Advantages Of Campus Degrees Over Online Education

Introduction

Online education has increased percentage wise compared to traditional education in the past decade. Eduventures, a research firm states that online degree programs have tremendously increased with approximately one per every ten students enrolling online. However it so happens that some of these online degree courses are not reputed due to non-affiliation and non-accreditation by state or university. However there is constant debate about as to which is more preferable and better the campus degrees or the online degrees. Further in this paper we shall see the aspects which are more benefitting whether campus degrees or online education.

Campus Degrees

Work prospects and internships are more likely to take place on a campus of a university than online. In-state tuitions may probably extend motivation for a campus-based education even further. The most essential difference between campus and online education is that of discipline as per critics. The campus atmosphere of studying in groups and getting attention from the teachers profit the students in many ways. Fields like science, engineering, healthcare etc., require a laboratory for practical work and experiments. When a survey was conduct using approx 270 small to medium sized firms as subjects hiring freshers and managers in fields like IT, accounting and engineering, most of them opted for people holding campus degrees. The courses on campus are generally two to four years degree programs the same as online courses. In consideration of both the systems of education, campus based education can be listed with certain special advantages as compared to that of online. The benefits are : (a) social interaction – peer to peer interaction and with the teachers gives more chances of building up a good network which is not possible in the online environment. Living, eating and participating in more extra activities helps the students to grow more. (b) Facilities – Student that enroll for on-campus education have an upper in the facilities they get like library, laboratory, sports etc compared to the students that have enrolled online. (c) Instructors – instructions and the interaction with teachers in person are more effective and can be arranged per student individually at fixed times. (d) Degree programs – on-campus there various options available for degree courses compared to online programs. (e) Structure – Scheduled timings help students to attain discipline on campus programs.

Online Degrees

Sloan Consortium, a research firm reported that online courses are created to improve student accessibility being a major reason. Online education saves time for students who have to travel a long distance for being educated. The student also develops independent thinking capability with online programs because there is no one to finger- guide them. Also the schedule is very flexible in terms that study at anytime. Eduventures, a research firm reported that in a survey 50% of their subjects considered online education equable to campus education and 10% of them considered it more advantageous. The advantages of online education are a few as: (a) Flexibility – you can study whenever you want suiting your own availability. And especially for the disabled students it is very convenient. (b) Class options – certain classes are not available on campus and have to travel for it to other campuses. Online courses eliminate these. (c) Economical – Online schooling is less expensive compared to the on campus schooling because much of the cost is eliminated such as transport, classroom accessories and eating out.

Conclusion

It is very difficult to say which option is better. There are advantages and disadvantages of both the courses. However more can be learned with research as huge information is available and at the end of the day it is your choice.

http://www.onlinecollegeguru.com/on-campus-colleges/

Chriz writes about online education and offers tips to students on choosing a college, taking up a course and offers information on choosing a career.