Online College Courses
While going to college is an enormous undertaking for new high school graduates, it is even more challenging for those who attempt to earn their degree while working full time. The reason for this is twofold: First is of course financing continuing education while still paying all of the other expenses life hands to most people on a daily basis. The amount you will pay for classes will also vary depending on the area of the country that you live in as well. You will certainly pay more for classes in the Los Angeles, California than you will in Butte, Montana for instance. While most new college students work at least part time, older students find themselves needing to not only increase their education to stay competitive, but they need to work full times jobs at the same time. Online college courses maybe their answer.
This leads to the second part of the problem, scheduling. College classes on campus are not scheduled for the convenience of the students. If a person has to work an 8 hour shift and then travel to class, concentrate, and then travel home, the travel time alone can take a couple hours per day, or as many as ten hours a week. In many cases this makes it simply too difficult for older working people to handle the schedule for as long as four years, not even counting the added expense of traveling daily.
Options for College Courses Online
There are options today however that allow new students to supplement their current classes and older students to deal with both financial and scheduling issues. Earning online degrees has become very popular during the last several years as more and more people are struggling with the economy. Whether you are seeking your first degree, getting involved in continuing education for career or simply want to expand your marketability, there are many college online courses available that are both cost effective and, in most cases, self paced. The following list is far from complete but is a good representation of what is available.
Top Online Courses
- Introduction to Professional Website Development: This is a very popular online college course because not only does it allow graduates to add website development skills to their resume but it teaches skills in layout, design and organization that are easily transferable in other areas.
- General Anthropology: This class is basically a study of humanity itself, its development, both physically and culturally, and gives students a much broader view of the world we live in and how we got here today by studying how different cultures and social structures developed and how they relate to our lives today.
- Introduction to Psychology: While the field of psychology is huge, having many different sub-fields and “theories”, from the behaviorism of B.F. Skinner to the different theories of Cognitive thought, psychology itself is basically an attempt to understand why we do what we do and this type of class is essential to anyone seeking a management or position of leadership in the business world.
- Financial Analysis for Managers: Advancing to a management position in any company requires many different skills and one of those is at least a basic understanding of how business works, including being about to create workable budgets. This class will give prospective and current managers an excellent basic understanding of how financial analysis´ are created and used in the business world.
- Introduction to Criminal Justice: An understanding of criminal justice is essential for not only police officers and attorneys but for psychologists, counselors, even business managers and regular citizens. The course has elements of many different features of the criminal justice system from how people are arrested, indicted, tried and convicted, but also criminal psychology. Intro to criminal justice is one of the best online college classes.
- Introduction to Professional Nursing: Anyone considering a career in the medical profession should review at least on basic classes in nursing. Even if you are not planning a career in nursing, anywhere you work in the field you will find nurses of some type and understanding the basics of how they do their job and their particular responsibilities is vital to maintaining an efficient working relationship.
- Medical Billing: The employment outlook for medical billing and coding specialists during the next several years is excellent according to federal studies, growing as much as 25% by the year 2018, which is one of the highest job growth rates in the United States and the anticipated expansion of the health care industry could increase this number even more.
- Principles of Economics: There are two important reasons for understanding the principles of economics. The first is that economics drives nearly everything we do in society, from our jobs to our family life and that understanding how our economic system works can be vital to our success. The second reason is simply that having a class like the Principles of Economics on your resume can greatly assist you in obtaining a management position.
- Principles of Accounting: While a successful manager does not have to be a Certified Public Accountant, in most cases managers need to understand at least the basics of accounting simply because there are many occasions when they will be required to work directly with company accountants. Along with this, having a basic understanding of accounting principles can also help with organizing your personal finances. This class is one of the most important online colleges courses.
- Fundamentals of Programming: This class is important for not only computer science majors, but for anyone currently working in any way with computers. This class not only teaches students how to construct simple computer programs but also basic problem solving skills that are invaluable on any career path.
Available Online Classes
There are literally hundreds of online courses available and most of them prove to be extremely valuable and students are finding them to not only be very convenient but cost effective as well. Universities, either traditional schools or exclusively online Universities, are able to offer classes at much lower tuition rates because of the extremely low overhead costs and most courses are eligible for the complete array of grants and loans.
Popular Schools and Recommended Degrees
Kaplan University
We serve students of all ages, from first-graders learning to read to professionals seeking postgraduate training. We are your partner in lifelong learning and are committed to helping you achieve your goals.
Liberty University Online
Liberty University is the largest private non-profit university in the nation, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world. Liberty was founded in 1971 by my father, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr., with a vision to train Champions for Christ as a world class university. An accredited institution, Liberty now offers 273 unique programs of study.
Everest Online
At Everest, we offer practical, career-oriented online degree programs in a friendly online environment. You take your classes when and where you want. You set your schedule. It?s up to you. Our online degree programs allow you to earn your Associate?s, Bachelor?s or Master?s degree in a variety of popular career fields.