A Long-Distance Diploma

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According to the most recent National Center for Education Statistics survey, a third of the nation's traditional higher education in stituations offered distance learning courses in 1995 and another quarter planned to have such courses in place by today. At the time of the survey, there were more than 750,000 students enrolled in an estimated 25,730 distance education courses at colleges and universities nationwide. And the numbers—of both students and programs—continue to skyrocket.

"The growth of distance learning, especially that which is Internet-delivered, is going at wildfire rates," says Vicky Phillips, coauthor with Cindy Yager of The Best DistanceLearning Graduate Schools: Earning Your Degree Without Leaving Home (Princeton Review, 1998).

For example, notes Phillips, just ten years ago, there were only 11 graduate-level distance degree programs available nationwide. Yet, by the time she and Yager had finished the research for their guide in February 1998, they had 195 programs to profile. "And right now, if we updated that book, we could profile well over 250 programs."

And that's just the graduate-level degree programs. There are also hundreds of associate and bachelor degree programs, not to mention vocational and trade certificate programs all available by some combination of mail, phone, fax, video, audiotape, teleconferencing, and the Internet. How's a student to choose?

Very carefully. Particularly since aspiring students aren't the only ones taking advantage of the distance ed boom. A slew of scam artists has taken the opportunity to set up fake universities and colleges—so-called diploma mills—that churn out degrees worth little more than the paper they're printed on. The bottom line: it pays to do some homework before you enroll.

LEARNING FOR LIFE

Fueling the current wildfire growth of distance learning is the emergence of what's being called the "lifelong learner." College is no longer the exclusive province of the late-teens/early-twenties crowd.

"The typical distance learning college kid is older—average age 37 to 42," notes Vicky Phillips, CEO of Lifelong Learning, a Vermont-based distance education consulting firm. These older students, she adds, are generally seeking an education that will improve their careers or economic standing. Most have had some college experience, and are returning to academia, albeit at a distance, to solve what Phillips describes as "serious access issues."

"Women tend to use [distance learning] more than men," she adds, "because women tend to have both careers and child care responsibilities that make it very hard for them to take time out to commute to a campus location."

Finding the Right Course

With so many options—most legitimate, but some not—it will take time and effort to locate the distance learning program that is right for you. But by following some basic guidelines, you can learn, earn a valuable degree, and avoid potential pitfalls along the way.

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