Undergraduate Degrees Remain the Most Common Online Degrees
Degrees Include Associates, Bachelors, and Undergrad Completion
Distance educators make hundreds of undergraduate degrees available over the Internet. Undergrad degrees remain the most common type of online program. Distance learning environments prosper due to the type of students to whom such programs appeal—undergraduates, over the age of 30, with skilled jobs and few opportunities for face-to-face college experiences. Only a decade or so ago, the legitimacy and value of an online education was held in fairly low regard, but according to most education administrators today, the learning outcomes of online degrees are nearly head-to-head with their traditional counterparts.
Types of Undergraduate Degrees
Associates degrees are as popular as Bachelors degrees. Evidence remains that the majority of online students pursue distance learning paradigms when faced with obstacles that preclude them from traditional environments. Common obstacles are family and job.
Almost every college major one could imagine may be found packaged into online Associates and Bachelors degree programs. But the laws of supply and demand prevail, which means that less popular, even elusive undergrad degrees may not be quality options. In some instances degrees are evidence of an over-stimulated marketing campaign that aims to hit on every keyword possible in the online degree realm. The largest providers of undergraduate online degrees are the major distance learning universities, such as the University of Phoenix and Drexel University Online. Smaller, more selective clusters of undergraduate degrees populate college and university distance learning programs. These may closely emulate the traditional on-campus degrees available at each institution.
Popular Bachelors Degrees
Bachelors in Business Administration degrees continue to underscore the power of business and industry, as well as the inherent competitiveness of the job market. Bachelor’s degrees are also popular in the field of criminal justice and in nursing.
- Associates in Business degrees offer valuable industry fundamentals, albeit limited. Graduates of a two-year degree such as this may seek to earn their Bachelors or the most popular business degree—the MBA. This degree prepares entry-level professionals for jobs in business as assistants and in low-level management.
- Bachelor in Business degrees take prepares entry-level business professionals for low- to mid-level supervisory or leadership roles. Degrees lead naturally to MBA programs.
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees are typically offered as completion programs. Most nurses have their two-year degree. The BSN is the industry standard for nurses and affords them excellent career mobility, both laterally and vertically.
- Bachelor in Criminal Justice degrees provide interdisciplinary glimpses of the legal system and crime in general. Specific coursework may prepare graduates for jobs in corrections, law enforcement, and computer forensics.
Bachelors Completion Programs, sometimes called Undergraduate Completion, comprise a new order of online degree driven by the academic demands of students with partial undergraduate degrees. One of the most common and traditional Bachelor completion programs is the RN-BSN program in Nursing. This has been a traditional educational staple within an industry where Associates degrees are most common. Now, similar programs have been developed that are tailored to more general undergraduate completion requirements. This emphasizes the influence that online learners impose on the distance learning industry.
