5 Myths About Getting a Degree Online

Online Degree Myths

• You Cannot Transfer Credits
• There Aren’t Many Services Available
• Online Programs Have Easy Classes
• Online Professors Lack Experience
• You Can Easily Cheat

When you begin considering colleges, you might skip over online schools because of some of the myths about getting a degree online that you have heard. A common myth is that many employers look down on those with an online degree. As the number of schools offering these programs increases, this is just one of the myths that is no longer true.

Myth 1: You Cannot Transfer Credits

Online degree myths include one that states you cannot transfer any of the credits that you earn online to a more traditional college or university. The only reason you might have a problem transferring credits is because you went to an online school that does not have accreditation. As long as the school has accreditation, you can usually transfer credits.

Myth 2: There Aren’t Many Services Available

When you attend a traditional university, you can stop by various departments to take advantage of all the services available to you. Some students assume that they won’t have access to as many services when attending an online school. You shouldn’t worry though because many of these schools have the same departments available and give you access over the internet. There are career services departments available to help you polish your resume and prepare for job interviews, financial aid departments to help you with the FAFSA and even online counseling centers.

Myth 3: Online Programs Have Easy Classes

One of the myths about getting a degree online is that these schools offer easy classes that anyone could pass. The truth is that online schools are actually harder for some students than traditional schools. You won’t have a professor you can talk to after class or during office hours, and you won’t have a tutoring center that you can visit either. The classes that you take often require that you post on the discussion board a few times a week, submit papers through the system and take quizzes and exams. You need to put in the same amount of work that you would in a more traditional program.

Myth 4: Online Professors Lack Experience

There is a misconception that the professors teaching online students do not have much experience or that they couldn’t get a job at a “real” school. Most of the professors working for online schools have years of experience in the real world and a solid understanding of the topics they teach. When you attend a public or private college that has an offline presence, the same professors teaching classes on that campus will also teach classes online.

Myth 5: You Can Easily Cheat

Terri Williams of U.S. News & World Report created a list of the most common myths about online degrees that includes one about how easily students can cheat in their classes. As the popularity of online programs grew in the past, schools looked for ways to cut down on cheating. Many systems now include a plagiarism detector that automatically compares any work submitted to thousands of websites to find any references or resources not properly cited as well as work bought or stolen. These systems significantly cut down on the opportunities that students have to cheat.

Going to an online school is no different from going to a traditional college except that you do and submit your work online. Many state schools and private colleges now have online systems that let you earn your degree from home. As these schools changed, the myths about getting a degree online like the ease of your classes and the services available to students changed too.