Are online degrees worthless?
August 1, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Assessing the right candidate, In This Week's E-Newsletter, Latest News & Views
Online schools are becoming more common, but HR and hiring managers still prefer candidates with degrees from traditional institutions.
Resumes listing degrees obtained online are coming across the desks of HR managers more and more frequently. Just under half (49%) have come across applicants with online degrees, according to a Vault.com survey.
And it’s not necessarily a good thing. Among those who answered the survey:
- Only 19% have ever hired someone with just an online degree
- 63% said they always favor candidates with traditional degrees (strangely, 2% said they favor online degrees), and
- 18% said online degrees are “not credible and not acceptable,” while 59% said they aren’t as credible as traditional degrees.
What do you think? Have you seen a lot of candidates getting degrees from online schools? Have you hired any of them? Let us know by writing a comment below.
Tags: applications, education, online degrees, online schools, resumes, Vault.com
August 1st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I am impressed with on-line degrees obtained, most students cannot afford to go full-time through traditional college/university due to family and job obligations. If they can manage their job and family obligation, it shows me that they can go the extra mile to get the job done.
August 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Peggy,
I agree with your post. It shows a much higher degree of dedication to hold down a full time job, handle parenting and work as a full time student. There is something to be said for which school they attend, obviously some are better than others. I lean towards giving more weight to the brick and mortar schools that also have an online program than a school that operates soley on line.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I also agree…many of the programs that are available online are very good and I believe provide a great education experience. The fact is that we live in a different world today than we did even 5 years ago and we should be taking advantage of opportunities to use resources that provide the best benefit.
For anyone interested in pursuing the online degree, I would just caution them to look closely at the program and evaluate what is offered.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
My daughter took many on line courses to complete a degree, and I noticed, it was much harder than the traditional brick and mortar classes she was used to taking. You really do need to know the material to pass the tests. She sometimes counted on her personality to sway an instructor when she was taking traditional classes. With the on line classes she was studying harder and longer to learn it. I often saw her sending emails to the instructors for additional information. She said she prefered the classroom experience more because she did not have to work so hard.
I also noticed that it required more discipline to log on, and be ready to take the class. She was also able to keep a job while taking classes on line. Employers like employee that are flexible with their schedules. She did say it takes a special person to be able to be on a computer and concentrate to thte degree required with on line classes. Much more than traditional. After her experience I feel very comfortable hiring someone with an on line degree, I saw how hard it was and how much effort and discipline it required.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Online degrees are worth more than traditional degrees in my opionion as long as they are accredited. It is also the only way for someone working full-time to obtain one. In working on my own personal college education I used online programs and spent double the amount of time on the classes that I would have in a traditional classroom setting.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I graduated with my MBA from an online school. My school does have physical locations, unfortunately I did not live in those states. When I attended the traditional college, I was able to breeze through my classes as long as the teacher saw I was making an effort. Whereas, in the online world, you are faceless and only your work will speak for you. Sure you can email your professors but they expect more from you because you are able to have more time, they don’t consider you have a family, work, a life! My degree was hard to get and I refuse to let anyone think it was just handed to me for logging on a computer. It took time, study, and lots of dedication!
August 8th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I have to agree with all the comments so far. I am an online student right now and I am a full time recruiter in city government. I have not seen any difference in my agency with the way our managers view the degrees. There are certain positions where online just isn’t seen yet and that is in our attorney office and the library. I don’t believe these are something that can be aquired online. I know first hand that it does require more self discipline to keep up with an online course. Students learn the same materials and how to apply it in the workplace.
I believe that this is something that will resolve over time. The degree ‘discrimination’ may resolve itself as younger generations become managers and recruiters. It may have something to do with generational differences.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I am currently completing an online degree.
Working solely online can be challenging. One must read and understand the assigned material to be able to complete assignments. Additionally, one may need to perform additional research to obtain information that is not contained in the assigned materials or textbook.
One has to think and one learns to be resourcefu,l in addition to completing the course material.
Employers should welcome resourceful thinkers.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I am still completing an online degree from a state college (Ohio University). Having also attended our local community college, taking both traditional and online courses, it is much harder to complete the coursework for an online course. You don’t have face-to-face contact with your instructor or other students. You still have to know the material to complete the course and pass the exams AND because you don’t know the insturctor, you never know what is going to be on the exams. Additionally, online programs are much more expensive than traditional university programs (as if they are not bad enough). These points in themselve show a dedication and determination above that of a traditional college student.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I am very surprised to learn that in this survey 63% favor those candidates with a degree from an institution with a traditional format and that 59% feel online degrees aren’t as credible as a traditonal degree. Provided that the school has the appropriate regional accreditation, a degree earned using online courses should hold the equivalent merit.
I have taken both traditional and online classes and have found the online variety to be much more demanding. The working professional who has the ability to juggle job responsibilities, family life, and the rigors of online course work should be looked at as highly capable, not put at a disadvantage in the selection process.
Recruiters around the country are likely to see an increasing number of applicants with online degrees. I certainly hope these types of articles help to open up dialogue on the validity of accredited online degree programs so that these applicants are not judged prematurely based on a misconception.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I don’t agree with the argument that traditional schools show a more dedicated employee, because what is so smart about taking up your time attending traditional classes, when we have the wonderful ability to do it from a computer? I completed my Master’s online while working full time and parenting. I don’t think running to and from an institution an hour away makes me look any smarter.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I too, graduated with a degree from an online university. The key factor is whether or not the online university is regionally accredited university. Another factor is the way in which someone learns. I started out at a “tradional” university and I found that what informaiton I could cram before a test, was gone after the test. When attending an online university, I wrote a lot papers and was required to do more in-depth research. I found that I learned more through in-depth research than I did when going to class. The work is definitely more demanding, time consuming and again, in-depth. The additional advantage I found was that I was able to get experience in HR, while getting my degree in HR. Most HR jobs are M-F 8-5, and most traditional university offer classes M-F 8-5. Many students coming out of a “tradional” university don’t have much experience. In addition, online universities meet the needs of a larger target of individualsl…young, older, family oriented, etc. It shouldn’t matter where a person gets a degree, as long as it is from an regionally accredited university.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Online degrees are here to stay and will continue to increase. Traditional university programs are pricing themselves out of the market for many students; especially those who are underprivileged. The rigor of the online programs is clearly on equal footing with on site classes; perhaps more so. We do not discount the validity of an online program in comparison to the traditional in our hiring processes.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I have both a traditional Masters degree and an online MBA earned 20 years later, and which led to my present senior VP-level position. While there’s no question in my mind that something was lost in not having the give-and-take of the classroom and instructor, there’s also no question that the coursework was just as rigorous — and more challenging in that I was generally on my own in figuring out questions (statistics, econ, finance, etc). And the proctored exams were exactly the same that were given to the students in the classroom program. What it did do was give me a foundation and a framework for the experiential learning that takes place outside the degree program. This is what I look for when I hire people…it’s just one factor, along with experience, values, personality, etc. that has to be factored into the equation that is the total candidate.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I agree with Toni Andrade, and several others. My daughter got her Master’s online and worked very hard - it wasn’t a breeze-through four or five months. It took 20 months and she did the regular classroom student teaching (no pay for that) for three months. She was on that computer nearly every day and there were a lot of special projects and papers to complete. She had to post items and keep in contact with her study group and instructors all the time. For nearly all that time she held a 40 hour job adminstering a preschool/daycare - so it’s not at all a snap. I would look at that effort as a sign of dedication, good time management, and good resourcefulness.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:42 am
So much social skill and adaption is learned in the interaction of a classroom and the opportunities the on-site academic world provides that I would likely regard more strongly the undergraduate degree, at a minimum, to be obtained in classrooms. I suspect the verbal “tightrope” supervisors and managers often have to walk in interaction is best served by myriad social experiences.
I do accept that much is thorough and well-learned through on-line courses and I do appreciate the need for this avenue. I would never dismiss the on-line credentials earned and have hired many with in-line degrees.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
One of the advantages to some of the on-line degree programs is that they seem to teach more “real world” application as opposed to simply imparting book knowledge. There seems to be more of a practical edge, to the coursework, perhaps because many such programs are geared more for adults who are already in the world of work. If the college is accredited, I don’t see any reason why it would matter whether the degree was obtained via traditional classroom experience or on-line learning. There are MANY ways to learn and not all of them involve a learning institution. The imparting of knowledge and skill is what matters.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Karen…
You say you wouldn’t dismiss the on-line credentials buy you regard more strongly the undergraduate degree, at a minimum, to be obtained in classrooms. I don’t agree that social skill and adaption is learned in the interation of a classroom. That is one method, yes, but it can also be learned through work experience in the field and through other social activites in life. All people have different ways of learning, and many are able to learn more without the social interaction of a traditional univerisity.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:41 am
For a very short time I taught for an on-line university, I gave up the position becasue it was soooo demanding. From my experience, anyone who earns a degree on-line is, determined, dedicated and truly learns the subject matter. There is no way to sluff or slide when you earn a degree on-line. I would without hesitation hire an applicant who earned a degree on-line.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I agree with many of the above posts. I recently graduated from Capella University. It is an accredited school with many great Ivy league professors. I found it to be more difficult than the traditional classroom setting due to the demands it put on my time. I was occupied with a full time job, helping to raise my family, and staying up late nights writing and reading.
I did not study nearly as hard when I received my Bachelors from a well known UT school. If I did not know the material I would receive immediate feedback from my professors telling me where I went wrong and what needing correcting. My professors also made sure to incorporate real life business situations, and helped me to apply what I was learning at my job.
I do think that it is a generational gap that is preventing on-line universities from gaining the respect they deserve. I know that the internet has popped up many diploma mills, but the same can be said for many brick and mortar party schools. I never partied once while attending my online school. I studied my tail off.
-Marc in Dallas
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
I’m not following all the praise for online degrees. My entire University experience was based on team project work. Almost none of my curriculum involved independent study…that’s what high school was for. University is supposed to team you how to work with others under demanding timelines with new material/subject matters… that’s what happens in the real world. Sorry but if I were a recruiter and I had to choose between to equal candidates but one had the online degree and the other had the traditional - i’d pick the traditional. Online degrees are here to stay - yes, but so are traditional universities.
November 26th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Gary…as an individual who attended both a university setting and finished with an online degree, I don’t agree with your statement. During my university experience I rarely had classes that had group activities, with the exception of labs. In my online experience there was at least one group project for every class that I was in, and like the traditional university system, class participation depended on the level of desire of the student to get a good grade. In some classes, participation was high, but in others I was the only person to submit the assignment for the whole group, which was no different froma traditional university setting. I do strongly feel that online classes provides the flexiblity most of us need in today’s busy environment, as many of us are already parents and work a full-time job. I feel both types of education should be looked upon as equals and to say differently is biased.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I wrote earlier about my daughter. As I said, her online master’s took as much time as a traditional university degree would have. She now has her Arizona and California teaching credentials and has a split first and second grade class. She did her classes with a study group (team) all the way through. I think the two types of degrees should be looked at as equals.