Online Master's Degree

I have always said that a person is never too old to go back to school. I have argued this point with my brother in law. He went back to school to become an engineer. During his courses, he fell in love with all things mathematic and changed his major to become a teacher of mathematics at the high school level. Then he dropped out because his school schedule was interfering with his work schedule which was not flexible at all. I tried to convince him to take some online courses and plug forward, but he is now of the mindset that he is too old and his education will cost more than he will make upon graduation.

I feel very frustrated for him because I took the last year an a half of my undergrad studies online. I loved the freedom and the fact that I could work full time and still take care of my children and get my education, which would ultimately better myself and my family. In fact, I so enjoyed my online experience, I am now, four years later, obtaining my Master’s Degree online. Personally, I believe that the online learning experience is richer than a traditional, in class, education. I believe that online learning forces the student to pay more attention to what they are doing, thus committing it to memory in a deeper manner than what would be experienced for some in a traditional setting.

Recently, I was looking at online degree programs for my husband and my little brother. My husband works for the Department of Corrections. He wants to eventually move from the prison and into Adult Probation and Parole or perhaps juvenile probation. I want him to consider obtaining a Public safety masters degree because I think that would further his career in a more fulfilling as well as financially beneficial way. While researching the Lewis University and its online program, I found that Lewis has been listed as one of the best colleges in its region for the past five years. That is impressive to me because I believe that a person should be proud of where they obtain their degree, otherwise, the degree will not be worth much to the student, nor will the student work as hard for their degree. Further, I believe that any school that offers flexibility in both the time it takes to obtain a particular degree, as well as an accelerated pace to those students who want it, is important. It takes away the cookie cutter aspect of college and everything being uniform, which I believe is important to adult learners. Finally, I believe that more and more adults want to further their education and obtain degrees that were formerly unattainable unless a person was willing to quit their job and go to school full time. The idea of online university classes and degrees is appealing to a great number of professionals so the more programs that become available, the better the selection as well as the programs. That benefits everyone really.