Tweet

Why An Online Degree Fast May Not Be Right

Today you can access information about anything instantly sitting in the comfort of your home simply by typing in the topic to the search engine of your choice. Trains around the world can hurl passengers from point A to point B exceeding 200 miles per hour. If you have the financial means a jet could carry you around the world over a few days or less if you’re not particularly prone to jet lag.

So what’s wrong with earning an online degree fast? After all, everything else in the world is speeding up so why should I expect instant gratification by getting an online degree sooner rather that later?

A perfectly acceptable question, but the answer holds the truth.

Earning an online degree fast in and off itself is focusing on a perceived result rather than the benefits of the effort.

First, be warned against any online degree program making outlandish claims of students being able to complete a degree in under two and half years at a minimum. My experiences with most honest programs offered through traditional colleges just don’t support that type of compressed time frame.

I’ve personally seen claims of one and a half years. In a traditional college to earn a degree in that amount of time you would carry a load of 60 plus credit hours a years to achieve the minimum credits required to confer a degree which is 120. Remember that is the minimum.

Second, evaluate the reason why you want to pursue an online degree. Is it a requirement of your job now? Is it simply to say I have a degree? Do you want to learn new skills to change professions? Are you wanting to attend law school, earn a master’s, or pursue an MBA? These types of questions need to be answered before you spend a single dime on any degree.

Why? This is answered simply enough – you don’t want to waste time or money earning an online degree fast that doesn’t match your needs or give you a benefit for your efforts.

Finally, why spend money to earn an online degree fast that will cause you to incur debt without the possibility for financial reward for having earned it. For example, an undergraduate degree in psychology is one of the easier degrees to earn whether by traditional means or online delivery. However, unless you plan to push for a PHD the cost of earning it versus what you can do with it based on the degree itself may not be worth it. This means the field of psychology generally requires a masters or doctorate degree to truly make a living in that career path alone.

In contrast, a degree in information systems management which requires more time and effort to earn carries greater opportunity for landing a higher wage position based on the merit of the degree alone without pursuing further education beyond the undergraduate level.

I don’t want to steer anybody away from pursuing a passion. After all, you should enjoy what you do for a living as it does consume more of our time than anything else we do, but understand the cost versus the future reward.

Be clear with yourself about “why” you want that degree and focus on the benefits you hope to gain rather than simply earning an online degree fast.

If you do you’ll be rewarded with an online degree that might have taken a bit longer to earn, but will give you more opportunities than you might have imagined.

Back To The Online Degree Graduates