Saving Time and Money: An Information Technology Student Pursuing an Online Degree Tells All |
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August 13, 2006
by Kirk Bangstad
First Stop Online Degree Columnist
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. will need 1.5 million more IT professionals by the end of 2006. By the end of the decade, one in four U.S. jobs will be information technology related. Considering these statistics, it's easy to see why getting an IT education now is a wise move. But what if you are already working in the IT field, and want to earn a degree to improve your career chances down the road?
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Jason Craft, a network security technical consultant working in Illinois, asked himself that same question and ultimately decided to pursue a Bachelor of Science and Information Technology degree online while continuing to work full-time. He had a few things to say about his online degree experience and what he thinks it will mean for his future.
FSOD: Why did you choose to get an online degree?
JC: Like most students, I went to college immediately after graduating high school. While in college, I took a part-time network support job to earn some extra money. Because I was interested in the field, I found myself actually getting more experience and practical skills from my job than from college. I decided at the time that because I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted out of college, I'd put my studies on hold and keep on gaining experience in the IT industry.
After a few years of working, I decided that I wanted to go back and earn my bachelor's degree for two reasons. First, it was an accomplishment I wanted to put on my resume. Second, I wanted to go to grad school to study network security and had to have a bachelor's to do it. After doing the math, I figured it could take me up to ten years to earn my bachelor's at a typical college while continuing to work full time. I found that online programs, because they are designed for working professionals, take much less time to complete.
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FSOD: Describe your online degree experience.
JC: I like it. I think that most of the people in my program are like me. They enrolled because they really wanted their degrees, meaning that they are pretty serious students. In an online program, you either sink or swim. My courses are all five weeks long, and each week builds on the previous one. No one is there to hold your hand, but if you do the work, you can learn a lot and earn your degree quickly.
FSOD: Do you interact a lot with your instructors?
There are three main parts to my program. One part is a participation newsgroup, where instructors lead online discussions and students post responses. The second part is a team project, where the instructor puts 4 or 5 of us together and makes us complete a project relevant to the course. The third part is daily homework, where I have one-on-one access to my instructor. If I have a question, I'll email the instructor. He'll generally get back to me quickly with suggestions, examples, etc. All the instructors I've had have been very knowledgeable in their fields. I think most of them have had 15+ years of experience related to the course they taught.
FSOD: What are your thoughts about the differences between an online degree and a degree from a traditional college?
JC: I was initially a little skeptical about the validity of an online degree, but the more I learned about online education and about the job requirements in the IT field, the more I felt studying online was the way to go.
First, there are hundreds of thousands of students currently earning their degrees from online universities, meaning that online education has already become pretty mainstream. Second, I've been working in the IT industry for quite a few years now, and can tell you that employers focus just as much on prior experience and professional IT certifications as they do on where you earned your degree. Given my experience and the specific certifications I've earned, I'm not terribly worried that any future employers are going to raise an eyebrow about my online bachelor's degree.
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FSOD: You mentioned going back to graduate school. Do you plan to do that online as well?
JC: Yes. I've become really interested in network security. My current job involves making sure my company's web applications are secure from viruses, hackers, and other network issues. Because more and more companies are moving their operations onto the web, this field's becoming extremely important. I 'm planning to earn my master's degree in network security so I can further immerse myself in the field and make my resume that much more attractive. I've enrolled in an online network security graduate degree program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. The backing of the Department of Defense definitely legitimizes the program for me, and I'm hoping it will also impress future employers.
For Jason, the pros of enrolling in an online degree program definitely outweighed the cons. Do your own career analysis and decide whether an online degree program is right for you.
Sources
Learn more about Information Technology
About the Author
Kirk Bangstad is a freelance writer and holds a B.A. in government from Harvard University.
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