Item saved to your backpack!

Whether deserved or not, online university programs carry a stigma in the minds of many policy-makers, education analysts and traditionally-minded academics. Detractors argue that online degree programs are impersonal and unregulated with wide swings in their quality of instruction, overall a pale substitute for traditional face-to-face instruction.

But advocates of online learning point out that those same charges can be leveled at brick-and-mortar universities. Is a darkened auditorium filled with 300 groggy students straining to scribble out the essence of a droning lecture really more personal than an online session where students can video chat with their professor and fellow students? And don't the interactive tools and technology available through the Web give educators more options to create an engaging, immersive learning environment?

The debate rages, but thanks to a constellation of factors, including cash-strapped statehouses and a steady rise of non-traditional learners, more brick-and-mortar schools are integrating online programs into their academic catalog, and enrollment in online courses has been soaring--up 21 percent in 2010, according to the Sloan Consortium.

Fred DiUlus, a prominent booster of Web-based higher learning, is looking to dispel what he describes as "stupid myths of online education." DiUlus is the CEO and founder of the Global Academy Online, a provider of curriculum materials for online schools that publishes a recurring best and worst ratings book. In his forthcoming book, "The Online University That Is Best for You," DiUlus spends a chapter trying to debunk four "myths" about online education he finds particularly insidious, which we summarize here:

	Myth# 1: "An online degree is no good and worthless." With hybrid programs on the rise, offering students a blend of online coursework and in-person instruction, more and more students are experiencing a first-hand, side-by-side comparison between the old and the new. Global Academy Online's nonprofit arm, the Center for Ethics in Free Enterprise, has been conducting annual polling that has found students' positive views of online education trending up. In its most recent survey, 70 percent of students polled said they preferred online learning to on-campus classes.
	Myth #2: "You need American accreditation to possess a legitimate degree." Like many backers of online learning, DiUlus argues that formal U.S. accreditation is more of a bureaucratic formality than a certification of a school's merit. Accreditation by the U.S. Department of Education is a voluntary process, he notes, a somewhat symbolic recognition that enables students to qualify for federal tuition assistance. But foreign universities, many of which are well established (such as the 1,000-year-old University of Bologna), can offer a sterling online program for U.S. students, only without the imprimatur of American accreditation.
	Myth #3: "Good jobs are not available to online degree holders." Accreditation counts here, too, as DiUlus notes that employers are first and foremost interested in confirming that an applicant's degree is legitimate, but the distinction between on-campus and online instruction is a relic. For graduates with a degree from a foreign university, certification mechanisms exist through U.S. agencies affirming that the program of study comports with American standards. "The notion that a bachelor's degree or a master's in order to be valid or of value to an employer must come first from an accredited classroom-based school is totally preposterous," DiUlus says. "Today, employers encourage employees and applicants to acquire schooling online as it permits employees to do school and their work uninhibited by time constraints, travel and availability."
	Myth #4: "Online colleges are easy to get into and easy to get a degree from." While it is true that many online programs offer open enrollment, that by no means makes them diploma factories. Indeed, DiUlus argues that online schooling requires an added level of discipline from their students, a factor that often results in higher attrition rates than in traditional colleges and universities. "Online degrees earned from universities with programs completely or partially offered online require the same rigor and difficulty as that of their traditional classroom counterparts," he says.
For related news and other information from Schools.com, see:	Degree decisions: How to choose a college major (infographic) The 5 cheapest colleges in the country College degrees boost earnings--even for jobs that don't require them U.S. News & World Report plans online education rankings