Student Voices

RSS

Interested in learning more about online education?

Hear what current online students have to say.

admin

Dan

Sharon Cece

Sharon Cece

Florida State University

Jeff Davis

Jeff Davis

University of Phoenix

Jen Zeman

Jen Zeman

University of Maryland University College

Find Your Degree

« Financing Options
My needs for an online degree. »

Criteria for Selecting an Online Curriculum

Posted by Sharon Cece on December 15th, 2008

Candidly speaking, when I decided to return to college to complete my degree I did not initially consider online options. I believed that returning to Florida State was out of the question for obvious reasons (the main being a super long commute), and so I looked at local colleges to finish what I started. Since I was used to being a traditional student, I assumed I would return on-campus.
My plans changed, however, when I was clicking through the FSU site out of sheer wishful thinking. Somehow I stumbled on their distance learning FSU Online program, but was dismayed to find a very limited number of degrees offered with none pertaining to my major (unless I wanted to suddenly switch from Business Administration to Nursing, which was unlikely). Yet, the more I thought about it, the more the idea of studying and matriculating online appealed to me. Having small children was my biggest push toward an online curriculum, as well as the appealing thought of taking tests right from home when I wanted or from wherever I happened to be at the moment.

And so began my search for online degrees. Since I had never attended college online I wasn’t quite sure at first what I was looking for in an online program. First and foremost I wanted to apply the credits I already had toward my returning degree. Convenience and flexibility was a criteria, yet pretty much default with most online programs. Cost was another consideration and I did find a wide spectrum of fees with local schools as most affordable. However, I admit that I kept gravitating back to FSU, thinking this was my chance to finish my degree where I wanted, though their online program was more money than most of the local colleges I was considering. As well, I wasn’t sure how I would apply my credits to the online degrees that were offered there. But I suddenly felt determined and, through this new distance learning option I was presented, I saw a chance to get my degree exactly how I wanted (online: the antidote for long commutes) and where I wanted (FSU: my #1 choice).

Fortunately, persistence pays. I snail-mailed, e-mailed and called a number of helpful representatives and assistants and finally reached a wonderful advisor who informed me that most of my Business Admin courses could be applied or converted toward an Interdisciplinary Social Science degree, which was offered through the FSU Online program. Another advantage: even though their online course fees were higher than local online programs, all of my existing credits would be applied to my continuing degree since my prior credits were from FSU to begin with. This would save me both time and money in the long run. That clinched it. Now my course was set, and the rest was easy– just a matter of applying and paying for it. Okay maybe not so easy….but once you decide what you want and how you want it, the rest somehow falls into place.

Tags: , , , ,

Read more of Sharon Cece's blog.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Student Voices, What I was Looking for in an Online Program. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • add to del.icio.us
  • add to technorati
  • add to Digg
  • add to Google
  • add to stumbleupon
  • add to My Yahoo

2 Responses to “Criteria for Selecting an Online Curriculum”

  1. Francesca Says:
    December 15th, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    Since cost is a major factor in returning to school, I’d like to add that it was a major factor in mine. As a single mother with two children and working full-time, I simply could not afford (time-wise and money-wise) tuition and expenses. I assumed the educational benefits of my company pertained to traditional classroom, and was elated when they approved my request for distance learning (this was before it went online!). At that time, it took me eight years to complete and $30,000 of the company’s total funding for me to achieve my BS in Business Administration. Many companies will reimburse for education. At the time I said to someone, “I will be 50 before I get my degree” and they said back, “You’ll be 50 anyway - you might as well go for it”. It is one of my crowning achievements. Go for it - no matter what age.

  2. Why APA Accredited Doctoral Programs? | MMCBS Says:
    December 15th, 2008 at 7:09 pm

    [...] Criteria for Selecting an Online Curriculum | AchieveYourCareer Blog [...]

Leave a Reply