The New Faces of Adult Education

To attract a wide variety of students, many state and university systems offer online courses and degree tuition at the same rate for in-state students and out-of-state students. This is something rare to traditional education, unless states participate in a tuition agreement with other states. The University of Wisconsin Colleges Online (http://www.online.uwc.edu ), for example, offer courses at the rate of $175.00 per credit and offers Federal financial aid.

Things to consider when considering an online program:

1. Accreditation. Unfortunately, one of the downfalls in the internet age is that one can more easily be taken advantage of. When researching online programs, make sure one of the questions asked is whether or not the school has received accreditation. Accreditation means that the school has met a list of requirements and is endorsed by an accrediting agency. To learn more about accreditation, go to http://www.ncacihe.org/overview/ . To check on the legitimacy of an accrediting agency, you make call the U.S Department of Education at (202) 219-7011.

2. Admission requirements. Some online institutions have requirements other than an application for admissions. For example, one of the more widely known online institutions, University of Phoenix - Online ( http://degrees.uofphx.info/about.jsp ), requires individuals to be at least 21 years of age and employed. The reasoning behind this is to have an organization environment to apply theory from studies.

3. The availability Financial Aid. Some online institutions offer no financial aid, others offer financing through the institution, and others offer Federal financial aid. If receiving financial aid is going to be essential to necessarily to attend school, pay very close attention to what a potential school offers.

As the world around us becomes increasingly smaller, online education is going to play a very large role in shaping the work force. Whether someone is working towards their first degree, adding more to their education in hopes to receive a promotion, or simply are taking courses online for the love of learning, online courses and degrees are making these goals much more achievable.

To find out if online courses are for you, a quiz is available online at: http://www.online.uwc.edu/quiz_2.0/selft...

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