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New Vault Career Survey Indicates Online Degrees Undervalued by Employers–Really?
Are online degrees more acceptable today than they were five years ago?
The results of a recent poll conducted by career statisticians Vault, Inc. maligning the quality of online education have been widely publicized in the last week. But are the results as significant as many publications have claimed they are? Probably not. Moreover, most reports (in CNN Money and Yahoo Finance) gloss over the finding that does point to improving attitudes toward online degrees—83% of respondents stated that online degrees are more acceptable today than they were five years ago.
The Corner Office: Moving Up With An Online Masters in Business Administration (MBA)
Montgomery Burns, of Simpsons fame, made much of his Yale MBA. An online MBA could put you too on the path of becoming a tycoon.
While the economy has taken a downturn over the last quarter, starting salaries for MBA graduates have risen by 5.1%, according to a July 3 report in BusinessWeek. For many working adults, the question of upward mobility weighs heavily in the decision to pursue an online degree. While now is as good a time as ever to enroll in an MBA program, the monetary return you will see on your educational investment will vary depending on several key questions. Here’s a run-down of the questions, and the answers, surrounding the decision to pursue a Masters of Business Administration.
Online Programs Primed to Educate Next Generation of Game Designers
Video game technology has improved dramatically, but creative games are still hard to come by
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Plato’s Republic. Machiavelli’s The Prince. Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. To many, these works are considered the classics—some of humanity’s most enduring accomplishments.
Others, however, look to a different classical canon. Pong. Pac-Man. Duke Nukem. Halo. Grand Theft Auto. These hardcore gamers scorn the scholars of old, embracing instead the pixilated prose of video game designers. Many long to rise up out of their parents’ basements (just kidding…) and join their ranks as creators of virtual worlds.
Best Careers during a Recession
The stormy economic forecast, while hardly foreshadowing a crisis like the Great Depression, threatens to raise America’s historically stable unemployment rate
It’s no secret that the U.S. economy has not been the healthiest the last few years. Homes aren’t selling, good jobs are hard to come by, other jobs are being cut and salary increases are at a near standstill. For those looking for jobs during a recession, times can be tough. The general rule is that the best career during a recession is the one you already have – do whatever you can to protect your job and wait out the hard times.
Online class preparation: What can I do to get ready for online learning?
Preparing for an online class is very similar to preparing for a traditional class; one of the major differences will be that you might have to familiarize yourself with some of the technological components of the class. A course management system of some sort will very likely be used, and students can take in-depth tutorials of these systems before the course begins. Course management systems are used for a large variety of tasks including keeping track of assignments, lectures and readings, as well as for initiating class discussions.
Students will also want to ensure that their computers are in step with the course requirements. Do you need to purchase speakers? Will you need to use Microsoft Word and Adobe? What about a microphone and/or headphones?
One of the key parts to succeeding in any class, online or not, is making sure that you have a desk or work area set up. This will help keep you organized, and it will ensure that when you’re at your desk, you are working on school work as opposed to doing other things such as eating or reading a magazine, etc. Being highly organized is an important contributor to success.
Also, even though your school will be virtual, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the course’s “campus” or layout. You’ll most likely need to have a username and password to access your course’s site, so take care of that early. Where will your assignments be posted? Where do you submit finished work? Where will you participate in online discussions? Bookmark the start page for your courses, and if you’re using a home computer to do your work, have your computer “remember” passwords and login information so that you don’t have to worry about forgetting this key information.
Students should also take the time to read – really read – the syllabus. Familiarize yourself with course expectations and requirements. Make a note of big deadlines, and add them to your calendar right away. If you have questions about any of the information in the syllabus, email your instructor right away for clarification.
Finally, take advantage of any and all opportunities to introduce yourself to your classmates and your professor. This will help humanize the course and it will make you feel as though you are part of a family. It’s much easier to ask for help and to discuss a course with those who are familiar to you.
Remember to take all of these steps at least a week before the course officially begins. If you do, you can be relaxed once your work starts and you won’t have as many questions hanging over you as you begin to focus on your assignments.
How to prepare to transition from your online degree to the workforce
Whatever career you are pursuing, it’s important to fully understand how your courses or degree will directly translate into the workforce and into the career of your choice. For example, if you are preparing for a nursing or paralegal career, be sure that you understand exactly what requirements you have to meet before your online degree can be applied to the workforce. Do you have to serve an internship before you can apply for jobs? Do you have to pass a test of some sort in order for your degree to be meaningful?
If you are working part-time or full-time while you study, and your degree directly applies to the type of work you are already doing, be sure to let your employers know that you are pursuing additional education. Ask questions about any additional skill sets you need to develop before applying for new or more advanced positions. For example, if you want to transition into a managerial role at your computer company, be sure to let your boss know that you are completing a Business Management degree and that the skills you are learning will help you become a more effective employee for the company. Even if a job doesn’t currently exist at your company, letting people know early about your studies may result in a position being opened up for you.
This advice also goes for students who are not currently working while they pursue their online degree. It’s highly important to start applying for jobs and to start developing contacts in an industry before you graduate. Begin sending out job applications and letters of inquiry anywhere from three to six months before you graduate, letting employers know that you will soon be graduating with a new degree. Searching for work can be a very time consuming and long process, so the sooner you begin the search, the better.
Finally, keep careful notes about what you get out of the online courses you take, and how the knowledge you’ve acquired can be directly applied to a new job. The more detailed information you can give to employers about your new skills, the better. Think about how you put the things you’ve learned in class into practice – how to make them practical. This will be important for your cover letters as well as for your interviews.
The bottom line is, transitioning from online courses to the workforce is all about thinking ahead, and getting started early. Staying in tune with how you can make yourself as marketable as possible will inform your course decisions, which will in turn help your transition to a paying job much smoother – and hopefully quicker!
Goldman Sachs gives the gift of Education
In early March of 2008, Goldman Sachs announced that, after a year of developing the program, the company was donating $100 million to provide at least 10,000 women with a business education as well as to develop and to improve business education programs at universities across the globe, especially in developing regions. The gift is one of the biggest corporate donations since 2000. Spread out over five years, the program will also aim to assist poor and disadvantaged women in the United States.
The gift made big news in March of 2008, and it raises some interesting questions about the motivations behind the donation, such as why Goldman Sachs chose to donate the money to support education as opposed to hunger or infrastructure. Goldman Sach’s position suggests that the company believes that education is critically important to both individual and global success. Mr. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs recognizes that the gift will likely raise objections, but he stands by the act of philanthropy because investing in educating women in developing countries will eventually positively impact those countries’ economies. Essentially, the money will improve the conditions in developing countries where Goldman’s money will be spent.
Goldman is joined in the venture by partners which include the Pan-African University in Lagos, Nigeria, to the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. The fact that the project zeroes in on women is not surprising considering that score of nonprofits are working to provide women with financial educations and tools so that they may improve their own communities.
The Goldman Sach’s donation is not so much a gift, then, as it is an investment. The company expects that, in five or ten years, when a generation of women have benefitted from the donation, that their contributions to their own local economies will eventually come back to help the community as a whole.
Are there new Student Loan Issues due to unstable economy?
A large number – almost 66% - of today’s 4-year undergraduate students depend upon student loans to finance their educations. For some, loans are the only way a college education is feasible. Student loans are meant to be taken out and then paid back over a long period of time, usually thirty years. Unfortunately, for many of today’s students, paying back those students loans is becoming harder than ever.
Evidence suggests that today’s Bachelor’s degree is the equivalent of what a high school education meant thirty years ago. In other words, even students with Bachelor’s degrees are having a difficult time landing competitive jobs. This situation translates into the need for additional schooling, and as Master’s and various technical degrees are tacked to already sizable student loans, the prospect of ever paying them beck becomes bleaker and bleaker. The majority of today’s students take on an average of $20,000 in student loans – for some students this number is much, much higher – and the American economy isn’t helping to pay these loans back. A sluggish economy has meant that students entering adulthood with debt already a reality are hit with slow job markets, unsecure jobs, wages that aren’t increasing much and a lot of pressure to perform on the job.
Another way the unstable economy is impacting student loans is something called the “sub-prime mortgage credit crisis.” Essentially, federal and private loans have become less profitable, and this has lead to the decreased availability of private students loans to subprime borrowers, increases in the minimum balance requirements for loan consolidation, cuts in loan discounts (especially on consolidation loans) and increases in interest rates and fees on private student loans as lenders adjust their products to compensate for the rising cost of capital. The bottom line is, the unstable economy has created an increasingly difficult situation for students, some of whom have no option other than to take on more students loans to pursue additional education, and then to enter a workforce which is very difficult to get hired in.
What are the pros and cons of choosing a degree that has a large demand for trained professionals?
Nowadays, many students are choosing to pursue practical degrees at vocational or technical schools. These degrees usually prepare the students for specific careers and fields which have a large demand for trained professionals. Examples of the many types of high-demand careers include nursing (especially travel nursing), telecommunications, theater and live events, financial services and computer programming/web site developing. There are pros and cons to choosing degrees in these types of fields.
Pros:
1.One of the pros is that there will be plenty of programs to choose from – when schools pick up on the fact that there is a large demand for trained professionals in a particular area, the number of courses being offered in that area usually goes up drastically. These types of careers usually offer training at least partially online, and in some cases, entirely online, to make earning the degree as convenient as possible for students.
2.Another pro is that, after graduation, getting a job can be somewhat easier than for other fields. Students applying for jobs as nurses, for example, usually have a wide range of positions to choose from, and they can also be selective about where they want to work, how often, and what their salary should be (to an extent).
3.Salaries are, indeed, another perk of these types of degrees – because the degrees are in high-demand, the jobs which come after are usually well-paid.
Cons:
1.The cons to choosing a degree in a high-demand field include problems with the qualities of the programs. When demand goes up for a particular degree, the number of schools offering that degree goes up as well, and unfortunately, not all schools are of the same caliber. For this reason, it is very important that the students ensure that the school and degree has as solid reputation and that it is accredited.
2. Another con, and one that’s less spoken about, is the problem that arises when students choose degrees and careers based on money and popularity, instead of focusing on their true interests and abilities. Many times, students are attracted to careers in Web Developing because the pay is so good, only to find out once they are in the job that they don’t actually enjoy what they are doing on a day-to-day basis.
3.Finally, choosing a degree in a highly popular and competitive field makes it even more important to get the proper education in order to stay competitive – because so many people are applying for the same job, the candidate who eventually gets the job really has to demonstrate something extra special. On the flip side, though, there are many other jobs to go after in high-demand fields.
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