You~ve Just Earned an Online Degree...But Will Employers
by Gerte Brandley
http://www.hkdegree.com
For a variety of reasons, many people have opted to do
their college studies online, and receive a degree for
successfully completing the coursework in their respective
fields. While that system offers a great convenience,
there may be some drawbacks to it when the time comes to
pass that degree on to a prospective employer, leaving some
to be concerned about whether or not their online degree
is actually worth the time and money that it took to earn
such a document.
Before committing yourself to a particular online degree
program, check to see what form of accreditation that they
may possess. If you~re dealing with one that doesn~t have
accreditation, your so-called ~degree~ may only be the
worth the paper that it~s printed on. Unless you~re simply
taking courses for personal enjoyment, it~s important that
the school is accredited by the proper agencies. If the
accreditation is in order, then your online degree will be
accepted by most employers.
If you want to transfer credits to a different institution,
either now or in the future, accreditation is also
important.Any credits you earn for these purposes must be
from an online school that is accredited, or you will not
be able to transfer the to another accredited school. All
of the credits from this non-accredited school will be lost.
You should be able to transfer these credits toward your
degree at a new school, if your online school is accredited.
You will then earn a degree as if you attended that school.
An accreditation agency that grants accreditation to online
schools is the Distance Education and Training Council. If
the school you are considering has been approved and
accredited by this organization, your online degree should
be accepted by most employers and other schools. Each
employer or school has their own policies concerning the
acceptance of accreditation of this organization. Attitudes
regarding online degrees have changed over recent years
and many employers, but not all, now recognize them.For the
most part, the stigma of "mail order" degrees is a thing of
the past, and about two thirds of colleges now accept them.
In many cases, the online school is accredited by a
professional organization such as the American Library
Association. This degree is, of course, only accepted by
organizations specifically in that profession. For example,
if you have your online degree in Library Sciences, most
likely it will be accepted by a library, but perhaps not by
a government body or school system to work in the library
of that government or school. These types of accreditations
are limited, and therefore their acceptance is also.
Schools that are not accredited at all probably won~t be
accepted by any employers or other schools. Especially
large employers, who probably have their own policies
regarding educational requirements would not consider them
valid. If you apply with a smaller employer, however, you
may have the opportunity to prove that the course content
will qualify you for the job. It may hinder you if an
accredited degree is required by an employer later in your
career or if you intend to go on for more education.
Although there are certainly valid online schools which
possess all of the proper accreditations that are necessary
to offer a legitimate degree, there~s still a sense of
inferiority in many cases, when viewed by other schools or
employers. If you~re truly planning to earn a degree in an
online environment, then, it~s critical to ensure that all
of the necessary accreditation is in place, and to be
prepared to defend your degree to some of those employers
or schools who will still view your degree as something
less than a traditional college degree.
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