Online Air Force Education Programs & Benefits

6 February 2012

Service members can benefit from higher education opportunities while they are still in the military. The Air Force has granted service members the chance to earn degrees while they serve the nation. Service members have a huge responsibility when serving in the Air Force. There are online degree programs that allow them to handle these duties and private responsibilities simultaneously. They can take classes when they have the time on nights, weekends and while they are deployed away from their home base.

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Online Nursing Degrees

Online Degree

The Internet evolution has drastically changed the education landscape. What was once considered “Distance Education” is now deemed “Online Education” where the method of teaching and learning has become virtual for students across the world.

Online Degrees are available from a wide variety of internet sources to include accredited Universities to fake Diploma Mills that churn out diplomas without any requirements other than payment.

Receiving an Online Degree provides numerous advantages to education seekers who are restricted by time, resources or transportation but can still advance their career through education.

Advancing Your Career Through Online Education

Online universities and colleges and campus Universities have begun to aggressively pursue students pursuing an education. It is important to take the time to identify which of these institutions are a good fit for you. Some factors to consider include cost, degrees provided, pass/fail requirements (ie, number of exams, theses required to get your degree), attendance, book purchases, and personal attention you may need in order to maximize your education experience. If you are simply “degree shopping” for the quickest and easiest way to get an online degree to put on your resume’, you will probably look for a school that has minimal attendance requirements and is cost effective. However, if learning a skill or trait is critical, then it’s important to look deeper in to the professors, books, itinerary and other online resources that will be available so that you can effectively advance your career after you receive your online diplomas. Regardless of which school you choose, be sure to select a school that is accredited to provide an online degree, such as Capella University, as any qualified employer will do research on your internet degree to determine if it’s worth the paper it’s written on.

After you conduct your research on the various online colleges and universities, and choose the website that is the best fit for you, prepare yourself to buckle down, read, study and write just as you would for any school. The qualifications to be accepted are generally not as stringent as a campus college such as Penn State University, or University of Florida, but the education is certainly valuable.

There is some debate, however, about how these degrees are viewed by employers. Certainly, having internet or online degrees is better than having no degree at all, but some employers may look down upon them or confuse them with the fake diploma mills that currently exist on the internet. Be prepared in an interview to discuss what you learned in your online education, the challenges you faced and the online coursework you completed that will make you more qualified for your new career.

Vault.com, a career information website, reports that “77 percent of hiring managers say that an online degree received through an established university such as Duke or Stanford is more acceptable than a degree earned through an Internet only university like Capella or Jones International." This is a reality in the online degree landscape, but with aggressive pursuit of the fake diploma industry, online educations will soon become widely accepted and seen as a great way to move you career forward.

How to identify legitimate Internet Degree Colleges and Universities?

  • Check accreditation of the online degree at US Department of Education
  • Check legitimacy of the Internet University at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
  • Write to the Diploma Mill Police that authenticates Internet Institutes of Education.