Online College Degrees

The College Network has been around for many years.  They are one of the pioneers and original “Study Guide” formats to completing your college degree.  The majority of their customers are nurses looking to complete their LVN to RN, LPN to RN, or RN to BSN.  I don’t have accurate statistics, but my guess is that makes up 80-90% of their customers.

The College Network is not a college.  They are, in many ways, a specialized text book company that works together with various colleges and universities around the United States so that nurses can complete their degree.  These specialized text books, or study guides, walk nurses through various courses from Statistics, Microbiology, A & P, and even some basic courses like History or Government.

Here are 3 tips for working with the College Network in completing your nursing degree:

1. Don’t believe the hype – one way or another.  There are some nurses who bought into the study guide program thinking it was going to be easy.  It wasn’t.  So, they tell all their friends how bad it was.  That’s their fault. Studying on your own is almost always going to be harder than sitting in a classroom having a professor lecture to you while you take some notes.  If you have the ability to study on your own, then you might want to try them. 
2. Evaluating Your Transcripts – one of the TCN advisors will evaluate your transcripts.  They do this quite often and have seen many transcripts.  They are usually pretty accurate, BUT, the advisor who evaluates your transcript is NOT the final word.  The registrar at the college is the final word.  He/She has the right to make any adjustments to your evaluation. It may be just one course or two, but just be ready for that. It’s okay too.  The next tip will show you how to get around that initial evaluation.
3. Take A Few Courses – your transcripts may reveal that you need 9 of their study guides to take the courses you need to complete your degree.  But, you don’t have to sign up for all 9 at once.  If you were going to a community college, you don’t sign up for all 9 courses at once.  Just sign up for their minimum number of courses, if you need their financing, and work through those first.  This doesn’t obligate you to the entire 9 courses, and you can work through the first few courses to insure this is how you want to complete your degree.  If not, then you’re not out the entire amount.

Overall, I like the TCN program.  They have been around for quite a long time, which is saying something these days.  No university would work hand-in-hand with The College Network if their system wasn’t actually working.

Today, the Internet is being used more and more in the academic world to facilitate learning, training and education. Online education is the fastest growing form of learning today, and its applications are spreading into even the most technical of fields. Even the basic college experience has been changed dramatically, favoring more elements of online education than ever before.

When I first went to college in 1997, email and other basic Internet functions were already gaining large-scale popularity, however, education was still limited to the traditional lecture, classroom discussion, and textbook formats. Within the four years it took me to graduate (okay, five years), I saw an enormous increase in the use of online elements in my own education. Virtually every class I took the last year I spent in attendance had a significant online portion to the class. Often times the online elements were optional, yet I always found them an extremely useful tool as a compliment to the lectures and textbooks.

Not only has online education changed the college experience significantly, it is also playing a large role in many other forms of training and education. Many certifications, licenses, and specialized training programs are using online elements to facilitate their education as well. For example, most nursing programs, graduate programs, medical schools, law schools, law enforcement academies, other government training programs, and even many vocational training programs have online portions to their curriculums.

There has also been a rise in ‘Online Universities’, accredited educational institutions that offer degrees and certifications solely by way of online education. People today can earn an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, a doctorate, even a degree in law or a registered nurse certification. Some of these programs, such as nursing, require a certain amount of physical attendance at a specified location to conduct training, but many of them are conducted entirely online.

The rising popularity of online education is not without its criticism and potential drawbacks. Many people argue that removing the live ‘face to face’ interaction of traditional education will impact they way we are able to socialize effectively. These critics suggest that the communication skills learned in discussion and lecture formats are part of the educational experience, and should not be overlooked. There is also some criticism about the ability to regulate online education, and fears about cheating to obtain degrees without earning them.

In spite of the drawbacks and criticism, online education continues to grow at a rapid pace, and will most certainly remain a strong part of educational and training programs of the future.

By the time most of us are through with high school, we’re so relieved to be on our own. Without that burden of academics, which restrict us by law from having any freedom. Okay, maybe it’s not that serious, but if you think back to the good old teen years, you may have thought so.

Whether you’re just finishing high school, or not satisfied with your current job choices, it can always pay off to receive a bachelor degree in something. If you’re not sure what you’re looking for or what you’d be happy doing for the rest of your life, colleges and Univercities can help you with these decisions.

I recall coming out of high school with the feeling of relief. Wow, was I ready to ditch that place. Most of us feel a certain weight lifted when we finish high school. However, there is also a weight gained. That dread of the real world, which can give you a terrible reality check if not prepared. Money is not so easily made if you lack formal training or a bachelor degree in some specific field. The business world out there is competitive as ever with the constant growth in population, and a college education can make a world of difference in your success.

Most high school graduates enter college with no or possibly a vague idea of what they want to do with their life. Most of them know they want to make money and enjoy their career, but who knows what that career is? Career centers can help you move in that direction to understanding a career goal for you. Whether you prefer a major in the field of arts or sciences, a bachelor degree in either will help you find a job.

Your chances of attaining work go up about 90 percent after achieving a four year degree. That’s worth studying for. When I attended a University for my bachelor degree in English, I didn’t exactly know where I was headed, but I knew that I enjoyed the academics and wanted something concerning this field. Later, I went for my minor in film and knew that I wanted to write movies. The two educations complimented each other.

It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting for your bachelor degree in Anthropology or Chemical Engineering, your chances of finding a career greatly increase. It is practically essential to receive a college education in this competitive world today.

These days there are many grants for college students. Whether you’re heading off to a four-year-school or just taking a few classes at the local community college, there is surely some financial aid within your reach. The benefit of grants concern the payback. There isn’t any. Grants for college students basically consist of free money in order to help you get an education. If you are starting school, check into the variety of grants that are available to you. After all, any help is better than none.

My first year of education after high school was spent at a community college. Being the uninformed child that I was, I didn’t look into sources of financial aid. I did that old, my parents will cover it, thing. Not the brightest of ideas. After a few years of working away from the joys of college, I began my search for financial aid. I had heard that there were grants for college students. In no time, I had achieved my first grant. This took care of most of my school expenses. What I didn’t know at the time was there are many state grants to utilize. Virtually every state has some sort of grant to offer the struggling college student. It is ridiculous to avoid this free money.

When you’re off on your own and paying the bills, you need as much income as you can find. Scholarships and grants for college students are some of the best ways to take care of those bills. While student loans can be necessary as well, it is choice to receive as much aid as possible without any payback burden. When school finally finishes, and it will sooner than you think, you won’t want to be in debt. Our education is certainly crucial to our success in this day and age, but you don’t have to tackle the student expenses on your own.

A great place to begin your search on grants for college students, is the Internet. Applying for grants has never been more simple. You will encounter a site called FAFSA. This is the key to getting started with your financial aid requests. There are an abundance of grants for college students if you look in the right places. Many of them will apply to you. It doesn’t matter if you’re single, young, or already in your mid-twenties. Make sure to always search for local grants that your state may offer. This in addition to federal aid can really help your financial situation. The government has a large sum of money set aside for this, so take advantage of it.

Though many people put a lot of faith in the ranking of colleges, usually favoring the top college lists formulated by magazines like U.S. News and World Report, the ranking of colleges really isn’t much of a science. That’s not to say that formulas aren’t involved. Depending on the publication, a large range of different considerations can be taken into account. Some of the standard criteria are class size, percentage of professors with advanced degrees, and the percentage of graduates which are either employed or pursuing further education within six months of graduation. These are relatively cut-and-dried numbers; there isn’t much of a fudge factor or much room for interpretation. However, once those ranking colleges get beyond these sorts of factors things start to get a little fuzzier.

For example, some reviews take into account the number of books in a university’s library when computing the school’s ranking. How many people are really concerned with how many books are in the stacks when they’re choosing a school? Other considerations which make these designations shaky is different adjustments based on the school’s reputation, which is a particularly subjective, regionally-dependent criteria. Some schools will have particularly strong reputations in one area of the country while their reputations are completely different on the opposite coast.

Though the ranking of colleges gives you some idea of how different universities are positioned, by no means allow how a school is ranked to be a deciding factor in your choice of university. If you’re accepted to schools A and B and A has a slightly higher ranking but B has a lot better feel to it, go to school B and don’t worry about school A’s ranking. If a school fits you it’s much more important than if it’s ranked highly, especially since the rankings are somewhat subjective and arbitrary to begin with.

As a general rule of thumb, allow the ranking of colleges to give you ideas of different options for school, but don’t allow the rankings to discredit or rule out any schools. Rankings are somewhat helpful in that they do give prospective students a general idea of the highly regarded universities in the country; though the #4 school probably isn’t obviously better than the #6 school, the #6 school is probably of a noticeably higher caliber than the #300 school. Sometimes colleges that you wouldn’t have otherwise considered show up on the ranking lists and could be definitely worth your consideration, just remember that there is some wiggle room in the rankings and that they don’t always reflect how things really are.

Finally, you are out of that dreaded, stale high school atmosphere and off to college. You snatched the diploma from the boss man’s hand with a smug look and said good riddance to that teenage prison forever. Now, the freedom of University life is just around the corner. You’ve sifted through the various colleges, found the perfect one, and met your dorm mate for fall. This is going to be a synch, right?

Well, as choice as college may sound when you’re in high school, it can be a reality check once you actually get going. It’s a whole new world out there. Unless your rich parents are footing the bill, the independence of campus life can cost you some serious bucks. While tuition and living expenses are no picnic, you don’t want to forget to include the high priced college text books.

I remember my first quarter at a 4 year University. After two years at a community college, I thought it would be a breeze transferring in. I had put in my time at the junior college to save money and prepare myself, but I really had no idea what expenses lied ahead. After signing up for my first fall quarter, I headed down to the campus bookstore to see what was needed. I figured I would probably spend around a hundred bucks at the most. I mean, I only have three classes.

After some awkward strolling through the confusing isles at the bookstore, I suddenly realized that I was purchasing much more than three books. In fact, the college text books just kept weighing down my basket. By the time I made it to the checkout, I must have had about a dozen college text books to pay for. Well, these intimidating learning aids ran me around 250 bucks. Yikes, that wasn’t part of my spending plan. Now I had to refigure some of my finances in order to make do.

Are you headed off to a University? If the answer is yes, don’t underestimate the costs of college text books. While they are certainly necessary for most classes, you don’t have to settle for one gut-wrenching price. If you jump online, you will notice that many college text books can be purchased at a cheaper cost. The key is to find out what college text books you will need for your next set of classes as early as possible.

Then you can surf the web and locate the best deals on all your college text books. Just because the campus bookstore charges outrageous prices, doesn’t mean you have to settle. The Internet will provide you with a vast spectrum of college text books for more reasonable price tags. College is already expensive; you don’t want to have to worry about the smaller things.