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Originally posted by FloridaTish
This isn't specifically in reference to the Harvard issue, but I deal with online students every day so I thought I'd chime in.
I think that many people have a preconcieved notion of online degrees being on the same level as an old school correspondence course. In this day and age that just isn't true anymore. I work at a university and in addition to our "brick and mortar" campus, we have a School of Extended Graduate Studies that offers a select number of Masters degrees online and it is a very labor intensive program. This program enable many, many students to continue on with their education from a highly accredited school while they work a full time job. A number of students are military officers serving overseas who are trying to get their masters in logistics management or a PMBA and have had to deal with relocating around the country and don't have access to a local college to complete their degree.
I deal with these students on a daily basis and they are not looking for the easy way out...they're just looking to finish their education at quality schools like Tulane, Villanova, Florida Institute of Technology, Notre Dame, Jacksonville Univeristy, Univ. of Scranton, St. Leo University, Regis Univeristy and many more.
These are not just continuing education programs. They are legitimate degrees (and quite costly, as most the schools are private institutions) and we are by no means a diploma mill. Students work hard for their degree.
Colleges and Univeristies are just taking advantage of the technology that has evolved over the last 2 decades. Who is to say that an education earned & honestly worked for online is any less in value than having attended on a campus? The classes are taught by the same teachers. It's not like they dumb down the online classes.
Additionally, HR people are very aware of the evolution of online degrees and it is not always an instantaneious negative reflection
on the student if it was achieved online.
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It sounds like we work at the same type of school! For years the military education centers have provided opportunities for ID cardholders (AD, RET, DEPs) to further their educations. Many soldiers enlist directly out of hs while the officers are commissioned with only a BS/BA. That's all well and good, but along the way an NCO must earn his bachelor's if he expects to earn E9 (CSM) while an officer MUST get his master's if he expects to make O5 (LTC).
Some active-duty are fortunate/stellar enough to get Advanced Civil Schooling where they get to further their educations on a fulltime basis while still remaining on AD (and for this privilege they (of course) owe additional years of service). The vast majority aren't eligible and have to take classes while working their "day jobs." Although the school for which I work will always have classroom classes even at our satellite campuses, online choice is becoming more and more popular. Our onlines are taught by the same faculty members that teach our traditional classes.
Even elite schools (I'm using that word deliberately to irritate everyone who thinks all schools are =) are starting to add "executive" weekend intensive master's programs, evening classes as well as satellite campuses. Cornell offers some programs in Qatar as does Carnegie Mellon. For years, Georgetown Law has had an extremely well-respected evening law school program. Wharton (UPenn) has the weekend MBA as do many other schools. These programs are considered to be on par with the full-time reputation unlike the Harvard Extension School.