THECOLLEGEDEGREES.COM BLOG

With your skills and talents, you could have played the lead role in the 1980s movie “War Games” - without learning how to act. Your teachers and parents probably spent considerable time wondering whether you would earn a college degree or a cellblock number, because you knew just a little too much about configurations, bypassing settings, and password encryption.

While you probably could earn your keep on the black market, wouldn’t it be a lot less dangerous not to live on the wrong side of the law? Enroll in a college degree program instead and maximize your earnings - without maximizing your sentence!

Chances are, you don’t have the time or inclination to spend several hours each day with the latest copy of PC  tucked under your books while the professor lectures endlessly about Maslow’s hierarchy of education. Why not optimize your output and get a college degree online instead? At least then you can spend your free time focused on things that are actually important  to you!

Distance Associate Degree programs offer students an excellent opportunity to maximize their skills and manage their time. With the convenience and flexibility that characterize online learning, you will have plenty of extra time to educate your friends about trojans, firewalls, and worms. And, with a network security degree, your skills and experience will be in high demand.

Stop wasting time wondering how to avoid spending more time in a classroom. Instead, get an online computer degree and put your skills to the test as you learn. While dreaming of being  a computer hacker may sound as exciting and dangerous as a pirate’s life, don’t fool yourself. It’s as much a dead end as Davy Jones’s locker.

For years, online degree schools have been warning people against diploma mills and fake degrees from online universities. Educators and site sponsors such as www.thecollegedegrees.com have been warning people to check to make sure the colleges are accredited. Now, however, these fake college degree programs have added a new twist to their masquerade.

Some of these schools are now urging students to get an accredited graduate degree online. Others are claiming to offer accredited undergraduate programs. They proudly post accreditations on their websites or offer information about their accreditation with their brochures and advertisement mailings.

The only problem with these online degree schools, however, is that they are NOT ACCREDITED AT ALL! They are posting false information about the status of their programs. Furthermore, some schools are failing to list the fact that not all of their online degree course offerings are accredited.

If you are considering a distance degree, check reputable websites such as www.degree.com, wwwthedegree.com, or www.thecollegedegrees.com to find schools that are actually accredited. Don’t waste your money and your time falling for someone else’s scam.

Because this is a relatively new phenomenon, it remains to be seen how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will handle complaints concerning this problem. Fake accreditation does constitute false advertising, and these diploma mills may find out that they have bit off considerably more than they can chew with their latest ploy.

I was very surprised when I first learned how many fake college degree programs are preying on people who want to get a distance degree. In fact, when I began to look around at all the university programs advertising on the internet, I began to wonder how anyone could tell whether the degreees were real or whether they were products of disreputable diploma mills. I became curious about how a future student could tell a scam from the genuine article.

So I started doing a little bit of research on my own. I started looking at the online programs that were offered to students, and visiting online degree university’s websites. I quickly learned a few things about separating fact from fiction when it caming to earning a distance education degree.

First, if a university promises to grant a degree within an amazingly short time frame, don’t be fooled. If you are trying to get something for nothing, you are probably going to end up with nothing instead. So don’t trust the programs that tell you you can complete a PhD online program in less than a year even if you don’t already have a Bachelor Degree. It just isn’t going to happen.

Second, if you have never heard of the type of diploma being offered, it probably isn’t real. Don’t fall for a scheme that promises you a degree in holistic law practice - because there is no such degree. And don’t try to earn a college degree at home without taking taking a number of online degree courses.

Finally, websites such as Thecollegedegrees.com offer reliable information about top online schools. Don’t be misled by another scam artist who wants your money. Ripley once said that “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Don’t let it be you. Make sure the college is regionally accredited and has a good reputation before you send them money or apply.

Going back to school to earn a college degree sure has changed. When I went back to get my Master’s Degree in 1989, I had to do it the old-fashioned way. Commute 90 miles a day, four days a week to a campus attending the traditional class with students and a professor. If I was going back to school today, I would consider an online degree from an online university.

When I went back it was eight years after I had earned my Bachelor’s Degree. I wondered if I could get back into the school mode – lectures, tests, papers. Did I still have it? As it turned out I did, but today I might ease myself back into school by taking some online courses first even before I entered into a degree program. I think that would have helped to relieve some of the anxiety of going back to school after a long time off.

Another great advantage of an online degree program, there’s no face to face with problem teachers or fellow students. It is a different kind of relating when you’re talking to someone online. I think that is an equalization factor. A professor can’t judge you on how you look or because of a personality conflict. Working in the familiar surroundings of home on your own computer does wonders for allowing you to ask challenging questions that you might not ask if you were in a crowded classroom. It also does wonders for test anxiety.

If you’re headed back to school consider a distance learning school and earn your Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree online. Believe me it is the best way to ease yourself back into school.

I remember thinking when I went to college that I was so glad I had left high school behind. No more catty comments, no more focus on whose designer jeans were classier. No more nasty comments based on the color of my hair or someone else’s skin. I imagined that everyone would be focused on which college degree programs were best for them, and what courses would help them accomplish their life goals.

Then I walked into the student commons and heard one girl comment, “He’s such a geek!” She was talking about the guy with the thick glasses and scruffy jeans across the room. I saw students from different ethnic and racial backgrounds in small clumps against the wall, and was disappointed to see that nothing had really changed. We might all be getting a degree, but the same issues with which we’d struggled all through high school were still before us.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to be involved in online degree courses while teaching at a local university. I was amazed at the free interaction between students. Many spoke openly of the struggles they had encountered before they decided instead to earn a college degree at home. They talked about how much more rewarding and painless it was to get a college degree online rather than by attending a traditional college campus.

In the last few months, I saw an interesting article stating that the majority of students from minority backgrounds were flocking toward online degree universities. I was puzzled by this, until I thought of the free interaction I had witnessed between students in the online class with which I had helped. Students were able to share their thoughts and feelings and ideas openly - and no one ever behaved with disrespect toward another.
It made me wonder - do we lose our prejudices when we don’t see our differences, or are distance degree students just more enlightened in that regard? Are they people who have the ability to focus on what really matters, and grow beyond the “high school” behaviors of labeling and discrimination? Are distance education students more mature than traditional college students, or are their priorities more focused?

For most of us in the United States, the nearest university is, on average, less than 30 minutes from our house. Not all of these schools have the degree programs that interest us most, but we do have easy access to higher education. Sometimes, you have to travel farther for college degree programs that interest you, but they are still available.

Now imagine instead that you are in another country, perhaps alone or with your family. You may or may not be fortunate enough to speak the language of that country, but the idea of earning a college degree at a foreign university can be very challenging. For many military or professional people who live overseas with their family, it is much easier to get a college degree online.

Top online schools offer these excellent distance learning opportunities. Furthermore, the wide variety of online degree programs makes earning an adult college education much simpler and less complicated than struggling through the application and admission process at a foreign university. These online programs make learning much less painful.

If you are a military person or located overseas on business, search through the list of distance degree programs to find the one that benefits you most. Next, search through the list of degrees to find the top online college that offers that distance degree. Then, click on the name of the university to get more information. Don’t delay your education any longer; start today!