July 28, 2010

A few years ago, if you were watching the news, we witnessed the downturn of the economy.  It did not occur in one fell swoop, like Black Friday which ushered in the Great Depression.  Instead, the economy fooled us all by attacking the large corporations first, engraining the idea that all of us “little people” would be saved by our relative importance within the economy.  We were obviously wrong.  The economy impacted many aspects of our lives, the largest of which is the national unemployment rate.  Even a new presidency couldn’t fix that.  As a result, many of us opted to go back to school, but there was still the problem of the rising tuition rates (another side effect of the economic crash that had occurred).  Enter online education.

Bachelor’s degrees online have become the newest trend within the education industry – cost efficient, work efficient, and family-oriented, online colleges appear  to be the saving grace for many US citizens who have been laid off, need higher degrees, or simply have nothing better to do than go back to school.  While it is true that online education has contributed to some of the poor footing of the economy by producing more graduates with student loans, the news has avoided many of the positive stories that have come out of online colleges.  Bachelor’s degrees online have helped educate a majority of our population that otherwise would have gone uneducated and have additionally opened many doors for these individuals.  In this type of economy, while many of us are eager to get regular 9-5 jobs instead of go back to school, online education has offered us a new alternative to getting a job that will only pay for the most minimal bills.

The mentality of online education appeals to many of us who do not want to suffer the monetary consequences of a costly move to go back to college or some of us who want to hold onto our current job.  Earning a bachelor’s degree online affords many of us the ability to work while going to school – online education affords students the opportunity to create their own schedule.  While classes are still demanding and require a high level of interaction through email and online forums, there is no set time for class discussions or class lectures, allowing students the flexibility to adjust their schedules as they need to.  This has been extremely appealing to a generation who has had to experience one of the worst economic downturns of the past few decades.  

For many of us, earning an extra degree seems to be the best alternative to entering the job industry.  As long as we’re going through the internet all day looking for jobs, we might as well be taking classes online at the same time!