Check for these factors when considering attending school via the Internet.

1. Does the school offer financial aid? Students at legitimate schools – those the
   US government recognizes – can receive financial help from the government through grants and loans. A school that does not have this aid available is a no-no.

1. Is the school accredited? Six regional (geographic) accreditation boards grant schools official recognition, and you want to attend a school licensed with the appropriate regional board.

1. Do the professors have higher education degrees? Schools with professors who have a bachelor’s degree only or experience are not teaching at an accredited university. Many of these programs will offer “certificates,” but there is nothing official about them.

Participate More Than Required. Most online courses have minimum participation requirements. Exceeding them is a good sign to your professors of your commitment to the course.

Be Inquisitive. Asking good questions both of the material and the course is a great way to get professors to see that you are invested in your coursework.

Contact Your Professors. Avoid unnecessary emails but feel free to email your professors about questions outside the classroom environment (but related!). Asking for guidance for research projects or running an academic issue by a professor is a good way to make a good impression.

Lack of Input from Instructors

Instructors for online courses typically don’t make much money for teaching. That means many of them do as little as possible to maximize their hourly pay. Others simply believe the online environment requires students to do more peer teaching, and this belief can lead to little guidance from instructors.

Loss of Social Interaction with Peers

Social interaction doesn’t mean frat parties and campus protests. You will miss out on having a drink with peers while you discuss a class or meeting with your group to give each other support for an assignment. Though you can simulate these interactions through remote options, they don’t have quite the same intimate feel to them, which some students find frustrating.

Lag Time for Problem-Solving

In a real-time classroom, a student can pose a question and receive immediate feedback. In an online environment, the student must wait – sometimes up to 24 hours – for an instructor’s comment. Should the student need additional clarification, the process may take another 24 hours and could stretch out over a few days for what would take 5 minutes in a traditional classroom.

These negatives are very real and important to many students. When considering whether you should pursue an online education, seriously think about whether you can live with these downsides before you enroll.

Parents of Small Children

Going to school with kids is really tough, but if those children are preschoolers, then the demands they place on your time in regard to eating and sleeping schedules in particular making a traditional education hard to obtain. Online schooling allows you to work after the kids are in bed and around important family days.

Frequent Work Travelers

People who travel often can’t come to class for exams or to turn in papers. Going to school online lets you keep your job – and thus maintain your career path – while working toward your degree.

Workers in High-Demand Fields

People who work in fields with strong time requirements – such as nurses – may want to consider online school because it permits more flexibility. You can pick up that extra shift while taking an accounting course without much hassle.

People Who Need to Work Full-Time

In general, a traditional education assumes a student isn’t working 40 hours a week elsewhere. Most online programs, however, assume that you are a “working adult,” giving you more flexibility in terms of the hours you are in class.

While this perception is likely to change over time, particularly now that many top-tier schools are offering online programs, the short-term consensus is that a degree earned through an online school is someone less worthy than one earned in a brick and mortar classroom.

This discrepancy brings up the question of how – or whether – to address this issue with potential employers.

The notoriety of your online program will determine how best to handle the situation. Schools such as the
University of
Phoenix and
Kaplan
University are primarily online universities, though the

University of
Phoenix offers campus classes in many locations. A potential employer will note that this school is online immediately.

Your best recourse is to include skills on your resume under the degree area. Use bullet points with the most marketable skills you learned. Business majors may include “studied employment law” while computer science students should put any specific languages they learned.

Should your school not be known as an online school, you do not need to put on your resume that you attended online. Simply put your degree, date earned, and university name. Few employers will inquire as to how you took your classes, and you can avoid the issue altogether.

University of
Phoenix, require students to participate on a set number of days per week. Unlike going to class, you get to choose the days you participate, but you will need to “check in” by posting comments or completing assignments more days than not. The flexibility works well in that you will be able to sign in at whatever time works for you. If you’d like to answer discussion questions on your lunch break, you’re free to connect and do so. Need to work after the kids are in bed? That’s okay, too. Just keep in mind that the flexibility of online schooling has its limits.

The flexibility of going to school  online also doesn’t mean students won’t spend any time working on schoolwork. That means students need the ability to work several hours - often estimated at 15 - every week to work on schoolwork. Squeezing that time out of an already packed schedule can be tough - even with the flexibility to go to school any time of the day.