Improvements in technology, the increasing use of the Internet worldwide, and the need for people to have flexible school schedules while they are working have led to a proliferation of online colleges that award associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.
"[2] In the area of online education, it is important to avoid unaccredited diploma mills that offer fake degrees, as these are unfortunately common.
Outside of the United States, other national and regional standards of accreditation hold, and may be highly supportive of, distance education.
[6] Some experts argue that degrees in certain fields are more accepted online than in others, while some programs are less suited for online-only schools.
[9] On the other hand, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in January 2007 on a Vault Inc. survey that found 55 percent of employers preferred traditional degrees over online ones.
The collected research was from a 12-year period and concluded that online learning on average beat face-to-face teaching by a small but statistical margin.
[16] [17] While admissions to online programs at prestigious universities hasn't seen a dramatic spike, there has been a large expansion in course offerings in recent years.
Almost all Ivy League and top 20 universities now offer at least one online graduate degree program or certification.
The collected research was from a 12-year period and concluded that online learning on average beat face-to-face teaching by a small but statistical margin.