About Online Schools in Virginia
Online Schools in Virginia is a valuable resource for finding flexible, distance learning programs to help prepare you for today’s highly competitive job market. It’s no secret that employers are constantly raising the educational bar for job applicants in this economy. Earning your degree or adding additional educational credentials to your existing training can spell the difference on the hiring line. Degree programs through Virginia online schoolsallow you to build career relationships, gather on-the-job experience through internships, and bolster your resume.
In 2010, The Commonwealth of Virginia created a framework to increase online learning opportunities to all schools offering a multi-divisional education. This commitment by the Commonwealth to recognize Virginia online colleges and set academic standards began a steady deployment of online schools in Virginia. Today, students with work or family commitments can still earn a degree or pursue additional degrees to advance in their professions – all without having to commute or relocate to college.
Online Schools in Virginia: Five Big Benefits
You’ll find that Virginia online colleges offer a comprehensive range of programs at the undergraduate, post graduate and certificate levels. Whether you’re looking for a degree that maps directly to your career choice or a certification to enter or advance in a field, you’ll appreciate the breadth of online offerings. You can set your own schedule and log on to online colleges in Virginia from any location that has an internet connection or smart phone signal.
-
Flexibility of Schedules and Programs
Online colleges in Virginia operate offer asynchronous learning modules, meaning class is in session whenever you log in. Students enroll online, download course materials, and participate in collaborative ventures. Courses use a wide range of materials, including chat rooms, email threads, multimedia lectures, streaming audio and whiteboards. Classes that require laboratory or internship participation combine online lectures, papers and exams with coordinated meetings held in locations convenient to the student. Collaborative assignments – done online – help you build lifelong career networks and peers.
-
Instant Access, Total Recall
In a traditional, campus-based college setting, students must either live near the school or commute. You have to be in your seat on time, take comprehensive notes, race off the next class, hurry to get back to your current job. Miss a lecture, and you fall behind. But with Virginia online colleges, your lectures are available 24/7 for review, you can communicate with instructors and student service administrators by email, and deliver all your assignments with the click of a mouse.
-
Potential Cost Savings through Virginia Online Colleges
The cost of moving away to college or to pay for commuting/parking can block student opportunities to complete their education. Can you afford to miss time at work or hire childcare? Virginia online schools will not charge you for attending football games, for dormitory housing, parking lot fees, and other charges unrelated to your career development. Many online schools in Virginia won’t charge you non-state fees or otherwise penalize you for your residency.
-
Collaborative Learning at Its Best
You work at your own location, but you’re not isolated. Online colleges in Virginia not only encourage collaboration, they insist upon it! You’ll work with your peers and instructors on projects that make sense for your career choice. Students often report they make long-term bonds with classmates who are working in the same field, doubling their resources and professional contacts. Online, collaborative projects often reflect real-job experiences where co-workers conduct research via email, sending papers, multimedia and more through email.
-
Career Focus and Online Colleges in Virginia
Online schools in Virginia recognize that their students want results. The online model has proven to be so successful that many brick and mortar colleges today offer at least an online component to their campus-based courses. For employed students, your classwork can be applied directly in the workplace. Instructors at Virginia online colleges encourage you to use your current job challenges as the focus of your assignments. Employers can track your development as you increase your value to the organization.
Why Virginia Online Schools Work
Students who may be leery about the merits of earning a degree from online colleges in Virginia should have another look at what employers say. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on the 2011 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management that found that 87 percent of HR professionals had a much higher regard for online degrees than they had five years previously. Some 79 percent told researchers that they had hired applicants with online degrees that year.
As reported on CNN, a 2010 Excelsior College and Zogby International survey found that 83 percent of CEOs and small business owners said “that an online degree is as credible as one earned through a traditional campus-based program.”
Clearly, online colleges in Virginia offer an invaluable opportunity for students who decide attending a campus-based school is neither cost-effective nor convenient.
Virginia Online Colleges and the Competitive Landscape
If you think the job market is competitive, just wait. For February 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a Virginia labor force of 4.2 million, with an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent.How do your plans fit into the competitive landscape? Virginians are some of the most highly educated professionals around. Some 34 percent of all Virginia residents age 25 or higher hold at least a bachelors degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a number six percent higher than the national average.
Now let’s look at the wider picture. The Virginia Department of Education reports that during the 2011-2012 school year, 90,391 secondary school students earned their diplomas. If 34 percent of them intend on completing at least a bachelors degree in the next five years, there are going to be many highly qualified job applicants going forward. How you set yourself apart from the pack has everything to do with increasing your skills.
Virginia online colleges today can be a springboard for success for busy students who have everything to gain.