Assignment on Online degree

An online degree is an academic degree (usually a college degree, but on occasion the term will include high school diplomas and non-degree certification programs) that can be earned mainly or completely through the use of an Internet-connected computer, rather than attending college in a conventional campus setting. Related: 2011 point and shoot camera reviews – Enhancements in technology and the rising use of the Internet worldwide have led to a proliferation of online colleges that award relate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.
The objective of educational accreditation, as indicated by the United States Department of Education, is to ensure that programs offered by institutions of higher education meet satisfactory levels of quality. ENQA, the European affiliation for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, describes the role of external quality assurance in education as one that “comb ines both accountability for the reassurance of the public and an goal and developmental role for enhancing quality in institutions”. About online education, it is essential to avoid unaccredited diploma mills that offer fake degrees, as they are unfortunately common. Students seeking valid online degrees should get evidence of accreditation from an correct accrediting body.
In the United States, online colleges that are completely accredited have earned a widely recognized form of university accreditation from one of six regional accreditation boards. Each of six geographic regions of the United States has one of these boards, a non-governmental agency that oversees and accredits degree-granting institutions headquartered in their regions. The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognize the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) as the accrediting organization for distance learning institutions and education pr ograms that offer online degrees. But, DETC accreditation is typically (though not universally) viewed as inferior to regional accreditation, and regionally accredited schools may refuse to accept move credit from DETC-accredited schools more frequently than they could refuse credit from other regionally-accredited schools.
Outside of the United States, other national and regional standards of accreditation hold, and can be largely supportive of distance education. As an example, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, or Open University of Catalonia, was accredited by AQU, the Agency for Quality Assurance in the Catalan University System (a full member of ENQA), since its inception in 1995, and was called a “significant success story” as “the world’s 1st uninterrupted, and sustainable, virtual university”.
Online education enables accredited higher learning for persons living with physical disabilities, busy full-time employees, soldiers, those living abroad, and stay-at -home parents, among others.
The view of the quality of online degrees compared to on-campus degrees differs. While most big online colleges are regionally accredited, the public estimation of their quality is in dispute. A national survey of hiring representatives showed that a preference toward on-campus degrees exists. In many cases, hiring executives were unwilling to think about applicants with an online degree. Many experts argue that degrees in many fields are more accepted online than in others, while many programs are less suited for online-only schools.
A survey by the Distance Education and Training Council found that 100 of employers who responded felt that distance education program graduates performed better on the job consequently of their degree (as compared to their last performance). As well, employers felt that an employee receiving a distance education degree compared favorably, by knowledge learned, to someone with a inhabitant degree. On the othe r hand, The Chronicle of Higher Education stated in January 2007 on a Vault Inc. Survey that found 55 of employers favored conventional degrees over online ones. Forty-one , but, said they could give “equal consideration to both types of degrees”.
The Sloan Consortium, an organization funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to preserve and improve the quality of distance education, publishes regular reports on the state of United States distance education. In its 2006 report “Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006,” it stated that “in 2003, 57 of academic leaders rated the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those in face-to-face. That number is 62 , a small but noteworthy increase”.
In many cases, an online degree can be effectively indistinguishable from a degree earned in a campus-based program. The instruction is frequently exactly the same, with the online degree containing no special designation. An example o f this is the degree offered to Columbia University students who earn a degree through the Columbia Video Network (CVN) versus the campus-based program. The professors, courses, homework, tests, and eventual transcripts and diploma are same to that of on-campus students.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a distance education study established on the 2001-2002 academic year at United States 2-year and 4-year degree-granting institutions that were qualified for U.S. Federal student aid. The study stated that 56 of institutions surveyed offered distance education courses. The study also found that public institutions were more most likely to offer distance education than were private institutions.
The Sloan Consortium, established on data collected from over 2,200 U.S. Colleges and universities, reports that almost 3.2 million students took at least one online course during 2005 (a important increase over the 2.3 million stated in 2004). As in dicated by the same report, about two-thirds of the biggest institutions have completely online programs.
Until 2006, United States students enrolled in online degree programs were not qualified for federal student aid unless at least half of their program was campus-based (a law established in 1992 and called the 50-percent rule). In February 2006, that law was repealed, making federal student aid in the form of federal loans, fundings, and work-study available in the U.S. For students enrolled in an qualified online degree program at an accredited Title IV-eligible institution.