Employers definitely place a premium on higher education, especially degrees that show specialization in a certain field or discipline. Consider this: The College Board in its report “Education Pays 2006” has revealed that in 2005, women ages 25-34 with bachelor’s degrees earned 70% more than those with high school diplomas, while for men it was 63%. For all workers in the same age group in the meantime, the average earnings for an individual with a four-year degree is $49,900, 62% higher than that earned by an average full-time worker with a high school diploma.

In today’s competitive arena, there is virtually no more distinction between the physical schools or the online institutions of higher learning, so long as they are not “fake-degree” schools and have an established reputation for providing good online education. Some online colleges and universities, because of their strong linkage or network in particular fields and with particular companies are even able to offer opportunities for career placement after graduation or completion of the online degree. This provides an edge over the other schools especially for those who are looking at pursuing an online degree with the end in view of a better career or starting one in a new field. There are even corporations that would reimburse tuitions and online school fees for their employees who wish to pursue an online degree, as long as the online school is recognized by the company. Working professionals may need to check with the HR department of their companies to find out which online schools are recognized before starting their online education.

For those who do not have these types of advantage, you will find their websites replete with stories and testimonials from their alumni who were able to land a good job or be successful in their chosen fields of study. American Military University boasts of their alumni holding various high positions in the government particularly those in military and security. Again it is up to the student’s judgment and discernment of the online school’s claims on its success rate as far as career advancement opportunities are concerned. Of course it helps to be able to talk with people who have completed their online degrees and find out more about their experiences after their graduation.

The good thing about the increasing demand for online education though is that students get an ever-widening range of choices to fit their time and budgetary requirements. Good quality online education need not be too expensive for it to be just a dream for most people. But you should also remember that commitment to pursue an online degree also includes the financial aspect, so be prepared with a budget that you believe can get you the education you want and need depending on your goals.

The problem with using price as a primary factor to consider is falling victim into the “diploma mill” scams that proliferate on the Internet nowadays. Saving a few dollars may cost you more in the long run especially if you did not take the time to check out the claims of these organizations which claim to be reputable learning institutions. With a little research, consultation with online education advisors and your own comparative shopping list of online schools, you can make a shortlist of schools that offer affordable tuition fee schemes.

A good place to start your search for reasonably priced but good quality online schools would be the database of accrediting agencies. Pop-up ads as you browse through the Internet or when you go through your e-mail would lure you with their promises but it’s always wise to check authoritative sites. There are non-profit higher learning institutions that can offer the same degrees as traditional colleges and universities do but at much lower rates. Baker College Online is an example of a private, not-for-profit institution with tuition fees starting at $175 for undergraduate and $258 per credit hour for graduate programs. You can also check out public higher education institutions like the California State University Northridge which offers courses for distance learning. Tuition at Herzing College Online even includes textbook as well as the cost of delivery of course materials to your location.

Convenience and ease are the key advantages of applying for admission into an online school. Generally, the process begins with the applicant securing more information about his or her preferred course or program. Online schools and universities encourage this also as a way of providing admission counseling and all relevant information that an interested individual would need to make the decision. One can request for information either via e-mail or a hotline that the schools usually provide.

Once the individual has made his or her choice, an application form is also usually provided online and can be accomplished with the help of the school’s admission personnel. The applicant is also assured of privacy and the application dealt with confidentiality as most online application forms start with the individual creating an account with the online school, complete with a password. This also enables the individual to re-visit his or her application on the Internet and be advised of any developments each time he or she logs in.

At this point, most online schools would require a nominal application fee, along with certain documents to ascertain the individual’s qualification in terms of level of education attained, skills, work experience, etc. Requirements such as minimum length of work experience, educational attainment and grade point average (GPA) vary depending on the chosen program or degree. Some of the basic documents that may be required at this point would include the applicant’s transcript of academic records, letters of recommendation either from the employer or the previous school among others. As classes are generally taught in English, language proficiency is also a requirement. Those whose first language is not English will be required to take the TOEFL, ESL or TOEIC examinations prior to admission.

For full degrees or certificate programs, the applicant is also encouraged to work out a payment plan with the school which also typically provides a financial planning personnel for this purpose.

Tuition in online institutions vary greatly, depending on the degree or program offered as well as the online institutions themselves. There are a few cases when the fees in online courses are similar for those of on-campus classes. For most courses, a tuition fee is charged by the credit hour although there are also institutions who charge by the term or semester. The range for tuition fees goes from as low as $175 to as high as $3000 per credit hour.

For instance, an online Masters of Engineering degree in the University of Illinois in Chicago goes for $560 per credit hour, while a BS Information Technology degree in Cappella University charges about $290 per credit hour or $870 for a 3-credit course. Baker College Online boasts of cheaper tuition fees compared to other online schools in the U.S., with their undergraduate programs going for $175 per credit hour.

Sometimes online schools have different fees as well for residents and non-residents of a certain state. The University of West Florida as an example charges $110 per credit hour if you’re a resident of Florida, and for non-residents $526. For those seeking a career in the military, security, public administration or government service, American Military University on the other hand offers a flat fee of $250 per credit hour for all their online degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. There are of course other fees to consider like application ad registration fees, “library” fees, graduation fees and other miscellaneous charges that the different online schools may charge.

For students wishing to explore their option of taking an online degree it would help to study and compare the tuition fee schemes of the different online institutions. The schools usually provide their fees on their web sites or you can contact them directly to inquire. Online schools are also required to provide options for student loans, financial aids, grants and scholarships much like the traditional schools, so that you are also offered these resources to help you map out a payment scheme that you can afford and manage.

For full-time students, online colleges are fast becoming a popular choice, as can be noted with the rapid growth of college students enrolling in online courses. In “Making the Grade, Online Education in the United States, 2006” by the Sloan Consortium, it was reported that there were nearly 3.2 million students who were taking at least one online course during the fall term of 2005, over 50% jump from the previous year’s count. The bulk of enrollees for online courses are also in the undergraduate division so that it has even been predicted in one study that one out of 8 college graduates by 2008 would have pursued an online degree. Full-time students will perhaps find online colleges to be more advantageous in that they can complete their degrees in a shorter time than they would need in a traditional 4-year course. As well, with online colleges providing options for financial aids, grants and scholarships much like traditional schools, the former then becomes a very viable path to take for full-time students.

Online colleges find its biggest audience in those who consider themselves as part-time students, or adults who have other preoccupations, working full-time or have family demands but are committed to pursue a degree or a higher education. Part-time students can benefit from distance learning programs and online colleges as they do not have to be physically present in brick-and-mortar classrooms at schedules that do not fit their hectic lifestyles. Not only would the time be beneficial for part-time students but the payment schemes can prove to be more manageable as they can plan out the number of courses they can take according to their budgets and their capacity to pay as well.

As with anything of value, people will naturally aspire for it, or at the very least, attempt to stand in line for the option of having a potential crack at it, whether they are qualified or not. Online education is quite similar. Since it offers a product widely recognized as important, and having the potential for personal betterment, there will be a rush to avail of its services and benefits by a multitude of people.

With the seemingly unlimited potential of the internet, and with internet-based education on the rise, should it be safe to assume that the admissions parameters used for in-campus students will also be applied to students in the virtual realm? The primary factors limiting admission in a school mainly have to do with physical resources found on campus. These include the size and capacity of classrooms, the current number of faculty and its ratio to the student population, as well as the carrying capacity of the administrative department.

In the virtual world where there are no classrooms, the significant factor will be the student to faculty ratio. While in theory an increase in the student base can be matched by a corresponding increase in the number of hired faculty, in practice it probably will not. Schools, whether online only or campus based, will have their hands full keeping their best faculty rather than hiring newer and probably not yet proven teachers to add to their roster.

As such, the online admissions process will probably be more concerned with the applicant, rather than on their institution’s carrying capacity as a whole. Therefore, the level of competitiveness will not be based too much on available slots, but may be based on the skill set possessed by the applicant, or by their comprehension ability. An example of a skill set necessary for a successful online education is the ability to operate computers, navigate around internet-based programs, and comprehend proprietary software that may be required for the course. For while some online degrees only require basic internet ability, others require a little more complexity.

Applicants for higher degrees can also look forward to a more competitive applications process, as the other applicants share equivalently high skill sets or other qualifications. Naturally, the higher the degree sought after, there will be higher expectations and demands on the prospective applicant. Competition in the admissions process also ensures that other people have come to the same conclusion as you have, that what you are pursuing is really worth the effort.

Much of the decision would rest upon the student’s assessment of his or her needs and goals insofar as an online degree is concerned. Is it for personal enrichment or career advancement? Most employers still value the names of certain traditional schools and give more credit to its programs than the online schools. One cannot fault companies over this as the boom in online education has spawned countless “diploma mills” and fake online schools – sometimes even bearing credible-sounding names of universities and colleges at that. So having the physical, tangible and solid foundation of a traditional school may give you the assurance you need for pursuing an online education that will open career opportunities for you.

Another way to look at it of course is by evaluating the types of classes offered by traditional schools with online programs as compared to those offered by strictly online schools. Do their classes fit your preferred time, can you take the courses you need without moving from your current location, does it allow you to learn in the manner and pace by which you would not need a lot of time to get accustomed to? Are their technical requirements easily available and accessible to you? Most schools specializing in online classes would perhaps cater more to distance learning and offer asynchronous classes so that you would have a self-directed, self-paced education. Indeed before deciding to choose a particular institution it helps to be able to answer these and other questions, and to study all options that are open to you.

Online schools usually ask students to determine their level of computer literacy before they are admitted to the course. There are online schools that check your system remotely to ensure you have all the software and plug-ins you would need. As well, they will provide you with information about their system requirements – minimum requirements might be a Windows 98 operating system for PC, OS X 10.3.9 for Mac, a storage capacity of 40GB or more, an Internet connection with at least 56 kbps speed, an Internet browser (Internet Explorer 5.5 or Firefox 1.5 for PC or Macintosh), an active e-mail account or address, computer peripherals such as a web camera, a printer, CD-ROM, speakers, a sound card, microphone. Since online classes require a lo of writing, a knowledge on Office programs specifically word processing and chart making software would be essential. Other programs that would come handy are Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player, Quicktime or Real Player (for materials with audio components).

Students are also provided with an orientation on the technical aspects of the course, usually right at the start of the class. Much like a traditional class orientation, a student is briefed through the course – the links for posting questions and messages, the discussion board, the message board, the e-mail system and other icons that may be required for the efficient conduct of the class. You are not expected to be technically proficient or master programs that are not needed for the course, and any plug-in you may not have at the moment will be supplemented by the online school, especially if they have their own course management system. Help options and a help desk (both available through phone or through the Internet) are of course a couple of the resources made available to the student during the class, to ensure that your learning is uninterrupted and you can optimize your time while taking the course.

Before you start taking an online class, you must assess yourself and your readiness to go this route of learning. In an online class, you track your own progress, go through the lectures and discussions at your pace, submit papers and assignments, take exams and even choose the proctor to monitor your exam, all according to your chosen schedule as well. Since most online classes are asynchronous, you need to be well motivated and committed to see it through. Given the autonomy in deciding your schedule and going through the lectures at your convenient time with minimal supervision, the student must be able to muster enough self-discipline so he or she won’t lose steam and quit midway through the degree. While it might be more convenient to be taking the online course in the comfort of one’s home, certainly distractions are present within the household environment that would be stealing your attention and thus create challenges for finishing a lecture, an assignment or an exam even.

Much like traditional schools, there are definitely other resources that are also made available to online students, such as virtual libraries, videos, links to web sites for research information and so forth. Online instructors are also available for consultation, and may be reached easily via e-mail. Sometimes though online instructors find it a challenge to translate traditional discussions into the online format and that can be a factor for misunderstanding within the class, as well as contributing to the perceived level of difficulty in certain types of classes.

If however you are the type who needs a regular pace and more external motivation and face-to-face interaction with your peers and your instructors then traditional classes might be more suitable for you. In some studies comparing online classes and traditional classes as well, students perceive instruction in traditional classes as better than in online classes – perhaps an attribute of the social interaction afforded by the physical setting.

The Carnegie Classification, developed by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education has also developed a system to analyze institutional differences of colleges and universities and is also being used by online schools. Since most physical universities and colleges do offer online degrees and online education, such differences as defined by the Carnegie Classification can also be considered when choosing an online school.

A university in the traditional realm constitutes of an undergraduate level for conferring bachelor’s degrees, a graduate school and a professional school for continuing education and higher learning. It may also be composed of several colleges or schools and can offer a wide range of degrees and programs. The University of Phoenix in Arizona for instance, provides over 30 online programs from undergraduate to post graduate and continuing education courses. In Toowoomba, Australia the University of Southern Queensland offers a wide range of undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in the fields of Surveying, Business, Education and other sciences.

A college can also be sometimes considered a university but is generally classified as an institution of higher learning that provides undergraduate or Associate and Bachelor’s degrees in sciences and/or liberal arts (postsecondary education). In modern definitions, a college is loosely used to refer to smaller institutions that offer “preparatory” courses to higher degrees that can be pursued in universities (e.g. graduate and post-graduate studies). Some schools which are already universities have opted to retain the word “college” in their names such as Dartmouth College and Boston College, even though they already offer a wider degree of higher education programs. On the other hand there are colleges that have the “university” in their names but are basically specialized higher learning institutions that only offer undergraduate programs. Some examples of online colleges would be Ashworth College in Norcross Georgia which offers Associate degrees in Accounting, Business Management and Health Care Management. There’s also Penn Foster College in Scottsdale Arizona for Associate of Science degrees in Internet Technologies, Hospitality Management and Paralegal Studies.