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1 1 of 6 3/15/2011 6:25 PM Online University Reporter A trusted resource of information related to online education. Online University News College and University Articles Law Articles The Online Professors s Guide to Higher Education Increasing Student Retention In Online Education The Online Professor s Guide to Higher Education On March 15, 2011, in The Online Professors's Guide to Higher Education, by Dr. Dani Babb The Value of an Online Degree a Fresh Perspective By Dr. Dani Babb For-profit online universities and colleges find themselves enduring the ridicule of many in the nation s capital, Wall Street and those sitting on their perches in their Ivory Towers. Many students want to go back to school, but need to do so online due to employment (who can afford to be fired in this economy?!), family obligations, cost, or any of a number of other reasons. Some are deployed overseas serving our country and are finding it more difficult to decide whether or not to forge ahead in the world of online ed, particularly given the recent press. As an online professor, faculty mentor, and teaching coach for adjuncts and online professors, I have a different perspective than many commentators. (And, by the way, unlike some who recently lobbied Congress to get gainful employment laws passed affecting only for-profit education, I am not short-selling any educational stocks). I have the perspective of an individual who has written a lot, coached a lot, mentored a lot, seen more than I care to admit (the good, the bad, and the ugly) and helped many students achieve the highest level of education possible a doctorate by working closely with them on their research. I ll be blunt. Some schools I have worked for in the past, frankly, suck. They treat faculty poorly and they do not require that students work with the integrity that is required to make a degree valuable. Some frequently side with the students on grade concerns, leading to inflated grades and disgruntled faculty and contributing to an overall negative outlook on online education. Thankfully, in our capitalist society, these bad eggs are being removed from the marketplace at a near-frantic pace; they re now the rare exception and not the rule. The schools that remain, for the most part, offer a quality education and are doing their best to enhance their degree programs. When asking yourself if an online degree is still valuable today, you merely need to look at unemployment numbers by degree to see the intrinsic value of education. Then, it s a matter of choosing the school that best meets your own personal needs. (I ll share my thoughts on this topic in my next column!) Take a look at this graph, from the acclaimed Calculated Risk Blog, which shows unemployment rates by level of education:

2 2 of 6 3/15/2011 6:25 PM Notice a trend here? For those with a bachelor s degree, the unemployment rate today is near what economists argue is the natural unemployment rate for the market as a whole. To date, there have been no scholarly studies done that indicate a degree from an accredited online institution would impact this statistic (but I look forward to one of my online learners taking on this research challenge takers anyone?). Higher education is, and will stay, valuable. In fact, its value will only increase as we move into a more uncertain, highly competitive market with tighter legislation and cut-backs from every angle imaginable. Studies are just being released interviewing executives at companies to see if they will hire a student that is a graduate of a for-profit institution; almost across the board the answers have been yes, it doesn t matter to us. While many are most costly, the flexibility is worth it to so many of us. We also know that degrees impact pay and in a big way. This chart, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, says it all:

3 3 of 6 3/15/2011 6:25 PM Those of you living with only a high school diploma know all too well the real-world financial challenges this chart reflects. In 2009, median weekly earnings with a professional degree were nearly 250 percent higher than those with a high school diploma only. Calculating your personal return on investment and opportunity costs before making the decision to return to school would be a wise choice. So, we know it s valuable to go to school. We know it impacts your ability to get a job, and to stay employed. We know it impacts your pay in a way that almost can t be overstated. And there are other qualitative benefits (as a quantitative researcher, it pains me greatly to use that word) as well, like how confident you feel in your abilities and how the technological and communication tools you learn to use in your courses, particularly when taking them online, will make you all the more competitive in the workplace. And that s something no one can take away from you not even the twenty-dollar-a-day workers in India answering your questions about Windows 7. About the author Dr. Dani Babb Dr. Dani Babb is an internationally acclaimed economic and financial strategist and an expert in real estate, online education, and entrepreneurship. Dr. Babb has authored seven books on topics ranging from online teaching to business investing, and her work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. An in-demand speaker and consultant, Dr. Babb appears regularly on international news media outlets, including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, and has been featured on NBC s Today Show. Dr. Babb also is an on-site Faculty Mentor at California Southern University. Visit Authors Website Share this article!

4 4 of 6 3/15/2011 6:25 PM Leave a Reply Your address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Name * * Website Comment You may use these HTML tags and attributes:<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> Welcome to Online University Reporter Thanks for dropping by! Feel free to join the discussion by leaving comments, and stay updated by subscribing to the RSS feed. " The Online Professor s Guide to Higher Education " eduarticles Catagories College and University Articles Commonly Asked Questions Distance Learning Law Articles Online University News PhD vs. PsyD The Online Professors's Guide to Higher Education Recent Comments Judie Lemery on President Obama Calls for New Steps to Prepare America s Children for Success in

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