Found Not Lost

We are in the midst of selecting a college for our daughter who is graduating from high school this year and I can tell you, it’s not going to be an easy task. Many universities have made drastic cut backs making some of the courses and majors that she’s interested in unavailable. At the same time, many of them are raising their tuition fees and other fees. It is a hard balancing act and a hard decision to make.

One alternative to the traditional university systems is a school like Western Governor’s University (WGU) where students can get an online degree without having to attend a traditional campus and they claim that their tuition fees are lower and more affordable. Their courses are supposedly more accelerated so you can finish sooner thus saving more money. WGU also offers a masters degree online which allows working adults to earn a higher degree without sacrificing their income.

One of the things that has been of interest to us with our daughter is the amount of scholarships and financial aids offered by universities so it is one of the things that I checked on with WGU. It turns out that they offer several ways to assist their students via:

• Additional Economic Turnaround Scholarships
• $3,000 Scholarships for Employees of Small Businesses
• AARP Foundation-WGU Educational Assistance Program Scholarships

If you are looking for a place that offers online degrees, check out WGU.

I have a high school senior and she has been in the midst of searching for schools and universities that offer the course she wants. She has looked at both traditional schools and online universities. There are a lot more choices out there for college bound students today than during my time.

One such online university is Western Governors University (WGU) which is a fully accredited online university offering bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. WGU is a non-profit online university which offers affordable tuition fees compared to other online universities. For instance, you can earn a bachelors degree online for only $2,890 per six-month term. The great thing about taking courses online, especially for adults who are re-training or simply enhancing their skills with a master’s degree, is that you can work the schedule to fit yours instead of being confined to their schedule. This is especially important for working adults.

WGU is an exclusively online university which means that they don’t maintain the overhead cost of maintaining a physical location. This is one reason why they can offer their courses at such affordable rates.

If you are looking for an online university to earn either a bachelor’s or master’s degree, visit the WGU website for more details.

My daughter is now a high school senior so you know what that means. She is up to her neck in college applications, achievement tests, and scholarship applications. And of course, mom is the one footing all the fees. But, that’s a topic for another whine… I mean another time.

For parents of college bound students: If you haven’t found out about CollegeBoard.com yet, it may be too late. Students and parents should start checking out this valuable resource as soon as they can. I say, start looking through the site while in middle school. College Board is the official site of the SAT test. You can find out all about the SAT test on the site but it is also packed with a whole lot of other information from trivial facts like lists of banned books to lists of online college degrees. More importantly, for parents, there is a section on scholarships.

The section on where to find Scholarships and How to Develop a Strategy is a great starting place. From there, you can get leads to other sites of interest.

For instance, here are some free scholarship search services that were listed on the College Board website:
Scholarship Search
FastWeb
Sallie Mae

Tomorrow is the first day back to school in our district. Students are anxious either because they are excited to go back to school or are dreading that they are going back to school. It’s a hectic time, getting the kids ready for school. It’s also a time when many of us, working professionals, start reflecting on our current situations and what we need to do to improve it.

If taking your kids back to school is making you think about also going back to school, here’s another online masterial degree program that you may be interested in.

Lewis University Online offers a masters information security program that will provide students with the technological and managerial tools to help them stay ahead in the IT security industry by training students in creative and innovative ways in responding to threats in IT functionality and privacy.

There are two areas of concentration in the The Lewis University Online Master of Science in
Information Security program: Managerial and Technical. Not everyone working in IT works on the technical side, many are on the administrative and managerial side so depending on your area of concentration, you can choose to follow one of the two focus.

Whichever concentration you decide to focus on, a masters degree in Information Security will help you succeed in your IT career.

Times are hard. You don’t need me to tell you how tough the economy is right now. This year was the first year where many college graduates did not have jobs lined up right after graduation. While there was a time when you can get by with a high school diploma and still maintain a middle class lifestyle, those days are gone. Now, to succeed in a career, you need a masterial degree. A mere bachelor’s degree is no longer enough. But when you’re supporting yourself or even a family, it’s not so easy to just go back to school. Plus, graduate school is not cheap and there aren’t many grants and scholarships to be had anymore.

One solution to getting that masters degree is to take classes online. Most universities who offer courses carry the same accreditation for their online courses as their on campus courses. One such university is Gonzaga. Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, offers the following Masters degrees online:
Master’s in Organizational Leadership - designed for professionals who wish to develop new leadership roles in their company or organization.

Master’s in Communication and Leadership Studies - designed to help professionals qualify for leadership positions in communications, public relations, advertising and broadcasting.

Master of Science in Nursing - designed for nurses who want to take leadership in management, research and practice.

Servant Leadership Development Program - designed to educate the whole person and involves the mind, body and spirit.

Just a few years ago acquiring a degree from an online university was looked down upon. Nowadays, even traditional university systems have an online department. Two of the people who just recently got promoted at work received their advanced degrees from an online university. This tells you that work places are now also recognizing online degrees.

One such online university is Gonzaga. Gonzaga University is ranked among the top universities in the west by U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review and Forbes Magazine have also ranked it as one of the nation’s best universities. In addition to those endorsements, Kiplingers Personal Finance also ranks Gonzaga among the best value in private universities.

Gonzaga University is a private, not-for-profit university located in Spokane, Washington but they do offer some post graduate courses online. Online masters degree offered at Gonzaga are: Master’s in Organizational Leadership, Online Master’s in Communication & Leadership, and Online Master of Science in Nursing. These course offerings are perfect for professionals who want to get ahead in their jobs by obtaining a master’s degree. Online courses allow people to schedule their school work to fit into their personal and professional lives.