An Introduction to Distance Learning

By now, nearly everyone has heard about distance or online education (sometimes referred to simply as "DL". While it's been around for more than a hundred years, the explosion in interest has occurred only in the last 5 or 10 years.

Here are some common questions we hear at DegreeInfo.com:

1) What does "distance learning" mean, anyway?
2) Are DL degrees legitimate?
3) Are the degrees earned through DL respected by employers and other learning institutions?
4) Who gets DL degrees? (And why?)
5) Will I have to start from scratch, or can I get credit for classes I've already taken, and work or
life experience?

In this article, we'll do our best to answer these questions and more. And if you can't find what you are looking for, try visiting our discussion forum, where our members and contributors discuss and debate a wide variety of Distance Learning issues. Or check out our free Quick Degree Finder to help you find the perfect school.


Distance Learning Defined

When people talk about, "distance learning," they usually mean one of two things:

• A conventional classroom course offered via closed-circuit TV or other interactive means between different (and sometimes multiple) campuses of affiliated schools, or maybe between a corporate campus and a school .
• A means of studying the same sort of course material that would typically be found in a "bricks and mortar" classroom setting, but delivered through non-classroom means. This could be as low-tech as papers and exams snail mailed between student and professor, or as high-tech as Internet-delivered video and audio conferencing and real-time discussion and communication between many students and an instructor, or online collaborative projects between students, or any of dozens of other synchronous or asynchronous delivery methods.

DegreeInfo.com has traditionally been focused almost exclusively on the latter definition of distance learning, though with increasing interest in localized education, we are seeing more discussions of the former as well. And while it can manifest in many different ways, the common element is that in each model, the school has found a way to deliver most or all of the information that one would obtain in a classroom (and sometimes much more) through means that do not require regular attendance to a physical classroom - though some classes may require that you "log in" from somewhere in cyberspace at a specific time, in order to participate in discussions or collaborations between students, or some programs might require occasional attendance on campus for short periods of time.

For example, a school might put all of the text from a lecture, book notes, assignments, and grades (and even textbooks) onto a Web site from which the students could then visit and download the information. Other schools use snail mail to deliver course notes, audio or video tapes, readers, and/or other material to the student, who would then carry out his or her assignments and then send them to the course instructor for evaluation. Finally, there are schools that are much less formal, which allow students the freedom to design a course of study with the help of an advisor, and then the students correspond almost exclusively with their professor.

As mentioned above, not all schools totally remove face-to-face interaction from the equation. A number of schools require some form of short residency during the student's term of enrollment. Such residencies are designed to give students more interaction with their teachers and fellow students, or to provide access to materials that the student wouldn't be expected to have at home, such as a chemistry lab or an art studio. These residencies can range from a simple 3-day orientation to monthly weekend programs, or maybe a week-long visit to the campus at the start of each semester. But since competition for distance learning students is increasing, many schools are offering 100% campus-free degree programs, from certificate programs through doctoral degrees, so it's a good idea to shop around to find the program that meets your particular needs.

Are Distance Learning Degrees Legitimate?

The short answer is this: "Distance learning degrees are absolutely legitimate, except when they're not."

You see, the question is not so much, "Are distance degrees legitimate?" but instead "Which distance degrees are legitimate?" Here's the problem: There are a lot of excellent bricks-and-mortar schools offering distance learning degrees, and there are numerous legitimate online-only schools offering distance degrees. But there are also a plethora of institutions, ranging from accredited-but-not-so-great to barely-legal-but-mostly-useless, to downright fraudulent businesses masquerading as "schools" -- and even fraudulent accreditors accrediting these "schools". So one must be cautious, and do their own research, to determine the legitimacy of a school.

Unfortunately, it's not quite a "Yes or No" to determine the quality and legitimacy of schools offering distance learning programs, one must consider a number of factors. The "gold standard" would be either a US-based school which is regionally accredited (RA), or an international school meeting Generally Accepted Accreditation Principles (GAAP) - which is to say that degrees from these schools will never have to be defended or justified, earned credits can be transferred to other accredited or GAAP schools, and the degree will be accepted by nearly any employer in the U.S.

In the "second tier" is the US-based accreditor for distance learning programs, known as DETC, or Distance Education Training Council. While DETC is most certainly a legitimate, US Department of Education recognized accreditor, it still suffers from some stigma left over from its days as a "home study" accreditor and many RA schools, and some employers, will not recognize DETC degrees, nor allow transfer of credits earned at a DETC school.

In the "third tier" are US trade and professional school accreditors such as ACICS (Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools) which are also DoEd recognized, but have an even greater problem with degree recognition and acceptance, credit transfer, and employer perception.

In the "fourth tier" are the state-approval programs such as that offered by California, New Mexico, and a few other states. Because state approval processes vary so widely, this can be anything from fairly rigorous, to filling out a form and paying a fee. Accordingly, degrees from schools with state approval (or no approval at all) tend to be of very limited utility, as many employers and nearly all accredited schools will not recognized degrees or credits earned from these institutions.

In the case of higher education in the United States, a school can legitimatey call itself "accredited" if it has been accredited by a US Department of Education-recognized agency, such as any of the first three tiers above. However, given the limitations we've described above, and all other things being equal, we at DegreeInfo generally suggest that an RA degree is nearly always the best choice for those seeking to finish a degree or start a new one. If a school is accredited by a regional accreditor, then all of its programs, majors, and degrees fall under the same umbrella of accreditation, whether such programs are delivered through traditional or distance methods.

So why would someone consider a non-RA degree? The only two credible arguments we've heard are cost and flexibility. In many cases, second or third-tier accredited schools are significantly less expensive, and in some cases, offer greater flexibility with class schedule. But increasingly, as more and more public schools enter the distance learning marketplace, it's quite possible to find both flexibility and value in the public or private nonprofit schools. Keep in mind, though, that these schools don't have the advertising budget, so you won't seem them advertised heavily, if at all, and you may also find yourself having to work a little harder to get enrolled and to interact with your professors, again, because budgets are often tighter, necessitating fewer staff members to assist students. We believe that in many cases, the downsides of choosing a nonprofit or public school may be strongly outweighed by the benefits.

If a US-based school is not accredited by a legitimate accreditor, it's much more difficult to determine whether the program is a legitimate program that simply can't afford the cost to achieve and maintain accreditation, or that the school operates in a state with little to no licensure and issues legal but near-worthless degrees in exchange for lots, some, or no academic work. A person with a straight-A bachelor's degree from an unaccredited Montana or Hawaii school, for example, will probably find it nearly impossible to secure admission to an RA Master's degree program, and will also find that many employers will not recognize the degree for employment purposes.

Non-US Schools
Accreditation is pretty much a US phenomena, and so the situation with non-US schools can be equally complex. For example, a school on the Australian mainland is virtually guaranteed to be legitimate and to meet GAAP standards, because Australian authorities are quite rigorous in enforcing standards and shutting down substandard programs. But programs located in the tiny islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, for example, appear to have little to no oversight, and despite dozens of letters and attempts to get clarification from the St. Kitts Ministry of Education, it has thus far been impossible to get any assurance that any sort of rigorous oversight is in place for schools located there.

Confused yet? If so, you're not alone, and many of the "less-than-wonderful" schools bank on that confusion to hoodwink unsuspecting students.

If you want the simplest, most bulletproof solution, choose a school that is either regionally accredited, or, if a non-US school, one that meets GAAP standards. As you're researching, a search of our forum archives will probably turn up information, including comments on legitimacy and accreditation, on the school you're considering. If not, feel free to post a message, and the helpful folks in our online community will answer your questions. And our school search pages list only accredited schools, though you will want to check to ensure that the school you are considering has the type of accreditation (RA, DETC, etc) that you are comfortable accepting. In our forums, many of the schools that help to sponsor DegreeInfo are "hotlinked" to popups. Each popup lists the accreditation the school has, and in most cases, we have verified the accreditation information directly with the accreditor.


Are Distance Learning Degrees Respected?
This is, of course, a very different question than that of DL legitimacy, and it is of pre-eminent importance to those who are seeking a post-secondary degree in order to make themselves more competitive in the job market. What good is a legitimate distance degree that employers feel is less valuable than a degree that is obtained through more traditional methods?

More recently, the large for-profit schools such as University of Phoenix and Kaplan and a number of others have come under fire by some employers who fear that the schools are nothing more than legitimately accredited diploma mills with little rigor and attention to academic quality. Certainly there are examples where this sort of thing has happened; yet we believe that the same can be said for isolated cases at some of the most respected bricks-and-mortar schools as well. If you have any concern about this perception and how it might affect you, and want to be absolutely safe, then choosing a distance learning program offered by a well-established and respected private nonprofit school or public university might be a safer choice, but, at least at the time of writing, there is no documented incidence of discrimination that we are aware of against graduates of the large for-profit online universities.

A few years ago, employers didn't know the difference. Now, with the increased awareness (and advertising) of the large for-profit schools, and the ready availability of the Internet for search inquiries, they are becoming more aware. While many people won't even think to ask, "So, did you get your degree in a traditional brick-and-mortar classroom, or did you go to one of those 'distance learning' schools?", some will. If they never ask, then there is no reason to tell them how you got your degree, if it would make you uncomfortable to do so.

However, the truth is that with a degree earned through distance methods, you can potentially be even that much more competitive an employee than one with a traditionally earned degree.

Did I get your attention?

You see, after receiving a distance degree from an accredited institution, you'll have demonstrated the same level of knowledge and understanding in your chosen degree concentration as a traditional student earning the same degree, but you will have done it with a far less structured schedule than those who go through the typical "bricks and mortar" program, so you will have demonstrated a remarkable ability to self-motivate and to manage your time, particularly if you earned your degree while you were working and/or raising a family. While sometimes there's a misperception that distance degrees are an "easy" way to advance oneself, the reality is that distance degrees can be even more difficult to earn than traditional degrees. And distance learners are, by and large, the very sort of creative, solutions-oriented self-starters and high achievers that employers are looking for.

Many employers may not have thought about it this way, and so by explaining it, it won't take a particularly bright manager to understand that you would offer far more than someone who received the same credentials from a more traditional education model.

- Nathan Whiteside