Getting Your Degree, My Experience With Online Classes

I have recently started taking online college courses to finally get my bachelor’s degree. I really owe my wife for keeping on me to start. I had started 3 years ago, enrolling and signing up for English with Composition, only to quit in the first week. I made many excuses why I couldn’t finish, and it was a pretty hectic time in my life. If I am being honest with myself, it was laziness. Looking back at that decision now, after finishing my fourth class, I was so lazy.

Online classes are, for the most part, pretty easy. I am currently enrolled at Ashford University http://ashford.edu/home/, located in Clinton, Iowa. My wife started here 2 years ago, when we were living in San Diego, to get degree and teaching certificate to be an elementary teacher. The best part about their classes is their schedule. Each class is only 5 weeks, and after finishing a couple, you can take two at a time. I would be hesitant before attempting a math class like this, but for most of your general education credits, it’s a great way to finish at least half of your classes (more if you’re getting your degree through them) in a little over a year. I am pursuing my degree through Excelsior College https://www.excelsior.edu/, but I can completemost of my classes faster through Ashford. Why Excelsior you ask? They award more credits for my military training in nuclear power than all but two other institutions, They do give the most, by far, towards an ABET Accreditted Engineering Degree. Feel free to contatct me if you have any questions about this.

How hard are the classes? How much work do I have to do? Well, that would entirely depend on your Instructor, but I can tell you what I have experienced so far. Each week, usually two forum posts are required on your reading assignment, and 4 replies to your classmate’s posts. Reading assignments are 1 to 3 chapters in the text, around an hour's worth reading. Some weeks there will be a short 10 to 20 question quiz on the text. There usually will be some type of written assignment as well. Essays, research papers, or short descriptive papers are the norm. The most my wife or I have had to do in a 5-week class is 3. Some classes have a larger final test, around 40 questions, but all of this is open book and non-timed. They have the option of timing the tests, but neither my wife nor I have seen this yet.

It takes a commitment to complete the assignments that are scheduled, but for the most part, it takes no more of your time than two or three movies would each week. Also, if you’re like me and need some instant satisfaction, 5 weeks goes by pretty quick. In a short period of time you can see your credits adding up, which just motivates me even more.

Almost all of us could benefit from having a degree, and once you start, it’s really not that much of a sacrifice. At times it will be inconvenient, but the good far outweighs the bad. If you have even remotely considered going back to school, or starting for the first time, I say go for it. Most student loans are completely deferred until you are not actively pursuing a degree anymore, so if you plan to pay some towards them while they are deferred, then the loan later will that much more manageable.