Online degrees are gaining traction as more and more students value the flexibility and wide range of course work they offer. More than 15% of college students are exclusively enrolled online. With each academic year, online degree options expand. It is now possible to get a bachelor’s degree online in most liberal arts disciplines and many sciences as well. One of the major reasons that online degree offerings have expanded is that many traditional universities have begun to offer degrees entirely online.
Flexibility is one of the greatest draws of an online degree program. Generally, students are allowed to enroll only part-time which allows students more time for work and family obligations. The flexibility of online degrees is especially important for college students who are also parents. Parents make up almost 25% of all college students in the U.S. Most parents know that it can be tough to predict your schedule, which makes online classes a great solution for those with young children.
Nearly all online classes offer flexible curriculums that allow students to work through the information they need to study in their free time. While homework and tests do usually have deadlines, it’s rare to be required to be online at a particular time for a lecture or other classroom obligations. Essentially, as long as you learn the material you need to cover for a particular time period and get your homework and tests done on time, you are free to make your own academic schedule.
Unlike classes on campus, students don’t need to worry about making their schedules work around classes that may be offered simultaneously. This often allows students better options to take precisely the classes they would like each term.
Work is another serious consideration for many college students. If it’s important that you be able to continue working your current full-time job, it may be that traditional student life simply isn’t an option for you. While many evening and weekend courses are available, they tend to have very limited and rigid course work offerings which means you may not be able to explore the full range of classes in different disciplines you’d expect from a university experience.
Traditional universities are offering more degrees and options online all the time, so if there is a particular school you always wanted to attend, it wouldn’t hurt to go to their website and research what online degree options they currently offer. If your dream of attaining a bachelor’s degree from a university has always felt out of reach, you may find that it’s closer than you ever imagined.
