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As technology advances and higher education scrambles to keep
up, more and more students are going online to supplement their
education and further their career. As a result, businesses have
had to reevaluate prospective hires who'se academic backgrounds
run the gamut from traditional brick and mortar degrees to
online degrees.
According to Vault Inc's new Online Degrees survey, of 107
responses from employers representing a variety of industries
across the U.S., 85 % of employers feel online degrees are more
acceptable today than they were five years ago.
However, less than half had encountered an applicant with an
online degree, and only 20% said they had hired applicants with
online degrees.
The e-education phenomenon is still gaining ground as more and
more students take online courses in everything from health care
to business with the click of the mouse.
Experts warn that while there are plenty of benefits to online
education, there are plenty of things to watch out for. In a USA
Today article, Stephanie Armour discussed "diploma mills," or
agencies claiming to offer accredited degrees to individuals,
some of whom are then passing them off to employers as
legitimate diplomas.
This poses a problem for businesses. The same article referenced
a study by the Society for Human Resource Management which
mentioned that, only 40% of companies regularly verify degrees
earned. Diploma mills are making it increasingly more difficult
to differentiate between the authentic and the counterfeit. This
is unfortunate for the accredited universities who offer genuine
degrees, and it is detrimental to individuals looking to earn
actual accreditation.
Legitimate online colleges offering quality programs to their
recipients are losing credibility because of this. The
Philadelphia Daily News stated that, "There are 500 phony
accrediting agencies around the world and hundreds of phony
schools taking people's money."
There are methods to help prospective students differentiate
between the real and the fake universities. Online education
directories like ECollegefinder.org, is one such directory
designed to help students search credible online degree programs
by discipline, degree or accredited school.
Diploma mills have cast a shadow of doubt over online degrees,
but as larger, better known universities begin to embrace online
degree programs, businesses will most likely meet more
applicants with online degrees.
According to Vault Inc's survey, 86% of employers said they'd be
willing to accept applicants with an online degree, and 91% said
they would hire a candidate if they had everything the company
was looking for accompanied by an online degree. If the survey's
numbers are any indication of the future of online education and
the role it plays in the workplace, those numbers will only grow
as degree programs online gain credibility in cyber space and in
the workplace.
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