You have done all of your research and know the online degree programs that you like. Now you are down to a choice between three university distance learning program. How do you know which online degree program is the right one for you?
Review the websites of the three contending online degree programs one more time. Does anything stand out to you about how they explain their program? Is there anything that sticks out as a potential problem? For everything you like about their description of their program give them a point. For every concern you have take a point away or give them a minus point. Tally up all of the scores from this exercise and see if one clearly stands out as being more positive than the other. This is your instinctive response to how they present their material and remember that this is the main way that the online degree program will be presented to you after you enroll.
Next review again the questions that you asked of them while you were doing your research, and the answers that they provided. For every answer give the schools a point for a poor answer, two points for a good answer and three points for a great answer. This is a comparative review and note if one of the schools overall response is more positive than the others.
If you havent already done so make sure that your list of questions include the following topics:
How long does it take an average student to complete their degree?
How many hours do they anticipate an average student will spend on course work per week?
How old is the average age of students in their online degree program?
What are their transfer policies?
Who are the faculty members and what is their training background?
Do they have library resources and mentoring services available for online students?
In addition to those questions you will have already asked and received a response to technical, financial, and scheduling questions. Review all of the responses and once again and give the schools a point for a poor answer, two points for a good answer and three points for a great answer. This is your technical review.
Now you have three different ways to evaluate your options and out of this process you should have a clearer answer to the question of which online degree program may be right for you.
