Is it a bad idea for a young person to go for a DL bachelor's degree?

I don't know how many out there, but I was the one. I started looking for the distance learning option after I graduated from the Marine Corps Boot Camp. I knew nothing about it, but I looked at Yahoo's Distance Education School List. I was accidentally found this forum, and joined before heading myself to Troy University at the age of 20.

 

Man, that's like marrying the first girl you date! :smile:

 

Yeah, well I was 18 and complacent with not doing extensive research. As usual, hindsight's 20/20.

 

Sounds like you made a good choice anyway.

 

As far as employment discrimination, I think it's more nuanced than just a distance degree vs. a B&M degree.

For example, let's say you have an 18 or 19 year old guy who started one or another small business before finishing high school. I don't mean the next Facebook, but let's say a graphic design business or doing aquariums for businesses or something... built up the business and worked hard on a distance degree while doing so, and finished the degree at 19 or 20, then sold the businesses. I don't think that graduate would have *any* trouble getting a job.

Or, a sharp student who has most of her credits done for high school by junior year, starts a DL degree before graduating high school, and goes on to a masters degree at 18 or 19. Again, I don't think this student is going to have any trouble finding a job.

Or even the student who busts ass, does an exam-based degree at Charter Oak State College or Excelsior or Thomas Edison, finishes it up, and goes out looking for a job. I think if the student interviews well, is well read and shows critical thinking skills, and talks about his or her approach to completing the degree, and why she or he did a distance degree, I think most employers (most enlightened ones, anyway) would be delighted to have a self-motivated, bright employee.

Now compare that to someone who went to a mediocre school with a reputation for heavy partying and spent 4 years living in a frat, or someone who went even to a well regarded school, but doesn't show dedication in the interview (and, sadly, this is becoming very, very common among recent college grads; in general, the work ethic seems a lot less dedicated than previous generations, and the people I know who employ recent grads talk about constant problems with employees being on Facebook, IM, texting on their cell phones, and in general, not being very dedicated to their work.

I'm not saying this would be absent in distance grads, but I do think that someone with the motivation to figure out what they need to do to study, take the exams, and negotiate the complications required to graduate has a level of self-motivation that, sadly, many college grads of B&M programs may not. Whether employers know this now generally, or can be educated is a tough call.

And, of course, this also doesn't address students who do a traditional distance-based degree with regular coursework but online instead of in-person. Honestly, if I were a college-aged person, I'd either go the degree-by-exam route and get on with my life, or do the full immersive on-campus college experience, because I think the social life, extracurricular activities, and other experiences one gets by living on campus for 4 years is worth at least as much as the degree itself in terms of richness of experience, if not even more.

 

I think it entirely depends upon the 18 year old! I am 28 and have been going back to school to finish my degree for a little over a year now, before that I took off almost 6 years and before that when I was about 20 I was attending a community college via distance learning. For me it worked because I was in a serious relationship with my now husband and we traveled/moved with his work and still do.

Personally all I think about with most colleges is partying as that is what the majority of kids who attend college do, im not saying all but A LOT. I have taken a few classes in person and I enjoyed them but not enough to want to do my whole degree in person. I much prefer distance learning over being a classroom. If your daughter is mature enough that you think she can commit the time and effort to do her degree distance learning then I say yes but do advise her to take a class here and there in person so she can get that "college feel" that everyone is talking about. All in all it really depends on your daughter and what she feels will work for her as the in person college experience is not for everybody!

And about discrimination because its distance learning, personally I feel that if your going to a B&M college that offers a great DL program there will be none but there could be some if you attend colleges mainly known for their DL programs.

 

My two cents in response to the question is I believe it depends on the school. It would probably go back to a B&M vs. Private for Profit. If a young person had the opportunity to attend a B&M straight out of high-school and opted to stay at home to do a DL degree then yes, I think they would be at a disadvantage (excluding those with disabilities or certain family commitments).

I think somebody else said it best, it depends on the situation and how they respond during the interview process. My best skills were not learned via a college education, they came from serving in the military and street smarts from being an inner city youth growing up. All the degree did was give me credibility to my "real world" skill sets, nothing more.