Online Masters Degrees
How To Find The Masters Program That Is Right For You
There is nothing in this, or any job market, quite like an advanced degree. While the bachelors degree has sort of supplanted the high school diploma of 50 years ago, there is a growing consensus amongst experts that the typical masters degree has supplanted the place of the bachelors degree of 50 years ago. Of course, the PhD or doctorate degree is still so specialized and arduous, it remains rather sacrosanct, and is not a contemporary stand in for the masters degree of 50 years ago.
It needs to be pointed out, as well, that the number of masters degrees earned during the past 40 years has more than tripled. More than 600,000 masters degrees have been awarded in every major, field and discipline. Yet, more than half – 300,000 – have been awarded in only two disciplines – Education and Business Administration. A report conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, the most popular masters degree majors for the 2006-2007 academic school year broke down like so:
1. Education
2. Business
3. Health professions and other clinical sciences
4. Public administration and social services
5. Engineering
6. Psychology
7. Social sciences and history
8. Computer and information sciences
9. Visual and performing arts
10. Biological and biomedical sciences
In the not too recent past, the big knock on pursuing an advanced degree like a masters in education or business administration was that the time commitments were too tough, too arduous and too complex to reconcile. Most people, once they have graduated college with a bachelors degree, have to work full time to make ends meet. For many, this has made continuing and advanced education prohibitively impossible.
But, with the advent and growing popularity of online and distance education programs at colleges and universities all over the United States and the world, that fact is no longer true. Most working professionals are now able to continue their full time jobs by day and earn a masters degree in their off time.
With online and distance education, there are nearly infinite ways for students to work full time at their normal hours, and attend courses online on their own time. All of the work, materials, lectures and exams are 100 percent online, and this allows students to take courses entirely on their own time, tailored to their own schedule, from the comfort of their own home or office.
And, there are hundreds of different resources available to students today through online and distance education, which can help them find the program that is perfect for their needs as both a student and as a working professional. There are more than 100 online or distance education programs for Masters in Business Administration alone, which means that you can find an MBA program tailored to your specific needs and desires.
And, the best resources begin with a search of any of the numerous online directories that catalog online and distance education masters degree programs in all fields of academic study. If you are interested in education, business, finance, nursing, health, science, math, social services, history, public administration or anything else, there is an advanced degree program available for you today.
And, you start finding which masters degree program is right for you by making a list of all of the schools, colleges and universities that offer masters programs online or through distance education in your field of choice. Then, you need to cross check this list with the U.S. Department of Education Web site to see which ones are accredited and which ones are not. There is no sense in spending your time working for an advanced degree in a program that is not accredited.
