The open educational resource movement is growing rapidly. Open educational resources give many people who would not be able to study due to finances or location an opportunity to learn, for free. While the quality of open courseware materials varies, many of the largest schools are now offering free courses online. (more…)

Diploma mills, or businesses that make a profit by posing as a legitimate college, university or school, have a history that reaches back into the 19th century. But, diploma mills — and news about them — has proliferated since the onset of the home computer. Read on to learn about the history of diploma mills as well as ten tips on how to avoid them.
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If you want a reputable online education, then you need reputable sources to learn more about the programs you choose. The following list contains twenty-five helpful government resources to find legitimate online college programs. In some cases — as in accreditation — the resources include agencies that have been recognized by the U.S. government.

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Say that you spend four years in college, then discover that your degree is — basically — worthless. This situation could happen if you attend a college that is not accredited, or a college that is accredited by an unrecognized accrediting agency. You may discover have wasted time and money on a degree that will not allow you to obtain a higher degree, or that may prohibit you from obtaining a high-paying job. How do you know when a college is accredited, and what is that accreditation worth?

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Ironically, while the economy is in the tank, statistics reveal that the percentage of college freshmen who plan to major in business is at its lowest level since the mid-1970s. According to the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at the University of California at Los Angeles, the number of freshmen who plan to major in business fell from 16.8 percent in 2008 to 14.4 percent in 2009, the lowest percentage since 1974, when 14 percent of college freshmen focused on business majors. Why are students dropping business majors?

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One reason why many individuals join the military is for educational benefits. All branches of the military do not hesitate to mention education as a benefit, as this is part and parcel of recruitment and retention. Military training is just one facet in this story, however, as active military personnel, veterans and their families also have opportunities to extend their learning to college courses. Online universities and colleges in particular are reaching out to the military to offer opportunities to learn while ‘on the job’ so veterans will have a better opportunity for higher-paying jobs upon retirement.

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If you think your choice of an online education eliminates you from scholarships, think again. Many scholarships are geared toward students’ religious preferences, disabilities, ethnic backgrounds and other criteria. This type of scholarship, offered by private and public sector and not-for-profit organizations, usually does not focus on whether you’ve chosen an on-campus college or an online college. Additionally, many scholarships focus on high school test scores, grade point averages (GPA) and other eligibility requirements that have nothing to do with your college choice. Additionally, online colleges can often prove to be just as expensive as traditional universities, especially schools like George Washington University, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt University.

Therefore, almost any scholarship offered by a school or other resource usually is as valuable in an online environment as it is in the on-campus venue; however, some scholarships may ask for your college choice and may eliminate you if your choice is not accredited. Find out if your college is accredited and whether it offers and accepts scholarships first. Then, go through the list below to find even more resources for your online college education. The twenty-five excellent college scholarship search engines shown below are listed in alphabetical order to show that we do not value one resource over another. (more…)

If you are interested in OpenCourseWare (OCW), then you probably are aware that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has and probably will continue to make the largest contribution to this online educational effort to date. But, in light of the recent financial meltdown, MIT plans to make cuts to its OCW budget. If MIT is making cuts, then what are other, smaller institutions doing about their contributions to OCW?

OCW is, basically, intellectual philanthropy. A number of universities and colleges now offer courses online and free of charge to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. But, OCW is more than posting online courses, quizzes and videos for learning. It takes a dedicated staff to deal with publishing an OCW site and to keep it updated. In MIT’s case, the sum amounts to $4 million per year, although portions of this amount are covered by grants provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Andrew Mellon Foundation and through donations, revenue and other sources. (more…)