Online Degrees: Are They Worth the Money?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
For many, getting a degree at a traditional 4-year college or 2-year community college is not an option. You may have kids to take care of so 9am classes aren't realistic. You may be holding down a job and need the flexibility of an online degree program. How do you decide if an online degree program is worth the money?
Here are a few steps that may help you determine if getting an online degree is a good way to spend your hard-earned dollars (or a good reason to take on some student loan debt).
1. Will the online degree give you access to new career opportunities?
Do you need a specific skill set to advance in your current job? Do you need training to transition to a new career path? Before you decide you want a degree for a degree's sake, you need to understand what doors an online degree will open.
A good way to do this is contact companies that are in your desired field and talk with someone involved in hiring. Ask them how they view candidates who have received a degree from an online program and which programs and schools they consider the strongest. Find out whether getting more formal training through an online degree program will improve your chances of breaking into the field or advancing in your job.
You may also want to talk with graduates who have received online degrees from the schools you are considering. Learn whether the program was a valuable experience for them and if it helped improve their marketability to potential employers.
2. Is the online degree program a reputable one?
If you've done some of the work answering question #1, you have probably already started the process of evaluating a specific online degree program.
Another good way to determine if an online degree program is legitimate and reputable is to research their accreditation status. The U.S. Department of Education provides a way for you to search for accredited postsecondary institutions. This is probably a good starting place. For specific programs, there may be other sources. For example, the AACSB and ACBSP provide accreditation for business programs.
3. Do they participate in federal financial aid programs?
Paying for your online degree program is likely going to be a concern. As we always say, you should do your best to find scholarships and grants first since they are essentially "free money" for college. After that, federal financial aid programs are typically your best, most affordable options. You should check whether you'll be able to get Stafford loans to pay for an online degree program. These are essentially schools that participate in the federal government's Title IV program.
We hope these tips help you determine whether an online degree program is worth the investment of time, effort, and money. Start your search for online degree programs now!
Labels: admissions, college, online degree
College Admissions Officers May Be Checking Your Facebook Profile, But You Don't Need to Panic
Friday, October 3, 2008
You may want to be more careful what you post on your Facebook or MySpace profile, it could come back to haunt you. According to a Kaplan survey of 320 admissions officers, 1 in 10 had visited the profile of an applicant on a social networking process as part of their evaluation process for admissions.
The trend is not only present at the undergraduate level. Admissions officers at some business, law, and medical schools have also taken a look at social networking profiles in their decision-making process.
What Can You Do
While some may say, don't use these sites or don't post anything that you wouldn't want on your admissions application, that's probably an unrealistic demand. These sites can be great tools for connecting with friends, meeting new people, posting photos, or just having fun. Some of you probably check Facebook more often than you check e-mail.
However, there are a few steps that you may want to consider so that your profile does not come back to bite you.
Set Your Profile to Private
Most of the social networking sites, including Facebook and MySpace, have a way for you to adjust your privacy settings. It's probably a good idea to give full access to your profile only to friends. This will help you avoid having to decide every time you upload a picture, add an application, or post on a wall whether it's something you'd want an admissions officer to see.
Don't Mix Business and Pleasure
For those of you who may be artists, directors, or musicians, Facebook and MySpace can often be great places to showcase your work and share it with friends, family, and others. However, you're probably using the site for social reasons as well and everything may not be intended for the eyes of admission officers. If you want to send links to your portfolio to admissions officers, you should think about posting your work elsewhere as well. You may want to create a Flickr or YouTube account solely for your work and share links to these accounts as part of your college application.
Use a Little Judgment
We know that your Facebook profile may not be intended for viewing by admissions officers, or even your parents for that matter, but a little judgment may help you avoid some heartache down the road. If you're under 21, you probably should think twice about setting the photo of you with a beer in each hand and drool on your face as your profile picture. Illegal activity is probably not something you want to be highlighting for all to see. In fact, even if you're over 21, this photo may not be your best choice as a profile picture.
Labels: admissions, college, Facebook, MySpace, social networking
How Much is Your College Degree Worth? Salaries from Top Colleges
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Dartmouth comes in at #1 for all schools and the University of California - Berkeley tops the list for public schools when it comes to salary potential. According to the PayScale College Salary Report, Dartmouth graduates (with only a bachelor's degree) have a median mid-career salary of $134,000 while Berkeley graduates earn $112,000.
When it comes to starting salaries, the top engineering schools offer the best short-term return on your education investment. Cal Tech and MIT had the highest median starting salaries at $75,500 and $72,200 respectively.
We've included the top 25 schools from the PayScale Salary Report as well as a list of the top 25 paying degrees.
Top 25 Schools - Median Mid-Career Salary
- Dartmouth College - $134,000
- Princeton University - $131,000
- Stanford University - $129,000
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - $126,000
- Yale University - $126,000
- Harvard University - $124,000
- California Institute of Technology (CIT) - $123,000
- Harvey Mudd College - $122,000
- University of Pennsylvania - $120,000
- University of Notre Dame - $116,000
- Polytechnic University of New York, Brooklyn - $114,000
- Cooper Union - $114,000
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - $114,000
- University of Chicago - $113,000
- University of California, Berkeley - $112,000
- Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) - $111,000
- Rice University - $110,000
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) - $110,000
- Cornell University - $110,000
- Georgetown University - $110,000
- Bucknell University - $110,000
- Brown University - $109,000
- Colgate University - $108,000
- Columbia University - $107,000
- Amherst College - $107,000
Top 25 Bachelor Degrees - Median Mid-Career Salary
- Chemical Engineering - $107,000
- Computer Engineering - $105,000
- Electrical Engineering - $103,000
- Aerospace Engineering - $101,000
- Economics - $98,600
- Physics - $97,300
- Computer Science - $95,500
- Industrial Engineering - $94,700
- Mechanical Engineering - $93,600
- Math - $92,400
- Physician Assistant - $91,700
- Civil Engineering - $90,500
- Construction - $88,900
- Finance - $88,300
- Management Information Systems (MIS) - $82,300
- Philosophy - $81,200
- International Relations - $80,900
- Chemistry - $79,900
- Marketing - $79,600
- Geology - $79,500
- Political Science - $78,200
- Accounting - $77,100
- Architecture - $76,800
- Information Technology (IT) - $74,800
- Business Management - $72,100
Source: Payscale.com College Salary ReportLabels: bachelors, college, degree, salary, value, wage