When you explore your options at the online college of your choice, you will be speaking with an enrollment advisor or enrollment counselor. This is the person with whom you should discuss all of your initial questions. He or she will know the answer, be able to find out for you or guide you to someone else to discuss your questions with.

If you primary goal is to earn your degree in as little time as possible, here are a few things you might check into with your enrollment advisor, and don’t take a simple “no” for an answer. Insist on making sure of what is possible:

1. Ask about Transfer Credit

If you’ve completed courses at other colleges, these can often be applied toward the credits you need to graduate. Find out what the process entails, whom you should contact and be proactive about this. Once you find out about your required courses, look at your transcripts from other work you’ve completed and check to see if these can be applied.

2. Find Out if CLEP Tests Are Available

Passing CLEP tests will allow you to bypass some of the required courses for your major. Many colleges have a College Level Exam Program that allows students to prove their proficiency in various types of courses by passing these exams. So if you feel you are proficient in some areas, check out the possibility of taking these tests.

3. Ask If the College Offers Life Experience Credit

Not all schools do, but some colleges will consider life experience credit which can apply to your graduation requirements. You may have to do some work on a portfolio to present to a review committee, but the time and effort will be worth it. If you are allowed to create a portfolio or presentation, be sure you know what types of things they are looking for – community service, leadership, work experience, accomplishments, etc.

If you or someone you know is thinking about online education to earn a college degree or get certification in a particular area, Accredited-Online-Colleges.com is a great place to begin exploring your options. Whether you want to earn your Associate Degree, Bachelor Degree or you’re ready to take your degree to the Master’s level, you can find many accredited programs to help you reach your goals.

You Only Get One Chance to Get it Right

You know I’ve written quite a few articles about the importance of following directions or reading instructions. If you’re putting a shelf together and you’re handy with a screw driver, you just might be able to figure it out on your own. If you mess up, you can even take it apart and try it again. But if you’re taking an online course, you normally get only one chance to post an assignment. If it’s wrong, you’re the one who makes the bad grade and there is not usually an opportunity to redo it.

Don’t Ignore Those Helpful Tips

The online class I’m teaching right now is getting close to the end of the term. As we near the deadline for the final essay to be submitted, I’ve been posting everything I can think of that will be helpful to my students in preparing their final draft before the due date arrives – sample essays, APA information, tips and advice of all types.

Now, mind you, this final project is worth a hefty number of points and can mean passing or failing for many students. We’ve been working toward this end throughout the entire term. And I am still, at this point, amazed how some students do not seem to pay any attention to all these helpful messages I am posting.

How do I know they aren’t paying attention?

Trust me, I know based on the questions I receive or by the assignments that are being posted. So, I would like to say if anyone who reads this ever takes an online class of any kind, take advantage of everything your instructor offers you in the way of instruction. If you choose not to read the weekly messages your instructor posts, you can be sure you will miss out on a lot of helpful advice that isn’t in your syllabus.

Accredited-Online-Colleges.com offers a directory of online degrees in a wide range of fields to help you prepare for the career you want.  Whether you want to earn your Associate Degree, Bachelor Degree or you’re ready to take your degree to the Master’s level, you can find many accredited programs to help you reach your goals.

I’ve written several articles about moms and how many of them have begun to take the opportunity of young motherhood to stay at home with their children and at the same time prepare for a career. It makes sense to me! No doubt, it takes commitment and sacrifice, but in the end, the results are definitely worthwhile.

Here are 10 top reasons Moms are heading back to the classroom to earn their degrees online:

1. Flexible Schedule

With online classes, you create the schedule that works for you and helps you fit your life, your children and your classwork into your schedule.

2. No Commuting Expenses

You don’t have to leave home to study online. And today’s online classes have come a long way. You’ll find all kinds of online resources to help you.

3. No Daycare Payments

Being able to stay at home saves a ton of money you would spend for daycare, plus the extra doctor bills that come along with your child being exposed to every illness that spreads through the neighborhood.

4. Study from Home

You create your own study space to do your assignments and projects from the comfort of home.

5. Study from Anywhere

If you want to take a weekend trip or a vacation with your family, you can work ahead and still stay in tune with what’s going on in your class.

6. Spend Quality Time with Children

Every mom wants nothing more than to be there for their children. Online learning lets you create a schedule so you can study while the kids are napping, sleeping or involved in other activities.

7. Financial Aid Available for Moms

Yes, thanks to President Obama’s plan, moms can get financial aid to go back to school! And many online colleges and universities offer financial aid for qualifying students.

8. Better Career Opportunities

While your children are small and you want to be the one caring for them and teaching them, you can also be prepared for a real career when it’s time for those babies to go to pre-school.

9. Role Model for Children

Most moms want to be a role model for their little ones. Teaching by action and letting your children know that you value education is important – maybe more than you know when they are so small.

10. Household Responsibilities

Being able to keep up with these responsibilities is much easier when you can work them into your schedule and do other things too. While you’re studying, the dishwasher can be running and the washing machine too while the soup is on the stove.

Invest in Yourself and Your Future with an Online Degree

A busy life is simply that – a busy life. Who doesn’t have one? Not many of us. And most of us can always find a way to work whatever we really want to into our already busy lives. I’m not saying it’s easy because going back to school when you have children and many other responsibilities takes a big commitment and at times life will get overwhelming. But I maintain my stance that it will be worth it in the end.

If you’re considering an online degree, start by exploring the directory of online colleges and universities offering online degrees in today’s most sought after fields at Accredited-Online-Colleges.com.

1. Figure out the rhythm of the assignments – is there a pattern that can help you know what to expect from week to week? In the classes I teach we alternate from week to week. One week there are reading assignments, a discussion in the main forum and a writing assignment. The following week there are various types of written work, but no discussion. Understanding that pattern can be very helpful in planning your study time.

2. Understand major class policies that can affect your success. Every instructor has his or her own way of managing a class, so it’s important to know some of the major requirements up front. For instance, some instructors count class participation and discussion question responses as one grade while others choose to give separate grades for these.

3. Make sure you pay attention to your instructor’s availability schedule so you will know when the most convenient time is to contact him or her for assistance if you should need to do so.

4. Review and print out your course calendar and put it where you can always refer to it. I make a notebook for each course with my calendar in the front for easy access. There is no doubt that your calendar should be a tangible item, not something you refer to on your computer screen. Just try it. Having a hard copy can make a difference.

5. Your syllabus will explain very important information such as where to find course materials, where to post particular types of assignments, how to use the various forums in the class. This is imperative to your success. My advice is to also print your syllabus so you can make notes and highlight important information.

The bottom line is you need to read your syllabus! Even if you don’t read every detail up front, at least read through the whole thing noting important information to help you get off to a good start. Then at the beginning of each week carefully read the information pertinent to the week as you go through the course. Oh, and don’t forget to check the main forum for additional messages from your instructor! More about that later.

Check out the directory of online degrees and programs available online at Accredited-Online-Colleges.com to see if there’s a program right for you offered through an accredited college or university.

Instructors Learn Lessons Too!

I try to make the information as reader friendly as possible, but this is always a work in progress. Each time I teach a class, I always find ways of improving on my initial efforts. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with instructors learning lessons too. I believe I always learn as much as my students do every term.

Who Reads a Syllabus?

Yesterday, I wrote about the epidemic in our society of not following directions and instructions. So as I was working on my syllabus last night, I had those same thoughts in mind. As I worked to make the instructions as easy to understand as possible, I wondered how many of my students take the time to actually read the syllabus at the beginning of class.

There is no doubt about me; I would have to read the whole thing. Maybe not every little detail, but I would have to know up front what the whole course required of me.

If you were starting a new class, would you read the entire syllabus to get an overall idea of what to expect during the course, or would you just go week by week and do whatever was required of you during that week?

Look for tomorrow’s post: “Five Ways Your Course Syllabus Can Help You Succeed”

If you or someone you know is thinking about online education to earn a college degree or get certification in a particular area, Accredited-Online-Colleges.com is a great place to begin exploring your options.

I enjoy seeing what has motivated these students to pursue a degree at this point in their lives. What I find most often with my students is that having children is one of the most common reasons they have taken the step toward returning to school.

Becoming a Better Role Model for Children

Students often say that having children makes them want to find a way to provide a better life for themselves and their families. From young mothers and fathers in the military to moms, both married and single, they want to become more positive role models for their children by getting a college degree while also opening up avenues to better jobs and career opportunities.

Becoming More Competitive in the Job Market

Online education also entices older students to go back to school. Maybe after years of working in a particular field, they have finally reached a point in life that they can study within their field to prepare themselves for better advancement options. Often having been passed over for promotions, they are ready to earn a degree to be more competitive for advanced positions.

What Inspired you to go back to school online?

Whatever the inspiration may be, earning a degree online is a viable option for many adults today.  Accredited-Online-Colleges.com offers a directory of hundreds of online degrees in today’s most sought after fields such as healthcare, technology, business and more.