You’ve seen the ads on television encouraging students to
get a degree online, work at their own pace and save time and money. For some
students, online courses are a great way to earn a degree or certificate,
especially if their work or family schedules make it difficult to commit to a
class that’s held at the same time every week.
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But just like choosing a traditional brick-and-mortar
college, choosing an online program means doing your homework before starting
classes, including making sure you know how to pay for them.
Studies show that the number of students who complete, or
graduate, from their online degree or certificate program is lower than those
who enroll in traditional college courses. But while you might not finish your
degree, the student loan debt will remain, as well as a higher risk of
default.
In many cases – but not always – an online program may be a
cheaper alternative to obtaining a degree at a school’s physical campus. Just
as with any big purchase, it’s important to shop around to see which school
offers the best value for the credential you are seeking. The luxury of online
learning options is that the location of the institution is no longer a
restriction to the choices available.
While you can obtain federal financial aid for many online
education programs, there are some restrictions. The most significant
restriction is attending a school outside the U.S. While you can obtain federal
student loans to attend some foreign schools, regulations do not allow any part
of that program to be online, even if it’s just a single class.
If you do need to dip into federal or other financial aid
resources to afford college, it’s all the more important to ensure the quality
of the program is high. Ensuring the program has been accredited by recognized
regional or national accreditors is one way to verify that the program meets at
least minimum standards – and increases the chances of your credits being
transferable if you should decide to attend a different school midway through.
Some schools are starting to refuse to accept online
transfer credits, regardless of accreditation, due to what
they say is low standards in some online programs.
It’s also important to note that you must be enrolled at an
accredited institution to receive federal financial aid and most other state
and private aid. Your schools should be able to tell you right away if they are
accredited and if so by whom.
Online education may also offer a higher risk of
overborrowing than a traditional program. Even though your tuition and fees may
not be any cheaper, the remainder of your cost of attendance should be
significantly cheaper as you won’t be incurring additional transportation or
room and board expenses than you had prior to enrolling in school.
While that is usually the case, schools are required to
offer similar cost of attendance totals to online students as they do to
students attending the same program on campus, which means a high possibility
of being offered more loan funds than you’ll need to pay the cost of the
program. While it can be tempting to hang on to those extra funds, they can add
up quickly to a higher student
loans in India debt than you expected.
The Department of Education’s College Navigator is a great
tool to help consumers evaluate all these traits as they research online
programs. The site includes statistics on a school’s graduation rate, debt
level, student loan default rates and net cost, among other items, and can be
valuable for comparing schools and their online – and other – offerings.
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