The Advantages and Disadvantages of Getting an Online Education

April 9th, 2008 • Filed Under

You’ve read all the brochures about online education and how it has great advantages in terms of flexibility and cost. But what they don’t tell you is how that there are people who started their college education after they had a family, fulltime job, and a home mortgage and how long it actually took them to get that degree. Some of these same people might tell you that if they had to do it over again, they would have taken advantage of an online education program because they could have used the money for something else and they lost valuable time while their kids grew up. So let’s take a deeper look at the advantages and disadvantages an online education has when stacked up against a traditional degree program.

Look at the hidden costs of a traditional degree program as compared to online education. Every semester, the number one problem at college campuses is parking. And because it is such a problem, parking stickers for students are very expensive. Another advantage is that there is no such problem with an online education program. If you really want to park somewhere you can do so outside of your favorite coffee shop with a wi-fi connection.

A disadvantage with traditional programs is the cost of food in general is higher. Why is it that fast food restaurants love to be located next to college campuses? This is because traditional students practically live on campus even though they have a residence on record elsewhere. Traditional students are constantly eating the fast food and raiding the snack machines. Imagine how expensive that is.

An advantage is that you don’t miss out on valuable family time when enrolled in an online education program. Although keep in mind that you will have to designate a specific area in your home to not be disturbed while you are in your virtual “classroom.” You are still going to be busy and unavailable during class time however the big difference is that you will be there. The disadvantage with traditional programs is that family members tend to worry when one family member is out late at night down at the college campus.

Your current employer is not as concerned as you think. In other words, whether you got your degree traditionally or through online education is irrelevant to your current employer. It is not a disadvantage but just that your employer has other priorities. Your current employer evaluates you on your ability to get the job done. Most adult students who get their degree go right on doing the same job. Where the degree becomes important is at the point you have to change jobs. Then the college degree is used to filter out the top applicants for a single position. So why not get your degree quicker with an online education program and then get your graduate degree the same way?

What should you think about the lack of human interaction? You will see that most cite as the number one disadvantage of an online education is the fact that there is no human interaction. All communications are handled in text. While this might be a disadvantage it certainly should not rule out an online education program.

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