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What do you do if you don't have that college degree?
In today's marketplace, having a college degree does not necessarily mean you know more than those without one, but it does say a lot about you as a person. It says that you have initiative, drive, ambition, and tenacity; all things that most employers look for in their employees. But what do you do if you don't have that college degree? With the boom of the internet, a college degree is as close as your personal computer! More and more colleges and universities are offering online degree programs, and seeing more and more students, traditional and non-traditional, take advantage of their distance learning programs.
This site will help you find all the information you need to choose a school and a degree that is right for you and your circumstances. Some of the basic things to consider include:
- What type of work interests you
- What kind of degree will most help you in securing a job in that field
- Which school do I choose
- What about accreditation
- How to apply
- How to pay for your education
- How long will it take
Starting with your interests, decide on an area that you have already worked in and enjoyed or an area in which you have some natural ability or an area in which you have reason to believe you would do well. There are several helpful links to aide you.
Next, you will need to narrow the field down to a specific area. For example, if you have decided that education is the area that interests you, you will still have to decide if you want to be a teacher, a principle, a professor, and aide to a teacher, or even a media specialist or speech pathologist. Let's say you decide you want to teach. Now you will need to further narrow your choices to teaching pre school, early childhood education, middle school, high school or college. If you choose middle school, high school or college, you will need to decide on a specialty area. So you see, it will take some effort on your part just to determine the degree to pursue.
Now you will have to choose a school, university, or college. For distance learning or online degrees, it really doesn't matter where the school is physically located. What matters is how good the school is and that they are an accredited college or university. Again there are links on this website to help you find out what the different accreditations mean and which ones are recognized by all other schools. Take your time in this area and do your research and homework.
There are a lot of unscrupulous people just waiting to take your money and give you a worthless diploma. You don't want to end up like so many others; on the nightly news as having been humiliated and even fired for presenting a worthless degree as part of your work history!
Once you have decided on the degree you want to pursue and the school you want to attend, you will need to actually apply. For most colleges and universities at least part of this process can be done online. You will need to contact any other schools you have attended to have your transcripts sent to the college you are hoping to attend. There is usually a small fee associated with this service. You may apply to several different schools, just remember that you will probably have to pay an application fee to each, so you will want to narrow the choices down to only the ones you most want to attend.
When you are choosing you prospective college, you may want to consider and explore the different types of financial aide available to you. Many colleges have scholarships that are awarded for very specific criteria. And much of this money goes unused each year, as there are no candidates that fill the specifications listed for recipients. There are also low interest loans that can be deferred until you have graduated and sometimes even until you have secured a job. There are plans to pay your loans for you in exchange for working a set number of years in certain areas that have a high demand and low supply of workers. So spend some time in this area checking out every available option the financial aide office for each college is a great place to start.
Once you have determined the degree, the school and how you will finance your education, you will want to set a time-line. Certain degrees require that you finish all your work within a certain timeframe. This is especially true of advanced degrees. So once you begin to work on your degree, you will want to continue in a timely fashion so that you will not loose credit for classes and courses that you completed earliest. Check with the registrar's office of your college to see how long you have to finish a degree once you have begun.
We are sure you will find all the tools you need to successfully choose and begin the process of earning you first or advanced degree. Thanks for using our site. We hope it has been helpful to you and wish you happy learning!
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