According to GetEducated.com, an e-learning research and consulting firm, there has been a sharp increase in the acceptance of distance degrees since 1996.  In 2000, 79% of corporate managers rated a distance degree “as good as” a residential option.  Fewer than 50% of corporate managers held this opinion 10 years ago.  Most employers realize the changes in technological advances in education, and have embraced them.  

Fortune 500 companies value online learning 

Everyone is afraid of what employers think about distance learning, yet corporations have traditionally used distance learning to keep employees informed and educated on the job. Many fortune 500 companies offer training programs and degrees online for their employees.  Even companies in Asia are looking to take advantage of the technology to standardize and streamline their training function.  So the business industry actually values the self-discipline and self-motivation that students acquire from online education. 

There are still some employers, especially those in more traditional sectors, were skeptical of online degrees.  I was planning on pursuing an online Ph.D. and asked some of the professors in my previous university for some advice.  Most of them still thought that online degrees are not as good. 

Maybe it is the fact that many online institutions do not require GMAT or GRE as an entry requirement.   E.g. University of Phoenix does not require students to take the admissions tests to get in because administrators do not believe the tests are a good predictor of how well students will do in school.  I am a classic example of it.  Troy University required all students to take the MAT, but I did not even meet their minimum requirement.  Yet, I graduated with a 4.0 GPA.  So I have to agree with University of Phoenix on this. MAT, in particular, has cultural biases in their test and is not a good predictor for academic success for international students. 

Are online degrees as good as traditional ones?

It is almost like asking “is writing a letter as good as writing an e-mail?”  Online education is no more or less than going to a traditional college when it comes to quality.  Just like there are thousands of colleges and universities with varying degrees of quality and reputation - Online learning is simply another means of obtaining your degree.

Stanford University today offers online master’s degrees in certain sciences, but still most elite schools have looked down on online degrees.  However, most schools with online MBA programs claim to see no reason to distinguish between their online offerings and their traditional programs, and no need for students to even mention their degree was earned online to potential employers.  If you get a MBA from Duke, the school said that the degree is the same whether a student did it through the Weekend or the traditional Daytime MBA programs.  So technically you do not have to mention that your degree was earned online.

Additional skills from online degrees

So online degrees can be as good as traditional ones.  In fact, there are some additional skills that you will learn from distance learning. It is true that an online degree will not provide some of the on-campus social interaction your peers might have.  For some students, they feel that it is more difficult to make contacts and discuss ideas online.

However, personally I feel that a student can learn more in an online environment because there is more independent reading, much more writing, and a great bunch of time management to deal with.  You are forced to put your views in writing, which can be much more difficult than just a quick answer in class.  So you have to think through your answer and also learn how to effectively communicate in the written form.  So I would say an online degree is a hard-earned degree, and not a bogus one.

Conclusion

In conclusion, drawing distinctions between concrete and virtual classrooms is beside the point.  Education is not a place – it is a process.   One of the richest and most successful men in the world, Bill Gates, said that  

“GREAT EDUCATORS HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT LEARNING IS NOT SOMETHING THAT’S LIMITED TO THE CLASSROOMS, OR THAT SHOULD BE FORCIBLY UNDERTAKEN UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF TEACHERS.” 

Don’t be afraid of online degrees or what employers may think about it.  If you are challenged at a job interview, show them that you are a good motivated employee, and tell them that education is not a place, it is a process.