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A Ph.D. for $600?
By Martha Brockenbrough
Every year around graduation time, I get diploma envy. I teach at a small, private high school where many of my colleagues have Ph.D.s, and even more have master's degrees. Without a doubt, their graduation outfits are cooler than mine.
But that's not all. They get paid more because they've completed more schooling.
When I'm feeling particularly inadequate in my simple red sash, I think, "But I worked in the real world for ten years! That should count for something!"
According to some people, it does.
Empty promises
For a mere $600 and a few clicks of the mouse, I can get a Ph.D. online, based on my so-called "life experience." This degree comes complete with 10 documents, including transcripts, an award of excellence, a certificate of distinction and education verification letters.
"No need to take admissions exams, no need to study," one site promises. "Receive a college degree for what you already know!"
Unfortunately for the people trying to sell me on this notion, I already know enough about academic degrees to know one "earned" this way is worth about what it costs them to print those documents they promise -- closer to 60 cents than $600.
While life experience can be a valuable teacher, it's not the same as an academic degree awarded for subject mastery earned under the guidance of qualified teachers. Though some reputable and accredited online degree-granting institutions do give credits based on professional experience, none of these institutions bestow degrees for experience alone.
It takes time
There are no shortcuts in this department. The master's degree programs I've researched take about two years, working at least 20 hours a week and cost tens of thousands of dollars. And Ph.D. programs? I've had friends who've spent years earning theirs, all while they put off the "life experience" and steady schedule of a paying job.
While shelling out for an instant Internet diploma makes about as much sense as buying Viagra from a spammer, online learning is making continuing education in some ways easier and better than ever.
And it's not just for adults. Kids can benefit in incredible ways through online learning, too. In both cases, the trick is finding the right program, and then putting in the time.
Online learning for adults
I took a continuing education class last summer at my local university, and both loved and hated it. I loved being in a classroom again, and I loved improving my skills.
But man, it was hard to do. Two nights a week, I had to feed my kids early, pack them into the car, sweat through rush hour traffic and meet my husband in a parking lot near the school -- the only way I could be on time to class while he put in a full day's work. And then there was the homework, which took additional hours and additional support and understanding from my family.
I could definitely have lived without the commute. And it also would have been great to schedule the class when it worked for me.
This is why I've found myself watching the development of online degree programs -- not the no-study-required diploma mills, but the ones that require significant coursework and are offered in conjunction with real universities.
For people like me, midcareer professionals who are already juggling family and career, they offer some distinct advantages: You can take courses when you want to, and you don't have to drive to get to class.
But this doesn't mean it's an easier way to get a degree.
In fact, one virtual-university administrator I talked to said the opposite was true.
"The candidate who thinks this is an easy way to get a degree is a bad candidate," said Philip DiSalvio, Director of Seton Hall University's Seton WorldWide program, which has offered online master's degrees since 1998.
The online programs they offer are actually more rigorous, he said, because they take more of a student's time. You can still structure it around your schedule, he said, but there's no getting around the 18- to 25-hour-per-week commitment of their master's degree program.
Unlike a traditional classroom setting, where a student can sit quietly in the back of the room, participation in threaded online discussions is required in Seton Hall's graduate program. Professors -- the same ones who teach in the regular university -- can also monitor how much time a student spends logged in, and can nudge a student who isn't spending the time required to really master the subject matter, DiSalvio said.
And students really do put in the effort, he said. One even logged in to the discussion group while she was in the hospital giving birth.
DiSalvio said the level of engagement, with daily interactions between students and instructors, actually makes the virtual option at least as good, if not better than, the traditional degree program.
It's the basics -- curriculum and faculty -- that make a program good, DiSalvio said. It's not the "bells and whistles" the Internet is capable of that make for a good education. That said, DiSalvio said Seton Hall is experimenting with delivering supplemental information via podcasting.
"I can picture 10 years from now the quantum leap this is going to take," he said. "As the technology evolves," he said, "we adapt."
And when they adapt enough to offer the master's degree that I want, then maybe I'll be cured of my case of diploma envy, once and for all.
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