Over the last several years their has been a growth in the online education industry as the internet has gotten better and its use more wide spread. Private and for-profit colleges have begun to offer degrees to anyone who has an internet connection.

Why has online education grown? Simply because that is where the customer is. Over the last ten years the number of traditional college students (18-22 years old) has shrunk. Land-based colleges are competing harder and harder to secure qualified high school graduates. At the same time the market for adult learners (24-50) has grown considerably as opportunites for professional growth and a competitive workplace require employees to have a degree.

These adult-learners have more responsibility than the traditional student including a fulltime job, children, volunteering, and other activities so they require the most flexible means available to them to get a degree. Online works best for them because they are not required to spend 4-5 hours one or two evenings a week in order to complete their education.

Early on employers, like most everyone, was skeptical of the online schools due to negative publicity concerning degree mills and other non-accredited institutions but that has greatly changed (see sources below) as more and more companies are not only recognizing online degrees they are actually encouraging their employees to use these institutions because it not only gives their employees a great education that the company can use but it also puts less stress on them.

People in academia are always going to criticize any change that upsets the status-quo of their industry just as bankers and politicians do the same when their livelihood is “upset”.

But that is also starting to change. Many upper-level faculty members and administrators of even non-profit schools are starting to realize “where the money is” and they also need to meet the demands of their customers (current and potential).

Some argue that land based schools are the only way to go and that no one can get an education without face-to-face interaction but most top-level educators realize that there are several learning types and styles. Online, like land-based is aimed at a specific niche of the market.

Some people also beleive that online, for-profit schools are more expensive but what they fail to take into consideration is the total cost in the comparison of land v. online.

With online you don’t have to pay for gas, hire a babysitter, leave work early, deal with traffic, deal with weather, or pay athletic and libray fee’s, or pay for parking.

When you start adding everything up the cost of online is about the same or sometimes less.

Another thing you should note is the increase in the number of public and private universities that now offer online classes or degrees. Even though they are “not-for-profit” they still need to make money to pay bills.

Employers are starting to recognize that online schools are just as good as land based schools. Companies such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, H-P, Federal Express, and others are publicly making educational alliances with schools such as Capella University or the University of Phoenix.

Its comes down to this: A bachelors degree from any regionally accredited school is going to position you better in the job market than not having one. Yes, a degree from Harvard or Yale will put you over the top in certain professions but for most of us a degree is a degree.

I know two retired professors who started working for one of the famous online schools. They both quit because their supervisors continuously harassed them about making too many criticisms of their students work. When students are criticized they drop out and the school doesnt get tuition. As long as a school is a ‘for profit’ school, then profits will always come first before students.

You can read some of the reasons why the University of Phoenix – which is the most famous and largest online school – is not well regarded. Check the article in the New York Times for Sunday Feb 11, 2007. You’ll be glad you did.

Some people may look at those people as slackers. I personally don’t like those programs because I prefer to go a college. Especially that I can go and have the money. But some people don’t have the money and just do that and don’t pay much.

But still you can get a great job and make a lot of money. It just really depends on the person.