Travel for a Job? You Can Still Earn a Masters Degree Online

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by Guy C. Goodwin

Travel for a Job? You Can Still Earn a Masters Degree Online

There's nothing like being able to travel—and call it a job. The freedom, the flexibility and the fun make a traveling career that much more rewarding.

But is there still something else missing in life? Maybe in order to advance to the next level, you need more education. Or maybe you would just like a change in your career.

You can't afford to go to college, mainly because you can't afford to quit your traveling job. Not to worry. The same freedom, flexibility and fun that come with travel also come with earning a master's degree online.

You're studying something you love, something you've always wanted to do, and something to truly build a career on. When you earn a degree online, you are also free because an online course allows you to work at your own pace. An online education allows you to set your own schedule. It allows you to still keep your fulltime job and work at home or even elsewhere on a laptop computer. You can study without the pressure of a fast moving class, and also speed through the lessons you understand, thus earning your degree in a shorter period of time.

When you earn a master's degree, as opposed to a bachelor or associate's degree, you open new doors for your career. Job prospects start to increase and employers start to value you, not only as an employee, but also as an authority in your chosen field. Many workers with a master's degree in hand can start to call the shots and rise above midlevel management.

What you earn is what you get credit for. Yes, there are legitimate online educational courses that offer a master's degree. They are not to be confused with diploma mills, which offer to sell you a bogus degree and provide phony references. There are many colleges, both online and regional, that can offer you a legitimate master's degree and are fully accredited.

Accreditation means that agencies in association with the Higher Education Accreditations (CHEA) and the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) have evaluated the school's standards and practices and have granted their degrees as transferable and recognized their achievements in higher learning.

Historical Quote

There is always a degree of ridicule that attends a disappointment, though often very unjustly, if the expectation was reasonably grounded; however, it is certainly most prudent not to communicate, prematurely, one’s hopes or one’s fears.

—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)

How does one go about choosing an online university and start on their way to earn a master's degree? Here are some reminders to ponder the next time you travel—and think about your career.

Are you self-disciplined and motivated? Will you still be able to earn a degree and study intensively when you are not working? Just because online courses are more convenient than traditional schools, does not mean they are easy to complete.

Is your computer equipped to handle the online university's software? Some schools are now including advanced software in their lessons, with full video and audio features. Will you be using your home computer or a laptop? Can your laptop access the Internet or will you need to use a phone line, and thus, a dial up connection? Some software programs might include live conferencing or streaming video footage and could possibly not work on anything besides a broadband Internet connection.

Are you pursuing a definite career goal? Have you spoken to employers in the field you are interested in? How do they feel about online colleges? Would they accept an online master's degree from an accredited school? Would they expect the graduate to have practical, hands-on experience beyond what a textbook can teach, and does the online college provide for that? While some fields, such as a job in government or in a hospital, might question an online master's degree with no coursework, other growing fields like in technology, marketing and media, are usually more willing to accept the online degree as an equivalent to a traditional degree.

Is the teaching staff qualified and ready to help? Always check the names and profiles of your instructors, and verify that indeed they are qualified to teach you (and not the other way around). Verify and investigate every possible aspect of the online course, from the curriculum, to the reputation of the school, to any extra features involved including mentoring or coursework, and of course, the overall price. Don't purchase an online course, priced at thousands of dollars, until you thoroughly research all of your options.

Do you travel for a job? Would you still like to earn a masters degree online? No problem. A traveling job no longer impedes a person's ability to seek higher education and further his or her career. Thanks to the Internet, there truly is nothing a person can't achieve according to his or her determination and a checkbook.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Travel for a Job? You Can Still Earn a Masters Degree Online" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by SloanSemester.org.

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