Online education, also known as distance learning, used to be considered a less popular way to obtain a college degree. In fact, it wasn’t even possible to obtain an online degree before Charles Wedemeyer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison brought the idea to America in 1964. As more colleges started to require students to purchase computers and use the internet, more people decided that they could use their technology skills to enroll in online university programs. The number of students obtaining online university degrees has increased by 30% each year for the past few years, and that number continues to grow. Eduventures, a leading authority in education research and consulting, even predicts that one out of every 10 college students will be in an online degree program by 2009. So, besides the obvious boost in online university enrollment over the years, here are some other interesting online university facts and online degree facts:

Pay Less Gain Just as Much

Gain Technological Advancements

Better Preparation for the Future

Continue Your Education

Earning an online degree is becoming more and more popular with the leaps and bounds of internet innovation.  More often students can take online courses at the convenience of their own time.  With all the convenience of an online education, how do you keep yourself motivated and put the necessary time needed for class, without physically having to be in the classroom? Time management skills are the answer to taking away the most out of your online university classes.  

Make a game plan, and get yourself organized

Don’t get too comfortable

If you are looking for an online degree or looking for a traditional campus education, Times Higher Education has made it easy to compare the best colleges in the world. Here are the top 10 most prestigious universities with a link to the whole list below.

1. Harvard University (United States)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)
3. University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
4. University of California Berkeley (United States)
5. Stanford University (United States)
6. University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
7. Princeton University (United States)
8. University of Tokyo (Japan)
9. Yale University (United States)
10. California Institute of Technology (United States)

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov 10, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Quality Matters, a nationally recognized, faculty-centered process that certifies the quality of online courses, has honored Capella University with a 2011 Making a Difference for Students Award. The award recognizes organizations or individuals that exemplify Quality Matters' focus on student learning and the use of Quality Matters standards, practices, and processes to improve student success. Capella is an accredited online university that has built its reputation by providing high quality online degree programs for working adults. As of Sept. 30, 2011, more than 35,000 students are pursuing an online degree at Capella, with nearly 80% enrolled in Capella's online doctoral degree programs and online master's degree programs. Capella was recognized for its commitment to collaboration and its integration of the Quality Matters principle of continuous quality improvement across the organization, with the goal of student success. The award was presented at the 3rd Annual Quality Matters Conference held Nov. 7-9, 2011, in Baltimore, Maryland. "We are committed to implementing the Quality Matters standards and are systematically building and evaluating our online courses based on these rigorous, research-based standards," said Deborah Bushway, PhD, Capella University's interim president. "The Quality Matters standards assure that our courses promote learner engagement and provide students with the tools and information they need to be successful. Our students clearly agree. We regularly survey them and they consistently indicate a high level of satisfaction with courses developed using the Quality Matters process." "We reviewed many impressive nominations this year, so being selected is a significant honor," said Ron Legon, executive director of Quality Matters. "Like others who have embraced the Quality Matters process, Capella's implementation is faculty-driven, but their effort has been strengthened through their effective collaboration with other members of the academic staff and faculty leadership, especially those focused on course and curriculum development. We're pleased to recognize them with a 2011 Making a Difference for Students Award. Their students have been the clear winners."  

DeVry University made the biggest jump on the 2011 Houston Business Journal list of the top colleges and online universities. DeVry moved up five slots from No. 17 to No. 12 this year, while Lone Star College System retained its No. 1 ranking. The rankings are based on fall 2010 enrollment. Lone Star had 69,339 students enrolled, while the University of Houston moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 this year with 38,752 students. Five new higher learning schools, Alvin Community College; Everest Institue (Bissonnet, Greenspoint and Hobby campuses); and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center joined the colleges and universities list.

With the popularity and success that many brick and mortar schools are having with their online university classes, Southeast Missouri State University decided to add online courses to their own course list. Southeast Missouri State is not the only school that has realized offering more online courses could benefit their school. Due to the accomplishments that other Missouri universities are having with their online university classes, Southeast is only one among nine Missouri universities offering more online classes. The new online areas of study range in topic, but are said to include education, agriculture and environmental science, to name a few. This addition of online courses will be distributed evenly among the nine Missouri universities. This means that students at Southeast will be offered the same new online courses as students at, say, The University of Central Missouri, and will be taught by the same professor.   How is this possible? Well, with online courses it can be done quite easily! The students enroll in the online course through their own university. If the teacher of the class is stationed at a different university in the system, no matter! The professor simply sends the student’s host university the grades at the end of the semester. The other universities that will be involved in this collaboration of online study are as follows:

1. Southeast
2. The University of Central Missouri
3. Northwest Missouri State University
4. Missouri Western State University
5. Missouri University of Science and Technology
6. Missouri State University
7. Truman State University
8. The University of Missouri
9. The University of Missouri-St. Louis

The following tips are a collection of statements financial aid offices, and not just those for online universities, will tell you while you are having difficulties applying for financial aid. Don’t get pulled into the hype. Remember, if you hear the following statements don’t worry – there is a way out! “Our low tuition rate means less financial aid.” Many parents who haven’t saved enough for college tell their gifted high school seniors not to consider pricey private schools. Ironically, those colleges may actually be the more affordable alternative. “The more expensive and prestigious the school,” says Bedford, Mass., financial planner Tom Brooks, “the more likely it is well endowed and can meet 100% of need,” thanks to alumni donation campaigns. “You might be sending your kid to a state school that [for you] costs more than a Harvard or an MIT or a Stanford.” To estimate how likely it is that your preferred schools will give you substantial aid, check a few statistics with the colleges themselves or using the annual “America’s Best Colleges” survey in U.S. News & World Report, available at usnews.com for $14.95. Look for two figures: the percentage of undergraduates receiving grants meeting financial need, and the college’s average discount, which is the percentage of a student’s total costs — including tuition, room and board, and books — covered by grants. If they’re both 50% or better, you can feel assured that your needs will be fairly met. “You’ll pay dearly for early decision.” Early decision is a big temptation at elite colleges: Students can apply months before other applicants, as long as they promise to attend if admitted. In most cases, the college offers these applicants a better chance of acceptance. But when it comes to getting aid, early decision can backfire. Why? Your commitment to attend if accepted means you have less leverage. “If you went to an auto dealership and threw yourself across the hood of a car and told them you would do anything to have that car, you’re not in a very good negotiating position,” says Linda P. Taylor, a certified college planning specialist in Agoura Hills, Calif. If aid is your top priority, you’re better off skipping early decision. Especially if your kid’s SAT scores and GPA are above the college median, and she excels in extracurricular activities. If she applies in the spring and gets admitted, she’ll have a better shot at negotiating a rich aid package. “We don’t buy your pauper act.” Every year parents are tempted to cheat the aid system by trying to look poorer on paper — by going on a spending spree, perhaps. There are, however, some perfectly acceptable ways to adjust your assets to maximize your aid potential. Step one is to trim any assets held in the child’s name — in particular, custodial accounts (UGMAs or UTMAs), up to 35% of which the aid system will say should go toward next year’s tuition. For assets in the parents’ names, the rate is a much lower 5.65%. “Technically, parents can’t touch UGMAs except for the benefit of the child, above and beyond food and clothing,” says Tom Brooks. But “you can use the UGMA to pay for things like summer camp, tutoring, school trips or a car [for the kid], thus diminishing the account.” But if you’re looking to sock away some free-floating cash in your name, you could give up to $11,000 each — any more will trigger the gift tax — to grandparents or other relatives outside your household, who could then help pay tuition bills; aid officers can’t touch their assets. If your kid is a few years from college, be sure to contribute the maximum to 401(k)s or IRAs. Colleges won’t expect you to tap retirement savings to pay your share of tuition. “We’ll judge you by your house . . . and your car.” Fortunately for homeowners, the value of your house doesn’t get considered in most aid formulas. On the flip side, if you’re paying a fat mortgage or sky-high property taxes to live in an elite suburb, colleges likely won’t be too sympathetic. Here’s why: To determine aid, colleges calculate your expected family contribution from your adjusted gross income and assets. They usually don’t consider what your real disposable income is or how cash-strapped you might be after paying your stack of bills. “A moderately high-earning family spending most of its income on housing and other necessities may find that their expected family contribution is difficult or impossible to meet,” says Roger Dooley, co-owner of Web site CollegeConfidential.com. All is not lost, however. While most colleges do not automatically factor in regional cost-of-living discrepancies, some may if you ask. When writing or speaking to an aid officer during the application process, emphasize “involuntary” costs like taxes over voluntary ones like your mortgage, Dooley suggests. Your car is normally considered an involuntary expense, but elite schools sometimes ask what cars you own and when you bought them. If they’re too new and too swank, they may be considered voluntary expenses. “We’ll let you borrow more than you can afford.” Vickie Hampton, an associate professor of financial planning at Texas Tech University, knows that being well educated can make you poor. A colleague of hers, she says, racked up more than $100,000 in debt while earning a Ph.D. in English. “There’s very little probability of her paying that off in her lifetime!” Hampton says. The predicament isn’t unique, as more students take on excessive debt to finance degrees that lead to jobs in relatively low-paying fields. Unfortunately, college financial aid offices rarely discourage these decisions. While there are statutory limits on certain government loans — based on lifetime borrowing caps — there are fewer limits on loans from private lenders such as Sallie Mae, KeyBank or Citibank, three of the biggest players. If your student must borrow, exhaust federal programs first. Perkins loans or subsidized Stafford loans — both of which you may be offered after filing a Fafsa — are best; their 5 and 5.3% rates, respectively, blow others out of the water, and interest doesn’t accrue until the borrower leaves school. The Perkins, which you pay back directly to your school, is the slightly more flexible of the two, offering longer grace periods. Beware of unsubsidized Stafford loans, which your college may offer if your family doesn’t qualify for subsidized loans. Although these loans have similar low rates, interest will accrue from the moment the loan is made, even though payments aren’t yet required. While parents may also consider a federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) — which currently carries a 6.1% rate and has a rate ceiling of 9% — a home equity line may be a better bet, as it offers more generous tax benefits. Find more information on government loans at www.studentaid.ed.gov.

Congratulations! You’re enrolled in an online university, taking your classes, and on your way to that infamous degree that will help raise your earning potential and give you multiple options for a career. Now, what’s next? Before beginning classes towards your online university degree, you probably gave a lot of thought to the area of study you wanted to pursue and what career path you wanted to take.  And, if you’re like most students, you’ve probably changed your mind a few times along the way.  Whether you’re certain of what job you’d like to have after graduation or if you’re still undecided, career planning should be something you continue to focus on throughout your online university experience.

Develop a Plan

• Consider your interests, skills and strengths to narrow your career options down to just a few specific positions.
• Research the requirements needed for those positions.  Do you need a specific online university degree?  Experience from an internship?  Additional training or certification?

Explore Your Options

• Talk with your academic advisor or professors. These professionals are immersed in their fields and are constantly receiving the latest news on employment opportunities.  Additionally, they should be able to give you personalized advice since they have seen your strengths and weaknesses throughout your university experience.
• Contact your online university’s career center. The people who work in this office are trained to think like a hiring employer, so they will be able to help you with everything from your resume to a job search.  They know what positions are available in every field and may be able to help you determine what career best suits you.
• Review job descriptions on job search websites. There are a lot  of online job databases out there and they all have very detailed descriptions of positions available, nationwide.  With a little searching you can find salary range, training requirements and past experience needed for the jobs you find interesting.

Get Prepared

• Perfect your interviewing technique. Job interviews, like public speaking, can make anyone a little nervous.  Practicing your interviewing techniques with professors, family, students, or other professionals can help prepare you and calm the jitters you may have prior to a big job interview.
• Create the perfect resume. A concise, organized resume is your key to getting an interview.  Learn the necessary details to include and how to highlight your strengths in order to have the best chance of standing out.  Have an advisor or someone in your intended career field read over your resume and provide you with constructive feedback.
• Draft a cover letter. A cover letter states why you are the best candidate for a position and serves as an opening to your resume.  It should be very well-written and focus on your qualifications. To learn more about cover letters and resumes check out http://www.gradpower.com/.
• Make a list of personal and professional references. Many employers will ask for references of both a personal and professional nature.  Usually relatives are not permitted to be references.  Ask a few contacts ahead of time whether they would feel comfortable providing a reference for you, so that they are prepared if they are contacted. 

Start Applying

• Contact your online university’s alumni association
• Local employment office
• Check your local newspaper’s want ads
• Browse online job websites
• Ask family and friends for any recommendations

The benefits of an online university education are limitless. Choosing an online university that benefits you personally takes research and time, but what many people do not take into consideration is the time to figure out if an online university education fits you at all. Some consider an online university to be easy and that being an online student would be simple. Think again! The online university myths about it being less demanding than a traditional education aren’t necessarily true. In fact, the structure, library and social structure that a brick-and-mortar school gives you aren’t there to help you through your online education. To be sure that choosing an online university is the right option for you here is six qualities of highly successful online university students.

1. You’re good at time management
   • Having the freedom of deciding where and when you do your work and study is extremely liberating… if you’re actually going to do it. Not having someone tell you which chapters to read when can be hard for some people, and can make a person fall extremely behind in school work. If you don’t know how to schedule time out of your day to work/study, and more importantly stick to it, than you will have serious problems with participating in an online university. Discipline is a huge component of time management.
2. You’re an independent learner
   • Some students work best when there are people to study with – hence the development of study groups, study partners, TAs, etc. You do not have any of this when you learn in an online community. Now, this does not mean you will be totally on your own with no human interaction. There are interactive features of an online education like IM, discussion boards and emails but not having the face-to-face contact might be too much for some students to take.
3. You have excellent reading and writing skills
   • Being able to write coherent papers and read long text books is a necessity in any upper level school environment, but being able to articulate your feelings and concerns in emails to your peers and teachers takes solid writing skills.
4. You aren’t afraid of technology
   • Know the basics of Microsoft Word before even considering an online university education. You don’t need to be a technology guru to participate in an online class, but knowing Word, Excel and PowerPoint along with having a full knowledge of e-mail capabilities and discussion board etiquette will go a long way and could be the make it or break it aspect of an online university career.
5. You’re good at setting goals
   • This skill goes almost hand in hand with being able to manage your time efficiently. Setting goals is a skill you will need to have in order to have any chance of success at an online university. Setting goals can come in the form of setting dates for assignments and papers that are due to setting how much research you want done by a certain date.
6. You have your own space
   • One of the best assets of a traditional school is the amount of space to get away from it all and get work done! There are libraries, cafeterias, empty classrooms, and open spaces for individuals or groups to study and get work done in. When you choose an online university, you do not have that luxury. Having your own space, whether it be your own room, your own apartment, or your own Starbucks to get work done at, having space set aside where you know you can get work done is a necessity.

What’s that old saying? With the good come the bad? Take it with a grain of salt? No good deed goes unpunished? Unfortunately, they seem to be true in the light of the 42 online financial aid fraud rings that have been convicted since 2005. With the increase of online university enrollment comes the higher possibility for online financial aid fraud. According to a new report by the Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General, there have been 215 fraud participants since 2005, cashing in about $7.5 million in restitution and fees to the online universities they swindle.  In fact, about 17% of the Office of the Inspector General’s cases involves financial aid scams. Why is this happening now? The reason online universities have seen an upswing in the amount of financial aid fraud is because federal aid laws were changed in 2005 to coincide with the boom of online learning.  Previous to 2005 colleges could not participate in federal aid programs if more than half of their student body were enrolled in distance-learning, or online, courses. Many of these fraudulent rings apply for financial aid for individuals who do not intend to take classes at all, or who are completely unaware of the application. One case involved an inmate of a South Carolinian prison who applied for $467,500 in aid in the names of her fellow inmates. The funds were al sent to the same address in the form of checks or debit cards, and the inmates were none the wiser that their names were helping their fellow inmate cash in on some big bucks. Colleges are fighting back To prevent this onslaught of financial aid fraud colleges are fighting back. Stricter identification verification techniques are being implemented, as are requirements of participation, grades, etc. to receive financial aid at online universities. Many online universities and community colleges have also hired teams with the specific job of identifying and exposing fraudulent cases in applications for the Pell grant.