What is your motivation for earning a DL degree?

In this era that some would say exhibits and overabundance of degree holders, what is your motivation for pursuing your DL degree? Do you expect a pay raise? Are you doing it just for the personal gratification and achievement with a pay raise as only a secondary motivation? Are you doing it purely for fun? (you sadist) Why are you going to all this trouble and expense?

 

Time...I'm back at work and I have a family so I it would take me many more years to finish my degree at a b&m. THis way I can do school work at home and still be there for my wife and kids.

 

Why a DL degree? I'm in the military. With my work and travel schedule, a B&M program was not an option.

Beyond the personal gratification of completing it and being a positive example for my kids, wife, coworkers, etc., I do hope that it helps with the transition to the civilian job market in a few years.

 

I travel/have travelled anywhere from 25% to 75% of the time (that means being in a hotel away from home) for the past 10 years. A B&M school was just not an option for me. With all of the free time in hotel rooms, I decided to work on a degree. I thought it would be a good use of time and it was covered by tuition assistance.

 

I'm not currently pursuing a DL degree, but the reason I am thinking about it is: I want to continue my education, but if an acceptable option isn't available to me locally, I don't want to move because I don't want to leave my church right now. If I decided it would be best to move to continue school, I'd want to wait at least another year or two, which would delay continuing my (formal) education. Who knows, maybe that would be for the best anyways.

 

I have not enrolled in a program yet... but will hopefully do so soon enough. My main reason/motivation is two-fold:

1) For almost a year now something happened in my heart that won't go away. Even though I have been a church-goer all my life and have served in many capacities at my local church... I now want to learn on my own and go deeper into the Bible (Word of God for me). I took a simple non-accredited hermeneutics workshop at my church and I just want more. I want to see it and understand it for myself. Following point number 1... I am now considering entering the ministry in a full time capacity as soon as I am financially able. If this happens it won't actually be a pay raise ... but a pay decrease ..

2) To answer your question - I am choosing DL because the schools close to me are too expensive... and if I do it from home I save on the commute and get to spend that extra time with my family.

I hope to do my next degree at B&M school once my family is a little older.

 

I heard some drunk guy mumbling about it in front of a liquor store.

 

I was thinking along similar lines - perhaps there an over abundance in some majors but probably not in math, science, and engineering.

 

True, but there is an overabundance of general business majors. I have talked to the HR at a couple of universities who have said they get applications from those by the hundreds. Most will not get an interview. Specializations like you mentioned are a different story.

 

I want to finish. I expect a pay raise (though it's possible I now have the job the degree should have got me, it just took longer, and the payoff will not be that great). I am also doing it for personal gratification and achievement and fun. It's a lot of trouble, but the the expense is a lot less than other hobbies a middle-aged might indulge in.

Phillip

 

I was in the Marine Corps active duty at the time. I planned to earn a Bachelor degree before leaving the service in 4 years; which gave me better job in civilian world. I completed my Bachelor from Troy University in 24 months. When I was in the Civilian workforce, I moved around...then I started my master at George Mason University, then moved to Dallas with Southern Methodist University. I moved again, I just realized that if I kept doing this would not going anywhere. Therefore, I grounded with SMU for the Master degree via distance learning.

Now, I am attending Georgetown University at the campus; but I think because the work schedule I have no time for Ph.D at traditional school. Therefore, I am starting my application with Capella University after making several consideration and decision. :scratchchin:

I am only 27 years old with 10 years work experiences. My motivation is hope gaining a better position after earning a Ph.D from Capella University. Besides, the Department of Veteran Affairs pays for it; it just costs me time.

 

Your question is right in the center of what what I've been discussing a lot with friends as of late. DL is a favorable option for me because I came to the realization that paying super high tuition at a school in Chicago for the same degree that is 1/3 the cost at other states is a really really bad business. My undergrad was expensive, and I regret spending that much for it considering that fact that several of my co-workers were hired with two-year community college degrees to do my same job for the same pay. So in making sure that I do not repeat my "undergrad mistake" of paying high tuition, I prefer DL to access low tuition schools that are out of my physical reach. If you know anything about the Chicago tuition market, you'll quickly find that all schools have connived to charge just about the same graduate tuition, and that is $700 and up per credit hour. I simply do not want to pay that much when I can pay lower for the same degree.

In addition to both of my parents being PhD holders, as well as my love for acquiring new knowledge in new and emerging areas (yes, if paid to go to school, I would attend school and rack up as many degrees as possible without any complaints for as along as possible), getting a degree (in my opinion) always opens up new doors of opportunities, and one sure way of being unemployed. While the only trade-off when it comes to DL is the lack of networking as well as face-to-face experience, my strategy is to terminate my education with a traditional program. That is; get masters degrees from DL and then attend a B & M doctoral program with significant residencies.

Doctoral degrees are very serious degrees. I think finishing up strong is crucial in maximizing the utility of the degree. At the present rate that online-only schools are churning out PhDs, very soon, those degrees will be good for nothing, or only good for adjunct teaching jobs at internet-only schools only. The problem with that is that those positions are diminishing very fast in part because many online PhD holders are taking up all the teaching positions (I've seen the same names of adjuncts in the faculty of almost all the online-only schools) available at online schools even if it means teaching at 6, 7 or 8 schools at the same time.

In sum, my motivation for a DL degree is to access high quality programs at a low cost. An example of a high quality program at very low tuition is Dakota State University Information systems programs - both masters and their doctor of science. While the cheapest state universities in the Chicago area would probably be manageable in terms of tuition cost, the problem is that they all tend to offer EdDs (as though everyone needs an education degree) only, or other doctoral programs that one could earn but still end up as a "janitor" as showcased in this thread.

 

My motivation is to learn and to increase my chances of gainful employment.

As I've previously stated I'm going to do seminary in residence at Dallas Baptist University because I want to take full advantage of their resources. Once I'm a chaplain I'll probably have the Army put me through an in residence masters of professional counseling program at whatever university I can get them to, but I may find another distance learning program in history later on. AMU would be my first choice, but I'm hoping more B&M's will have distance learning graduate programs in that field by the time I'm ready for it.

 

I’m doing it for personal gratification and achievement. I had G.I. Bill money left and decided to go back to school. My goal at first was to use every damn dime of it by taking anything. Then I started to think about using it to complete a BA or BS. Since I work 12-hour rotating shift and can’t commit to a traditional class schedule, online is the only option.

 

The question, as it's posed, consists of two parts. Here are my responses to both:
1) What is your motivation for earning a degree?
Well, anyone who has been active on this forum since I joined already knows the answer to this. I hit a career crisis attributable to a combination of the economic collapse in 2008/2009 and a growing sense of disillusionment with my occupation. I was a ship without a sail, so to speak, and was looking to broaden my overall marketability and hopefully develop a set of occupational and financial goals. Since that time, I have done my research, developed a plan, and am now executing it. Funny enough, my current occupation has leveled off, and a switch to secondary education will mean a pay-cut, not a pay-raise. But, I believe it will offer me a better quality of life, and so I am still heading in that direction.
Additionally, there was this lingering burden that I have always carried because I did not finish my degree when I was younger. I can say that this alone would not have led me to jump back in at this point in my life, but in combination with other contributing factors, it certainly was a factor in the decision-making process.
2) Why are you pursuing your degree via DL rather than conventional means?
Like almost everyone else here, time and money. I have a wife, kids, job, and other obligations that preclude me from being able to spend the face-time that is necessary in a B&M program. I am fully capable of self-motivation and feel that I gain more from self-study than I do from having a professor talk at me. And though there is not a significant savings in tuition for me either way, DL saves me the cost of commuting, parking, and all of the ancillary moneys that invariably come into travelling anywhere to do anything.

On another note, I have to say that I agree with Maniac on one primary point. Institutional education has been oversold in our society, and it is unfortunate that even those of us who are dedicated in various ways to a lifetime of learning are forced to jump through this particular hoop to accomplish certain tasks. There is a part of me that really wants that plaque hanging on the wall, but I understand that this is a product of my upbringing and immersion in this "cult-of-education" society (don't think that means I won't post pic's when I get it and brag, brag, brag:shhh. Outside of this construct of our culture, however, I would not even bother going through the process. I would absolutely continue to read broadly (I always have) and learn about whatever topic was important/interesting/pertinent to me. But I would not financially, materially, or philosophically contribute to the idea that an individual has to donate a significant portion of their life and finances to an institution so that institution can then vouch for his/her ability to function in the professional/academic world. I have so much more to rant about, but for now I'm stepping off of my :soapbox:

 

Do you mean bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees? (Could you mean continuing education, certificates, or diplomas as well?) There is no comparison between these degrees, so the reasons for pursuing them through DL will vary widely. Hence, I find this to be an unanswerable question as asked...

 

It's intended to be vague; I'm not referring to any specific degree or certificate. It's just a general question that can be answered in any way you want to interpret it. I'm not looking for any answers; I was just curious to hear the various responses. You always provide interesting answers, DW!