Thursday, July 18, 2013

Are You Ready to Complete an Online Degree?

There has been a huge increase in the number of people registering for online degrees over the last few years. This is no huge surprise as online learning has made it possible for people who otherwise not be able to get a college education. The problem is that a large number of people are rushing out and starting online programs with thoughts about how they will benefit from completing their degree. Few put any real thought into the actual process of getting a degree and as a result a large number of people never finish.

One of the reasons for the very low online degree completion rate is that people underestimate how much work is involved. Combined with the fact that most people want to get it done as quickly as possible and it is fairly common to see students registering for too many courses at one time. It is called a full time course load for a reason, it requires a full time commitment. If you have a job and a family it is not particularly realistic to think that you are going to be able to carry a full course load. You are going to have to work at a slower pace which unfortunately means that it will take longer for you to get your degree done.

The other issue that a lot of people really struggle with when it comes to online degrees is motivating themselves to do the work. One of the great advantages of online learning is that it allows you to set your own schedule and study when you want to. While this sounds great the reality is that a lot of people need to have somebody to tell them when to get to work. If you can't get yourself to work you are going to really struggle with online learning.

The last thing that you want to do is spend thousands of dollars on tuition to get halfway through a degree and end up not finishing. To make sure that this doesn't happen you have to make sure that you are actually ready for online learning. This means that you have to have the necessary time available to do the work. If you only have a an hour a day to study you are going to have to limit yourself to one course at a time.

In a lot of ways online learning is self employment, you have to take responsibility for getting it done. The best way to do this is to schedule time for your studies and then stick to that schedule. Creating an office where you can be left alone to study is also helpful. Going in prepared will greatly increase your chances of completing your degree.

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