The number of students studying online is growing exponentially. And yet, some employers still favor on-campus students. We’re going to find out why online education is looked down on and whether those reasons hold true.
Reason #1: Online Education Is Not Real Education
The history of online education has been rough. Many online degrees were scams and were much easier to complete when compared to an on-campus degree. The complaint is that learning online does not have the student interaction and focused classroom environment that are indispensable to education. This complaint no longer rings true because it is easy to weed out the lesser online programs. The process of weeding starts with eliminating the non-accredited programs. Then start talking to students about the program. A challenging program is easy to spot like CareerStep’s medical coding and billing training helps train coders in the new ICD-10 coding system which will soon become mandatory in every hospital. This accredited online program helps medical coders stay up to date in their field without taking a break from work to study.
Reason #2: No Grand Brand
For many employers a degree is a degree, whether it’s online or on campus. According to one research paper, some employers tend to feel more comfortable hiring employees that have an online degree from Harvard, understandably so. The big names in education are akin to brands that carry weight in the eyes of employers. Other online degrees are sometimes looked down on and legitimate accredited online schools suffer because they don’t have brand names. This kind of competition in the world of online education only pushes educational institutions to offer better programs that will receive recognition in due time. A good program speaks for itself and over time creates its own brand.
Reason#3: The Gap
Lastly, I want to mention a certain gap between employers and the employees. You have to understand that some of us have witnessed a drastic change in lifestyle on account of rapid advances in technology over our lifetimes. We’ve witnessed the first black and white TVs as well as the latest iPhone. We’ve had to evolve with technology while the younger generation lives and breathes technology. Many young students can’t remember a world without classes that could be taken online.
This is the gap we see – To some folks the words ‘online degree’ are can mean only one thing ‘scam’ because there was a time when that was true but today educational institutions strive to provide quality education through a convenient medium. For employers who have been educated traditionally and seen many online degree scams, ALL online degrees seem unacceptable.
But as we’ve already stated an accredited well reputed online degree program is every bit as acceptable as a traditional degree program. I read an article recently that says even Ivy League colleges like Harvard Business School are all set to launch online learning initiative to students all over the world. Other colleges are joining the bandwagon to establish a foothold in the world of MOOCs, or massive open online courses. The way your peers and employers view online degrees is definitely changing so don’t be afraid to jump into a challenging online program and do what you love.
