Hoo Boy Online

Online education was born in the 1960’s. It’s welcome was lukewarm at best.

Students worried if degrees from online colleges would be recognized. And, their concern was well justified; many employers were outspoken about their reluctance to hire online university graduates.

In addition, traditional colleges and universities were outspoken about their objection to online education. How could college level learning take place without the traditional educational interaction that takes place in a classroom, they asked. How could distance education offer real academic quality?

Today, online colleges and degree programs are perceived quite differently. Students have no trepidation about the recognition of distance education degrees in the workplace. That’s because few employers now make any distinction between traditionally earned and online degrees. Even traditional universities, which resisted online education for decades, now hire administrators and faculty who hold online degrees.

More surprisingly, many of the very colleges and universities that opposed distance education now offer it. Even graduate/professional degrees, including PhD’d, EdD’s, PsyD’s, and J.D.’s are available online.

On the downside, there are still some degree mills out there offering bogus degrees to anyone willing and able to write a check. However, most of the states in which the degree mills have operated are cracking down on them. And, more accredited online degree programs are being offered than ever before.

As late as 1975 or 1980 there were a very limited number of accredited universities with online degree programs. Furthermore, they offered degrees in only a very few major areas of study. Now there are in excess of 200 fully accredited U.S. institutions offering degrees at all levels.

Even better is the fact that students in online education programs can now qualify for all kinds of financial aid. Until fairly recently, that was not the case.

Online education has come a long way in a short time. It has gone from being an experimental, somewhat risky way to earn a degree to a widely accepted way for working adults to obtain the degrees they need to move forward in their careers. For most working adults, in fact, it is a great alternative to traditional degree programs.