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How Valuable
is an Online Graduate Degree?
DEAR NORTON: I'd like to get a graduate degree, and since I live quite some distance from the nearest university with a graduate business school, I'm toying with the idea of getting a degree online. Do you know of any comprehensive catalog or listing of programs that currently offer online graduate degrees? Also, do you have a clear sense of whether employers value these degrees as highly as the regular kind? MARY ANN
DEAR MR ANDERSON: I've been curious myself about whether virtual credentials carry as much weight as the kind you earn in person, so I've done a lot of asking around about this, and so far, anyway, the answer is a resounding "maybe." On the one hand, companies seem to like the notion of training people online. A recent survey of human resources managers, by workplace consultants Drake Beam Morin, found that an almost unanimous 94% believe technology-based learning is a viable option for teaching professional development (a.k.a. soft skills). About three-quarters of them expect computerized training to become the norm within five years. According to new figures from researchers at IDC (www.idc.com), the overall online-education market will explode from its current $1.8 billion (with about 700,000 students) to $5.5 billion (2.2 million students) by 2002. Says LaVonne Reimer Young, CEO of a company called Cenquest (www.cenquest.com), which designs and delivers online courses, including master's degrees: There is enormous interest in this from companies that are worried about retention. They're attracted to the idea of allowing employees to save time by getting a degree without leaving the office. Cenquest now has students from more than 50 tuition-reimbursing employers that presumably value virtual credentials, or they wouldn't be paying for them. (If you'd like to try out a sampling of material from an online course in new-product development, go to www.cenquest.com/ilearnarcade.)
Fine and dandy, but the dozen or so executive recruiters and senior managers I spoke with (in an unscientific poll I conducted by flipping through my Rolodex) voiced concerns about whether an online degree was really the full equivalent of the in-person kind. This is not because they doubt that the work is as demanding (it generally is) but because half the value of a traditional graduate degree lies in face-to-face discussions that spark ideas and build team-leadership and negotiating skills. It seems the jury is still out on whether you can get the same quality of experience in a virtual classroom. One headhunter, who asked to remain nameless, did point out that with more and more prestigious schools launching online graduate programs, the question may be moot: Let's say you got a graduate degree online from Duke. Just put Duke on your resume, without mentioning that you never physically went there. Uh-huh. And then be prepared to explain how you went to Duke while living in Montana.
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ONLINE GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS - Online Graduate Degree Programs and Distance Learning Graduate Degree Programs
