How to Earn a Bachelors Degree Online
Many jobs are starting to require no less than a bachelors degree in order to be hired. For those that hire workers without a bachelors degree, many of them require workers to advance their education in order to advance. In the past, this meant many people took jobs they did not desire so they could complete a college degree. Now people are starting to find that the internet offers quite a variety in online bachelor degree programs. Taking advantage of these online programs, many people are continuing their education while holding down a full-time job. For some people, their company helps pay tuition if they advance their education.
In order to earn a bachelor's degree online you must be a self-directed, motivated learner. You must also be willing to commit to at least four years of continuing education online. Approach an online degree program as you would a regular campus program. Research fields of study, or ask your employer what sorts of classes they would reimburse you for and find an online degree program for that major. Some online bachelors degree programs have admission requirements stating that you need an associates degree or college credits before applying.
If this is the case, you may want to attend a community college first so you can complete your bachelors degree online. You can also enroll in an online associate degree first to get a feel for online learning and earn college credits.
Fields like nursing and dental hygiene offer bachelors degrees online as long as you are already a certified or registered nurse or hygienist. Other programs such as liberal arts, psychology, sociology, business management and criminal justice only require the basic admission requirements such as SAT scores and high school transcripts. Send in all the necessary information and fees to the schools you are interested in. Just because a class is online, you will still need to be enrolled into the school and possibly accepted into the school of your major. Once you have been accepted into the baccalaureate program, start enrolling in online classes.
You will need to start your bachelor degree program with basic education courses such as math, science and English. After the first sixty or so credits are complete, you will be able to begin taking classes tailored to your major. These are the courses some employers will reimburse you for, or at least offer partial payment. An online bachelor degree program does not differ much from an on-campus degree program. You will still need textbooks and supplies along with any special technological requirements.
If your bachelor degree program requires field experience, your school should work with you to schedule convenient times to complete your field experience. Some of the field experience work can be handled online like turning in reports and papers and reporting to your field experience supervisor. If a bachelor degree is offered completely online, most likely you will not have to worry about field experiences.
In the end, you will be able to earn an online bachelor's degree while continuing to build your work experience and bring in an income.
