Choosing an Online Masters Degree Program

Which Online Master’s Program is Best?

Selecting among graduate programs is a daunting task. If you’re deciding between online masters programs, you should consider a few special factors in addition to the criteria you’d use for a traditional graduate school program. The tips below can help narrow your search.

  1. Only choose an online graduate program from an accredited school. This is the most basic rule of online learning. Degrees from non-accredited schools are considered fraudulent. Fortunately, thousands of colleges and universities do meet educational standards. By choosing a school that’s listed in the CHEA database, you can be assured that your degree will be genuine.
  1. Consider your learning style. Online degree programs deliver information in different formats:
  • Some master’s programs are not 100% online. Such programs are more accurately called “hybrid” or “blended” programs. Depending on your situation, you might welcome or regret these programs’ requirements to occasionally attend campus for orientation, special projects, and/or final exams.
  • Some are “synchronous” and some are “asynchronous.” Synchronous programs require students and professors to be online simultaneously. Asynchronous programs let students attend class at any time.
  • Online master’s programs use different types of technology. Most online schools let you sample a class for free. Take advantage of these offers.
  1. Are the faculty well-respected? Graduate school is very much about developing professional relationships. Ideally, your faculty advisor will not only guide your studies, but will also help you to network and establish a reputation within academia. Some online programs have more renowned professors than others and offer stronger mentor-student relationships. Check out the faculty publications in your department of interest.

Some other factors to consider include: the availability of technical support; tuition and financial aid packages; program length; and, depending on your intended career field, licensure issues. With the wide variety of online master’s programs available today, you’ll likely find a program that meets or exceeds your expectations.