But just like choosing a traditional brick-and-mortar college, choosing an online program means doing your homework before starting classes, including making sure you know how to pay for them.
Studies show
that the number of students who complete, or graduate, from their
online degree or certificate program is lower than those who enroll in
traditional college courses. But while you might not finish your degree,
the student loan debt will remain, as well as a higher risk of default.
In many cases – but not always – an online program may be a cheaper alternative
to obtaining a degree at a school’s physical campus. Just as with any
big purchase, it’s important to shop around to see which school offers
the best value for the credential you are seeking. The luxury of online
learning options is that the location of the institution is no longer a
restriction to the choices available.
[Learn why
online education may not cost less.]
While you can obtain federal financial aid
for many online education programs, there are some restrictions. The
most significant restriction is attending a school outside the U.S.
While you can obtain federal student loans to attend some foreign
schools, regulations do not allow any part of that program to be online,
even if it’s just a single class.
If you do need to dip into federal or other
financial aid resources to afford college, it’s all the more important
to ensure the quality of the program is high. Ensuring the program has been accredited
by recognized regional or national accreditors is one way to verify
that the program meets at least minimum standards – and increases the
chances of your credits being transferable if you should decide to
attend a different school midway through. Some schools are starting to refuse to accept online transfer credits, regardless of accreditation, due to what they say is low standards in some online programs.
[Ask these
money questions while considering online degrees.]
It’s also important to note that you must be
enrolled at an accredited institution to receive federal financial aid
and most other state and private aid. Your schools should be able to
tell you right away if they are accredited and if so by whom.
Online education may also offer a higher risk
of overborrowing than a traditional program. Even though your tuition
and fees may not be any cheaper, the remainder of your cost of
attendance should be significantly cheaper as you won’t be incurring
additional transportation or room and board expenses than you had prior
to enrolling in school.
[Watch out for
four hidden costs of online degrees.]
While that is usually the case, schools are
required to offer similar cost of attendance totals to online students
as they do to students attending the same program on campus, which means
a high possibility of being offered more loan funds than you’ll need to
pay the cost of the program. While it can be tempting to hang on to those extra funds, they can add up quickly to a higher student loan debt than you expected.
The Department of Education’s College Navigator
is a great tool to help consumers evaluate all these traits as they
research online programs. The site includes statistics on a school’s
graduation rate, debt level, student loan default rates and net cost,
among other items, and can be valuable for comparing schools and their
online – and other – offerings.
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