The Corner College

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Thanks to recent advances in distance learning technology, "just around the corner" can now be on the other side of the world.

Ever wish you had earned a college degree, or perhaps a different one? Maybe having a bachelor's degree would be helpful in impressing new customers, or even potential financial backers. Through the course of your education, you might even pick up some competitive skills that would help you advance in your field. Maybe earning a 4-year degree would just boost your overall morale and professional confidence. At the end of the day, there are many reasons to continue your education.

Inevitably, however, reality seems to overcome your dreams to return to college. Class and work schedules conflict. The commute is too long. Who will watch the kids? Maybe there's not even a school within driving distance offering the courses you want to take. Before you know it, any thoughts of going back to school are quickly out of the question.

--Not so fast! Today, a respectable college degree is within your reach, even if you can't venture any further than your office or loading dock.

Changes in Higher Education

Much has changed in higher education over the last few decades. Now reputable, accredited colleges offer outreach programs enabling the self-employed to earn both graduate and undergraduate degrees at their own pace, regardless of age or location.

Computer Campuses

As technology improves, commuter colleges are quickly being replaced by “computer campuses.” If you have a computer and a modem, maybe a fax, you can easily attend a class or even take a test online. All lectures, class discussions, assignments, and papers are completed via your computer, and you log on when you have the time and energy.

For example, University of Phoenix offers a B.S. Program in Business Administration and a B.A. in Management. Both are two-year "degree completion programs" requiring only 50 transfer credits and just 2-3 years of professional experience. The BSBA trains financial decision-makers, while the Management BA prepares future organizational managers responsible for balancing employees, budgets, and organizational goals.

Television and Video Courses

If online programs aren't right for you, you might consider a different but equally convenient approach to continuing your education. Some college degree programs integrate televised courses and videotaped instruction, supplemented by textbooks and other course materials. Completing your education on your time, you complete the same assignments, take the same exams, write the same term papers, and earn the same college credits as the students studying at traditional universities. You just get to skip the commute—or the move.

Independent Study

Independent study programs are open to everyone. In fact, PBS offers a wide variety of credit-bearing courses in collaboration with local colleges. Students watch lessons on television, complete the reading, homework assignments, and papers at home, and then meet with a college instructor every few weeks to discuss progress or sit for exams. PBS courses are widely accepted for undergraduate elective credit and community colleges should have information. These days many colleges offer some courses by independent study using this mixed format.

Taken together, the correspondence study departments of the following schools all offer a phenomenal range of accredited college courses via independent study:

Brigham Young University
Louisiana State University
Ohio University
University of Alabama
University California
University of Iowa
University of Minnesota
University of Wisconsin
University of Oklahoma

These programs can be completed by regular or electronic mail, and require no campus visits. You can get a good, well-rounded college education through these few schools. With a little planning, highly respected two-year or four-year degrees can be earned from these schools entirely by correspondence! Degree-planning help is also available upon request.

Academic Equivalence Credits

These days, it is regular practice for colleges to grant undergraduate credit for knowledge gained in non-academic settings. Academic equivalence credits are typically granted through assessments of life/work experience or even examination. Based on documentation rather than examination, these assessments often take the form of papers, interviews, or by examining official military training records, jobs descriptions, licenses and certificates, and other official evidence (e.g. published articles or books).

You can earn more credits by passing broad subject examinations such as the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) rather than challenging one course at a time. Some colleges grant 15-30 credits undergraduate credits for high GRE subject exam scores.

For people with lots of work experience or independent learning, academic equivalence credits can really speed up the process of earning a college degree. And dramatically cut the cost. Regardless of where you live, what you do for a living, or your current level of formal education, if you are interested in pursuing a college degree, you can make that dream into a reality. The next step is as close as the phone, the mailbox, or even a PC. What are you waiting for ?

Now what? The next step is easy!

Take the first step today and browse our large database of free information about the best accredited online colleges, or simply use the form below to find the career program that is right for you!

Much of this material originally appeared as "The Corner College" in SELF-EMPLOYED AMERICA.