc) provides a raft of information and statistics, and course and degree information for its dozen member schools (such as the state universities of Colorado and South Carolina). And New Jersey and California have developed umbrella sites that post all the online offerings of participating schools--California Virtual University (CVU; www. california.edu) and New Jersey Virtual University (NJVU; www.njvu.org).

Once you find a suitable program, you undergo the same admissions process as any on-site applicant. Upon acceptance, all course work and interaction is handled at the school's Web site, and your degree is awarded from the school.

A high percentage of CVU's 27,000 students are "working adults with jobs, families, and other commitments [who] want to advance their education," says spokesperson Rich Halberg. And according to Dr. Raphael J. Caprio of Rutgers University and a member of the NJVU design team, most online students are over 25 years old and "may or may not be employed."

If you're looking for programs with "a more vocational feel," says spokesman Jeff Xouris, consider Western Governors University (www.wgu.edu), where students can earn degrees and certificates in electronic manufacturing technology and network administration, for example. New programs will soon be offered in e-commerce and small-business startup, law enforcement, education, and health information management.