Online College Degrees

Being a nurse has long been considered to be the noblest of professions. In fact, even to this day, people from certain ethnic groups or communities look at nursing as the only viable career option. Apart form the tremendous satisfaction it brings from the sheer act of caring for and nursing people to good health, nursing is slowly but surely becoming a lucrative profession. Most nurses today in American hospital and private nursing homes earn reasonably good salaries. And hospitals continue to recruit scores of nurses from all over the world to cater to the demand for qualified nurses.

 But becoming a nurse is not really inexpensive. Apart from the fact that the course itself is expensive, most nurses have to appear for certifying exams in order to get the necessary licenses or registrations that enable them to become full-fledged nurses. Which is why, a vast majority of nurses complete their basic nursing qualification (usually a diploma) before they enter the workforce.

 Once inside, they realize that for nurses with better qualifications, there are tremendous growth opportunities. This usually puts them in a dilemma. If they quit their jobs to take up further courses of study, they not only stand to lose valuable income, but also run the risk of further students loans to pay for costly education. If on the other hand, they stay back in their jobs, they may never see a promotion or an opportunity for growth for a long time to come. The answer to such a dilemma is nursing continuing education.

 Simply put, nursing continuing education is an “earn while you learn” scheme. When working nurses sign-up for nursing continuing education programs, they can continue to work at their regular hospitals while they improve their qualifications on the side. Most Diploma in Nursing holders can thus sign-up for a Degree program and work for their degree part-time while working as a regular nurse. Of course, such a course might be longer than a conventional full-time course, but the working nurse need not give up her job to pursue her education.

 Most hospitals in the United States have a tie-up or affiliation with a college or university that provides nursing continuing education. Since the hospital itself administers the program, the nurses stand to benefit as they can schedule their rounds conveniently in order to accommodate the demands of the course. They also prefer hospitals which provide the option of nursing continuing education because this is a guarantee that they will have chances to grow in their chosen profession and consequently, earn more. And for the hospitals, it makes commercial sense because they have a steady pool of nurses guaranteed to undertake the course. Further, hospitals favor the nursing continuing education programs because it helps them retain staff in an industry that is always short of qualified nurses. It makes for better business sense to retain and train their existing nurses than to find new nurses.

 Most American Nursing Associations like the American Nursing Association (ANA), American Nephrology Nursing Association (ANNA) and others are strong proponents of nursing continuing education. After all, it is a win-win situation for all concerned. And who would say not to happy, qualified nurses working in stress-free hospitals!

It used to be that education by way of online learning—or what is called distance learning or distance education–was implemented as a supplement to the brick-and-mortar classroom (or conference room) teaching and learning methods and materials. But technology as it is—progressive and multi-beneficial–online high school and online college courses have become sometimes viable sources of learning…without the student having to ever step foot in a classroom.

Contemporary learners taking online college courses can benefit in a number of ways that they otherwise could not, having no way to get to school, for example, or having no desire to attend an institution of higher learning. They might have children, a home, and one or more jobs that keep them from physically enrolling in or attending classes at a campus that might be too far away.

These individuals can make use of online college courses that feature lectures, video, audio, email, IMs, instant messages, bulletin boards and chat rooms, and online study and research sources that all comprise the online college courses—rather than serve as supplements to them.

For the home-schooled, the advanced placement high school student, for instance, who is now into levels that reach online college courses levels, the benefits of choice, segregation, or integration are available to those who prefer a particular curriculum that is religiously oriented or carefully monitored.

And for anyone, online college courses are equal opportunity—anyone of any race, creed, color, religion, location, learning ability or disability, or mindset can find the materials, sources, and lessons he or she needs or wants…many times accredited and transferable.

In the same respect, before applying, signing up, and paying, the learner who seeks legitimate online college courses should do a little background checking…to protect him- or herself from the beguiling and conniving that does sometimes happen. Some offering online college courses and other online courses are not qualified to do so. Some are not “accredited”. That is, if you are looking to use the online learning experience as credited coursework (to transfer, to get a job, to get a degree), be sure that the online college is one which meets the standards set by the state’s, province’s, or country’s accreditation body, agency, or board. In the U.S., for instance, the Department of Education (the DOE) oversees and regulates American universities, though each state is responsible for its own higher learning authorization standards.

This can be an arduous task by itself: unscrupulous and greedy money mongers can be “licensed” to run a business (in this case, the business of running a degree mill, a fake college)–because every state has different ways of regulating standards, and because con artists and scammers claiming to be legitimate e-universities will link their pages to the real sites of DOE or of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), so when you are looking for an online degree you might be tricked.

You might read the website’s claim of being accredited—or will infer from the official links or the way the text is worded, in lies, or implications, that the institution is accredited when it is not—will pay unreasonably high fees, will sign the necessary and official-looking documents, but then will be required to do very little “work” and will “graduate” online…with a bogus degree.

So if you are looking into online college courses, the best way to go is through a legitimate college. And even then, if you are unsure, look for the distance learning college accreditation info. Or ask directly about it. When the said distance learning institution names an accreditation agency—whether it is DOE or CHEA in the U.S., The British Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in England, a named Private Colleges Accreditation Board in Canada, or any other Authoritative body—contact that named agency and check to see that the college is in fact accredited…NOT just licensed to do business.