• Purely online : It is totally conducted through the Internet
• Blended Learning : It is partly dependent on the Internet and partly offline
• Asynchronous : The communication in Asynchronous type of online education is through list-serves, forums, threaded discussion, email and weblogs.
• Synchronous: The communication in Synchronous type of online education is through videoconferencing, teleconferencing and chat.
• Instructor-led group: The group sits forth the computer through which the instructor teaches.
• Self-study : The candidate learns from the internet by self.
• Self-study with subject matter expert : The candidate learns from the internet but is assisted by a teacher who is expert at that subject matter.
• Web-based : The whole reference matter is on the website. The teaching is totally web based.
• Computer-based (CD-ROM) : The subject matter is not only on the website but also sent to the candidate on CD .
• Video/audio tape: The online education is imparted with the help of video cassettes and/ or audio tape.

Working:  First the candidate has to decide about which course he/she want to pursue and which online educational services provider he/she want to register with.  The student has to sign up and fulfill the registration process through the internet.  The username and password are allotted once  the registration process is over and the fees are paid.  Now the candidate can log in to the internet class room and start attending the sessions.

Some of the  online educational services provider have  a provision of facilitating their students with online chatting  and conferencing. They can eve get their problems and confusions solved through the internet. The students are given grades on the basis of their assignments, homework and the online test scores.

Benefits of Online Education :

• The course is accessible anytime from anywhere, 24 X7
• The online education facilitates student centered teaching approach.
• Online classroom increase student interaction
• The exposure to the knowledge is increased
• Online participation is less frightening.
• The internet makes the instructors more accessible
• The student can finish off the course at his own pace.

Note of concern  :  All online courses are not recognized. Prior to registering and sending the fee , it is always better to conduct a research about the recognition, acceptability and credibility of the course that you will be taking online. In short online courses cannot be trusted.

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• Student Loans : To finance their education, most of the students depend on the federal government loans. The rate of interest of this type of loan is very low. The formalities do not required any collateral or credit checks. A variety of option for deferred payment or terms for extended repayment are also available in this type of loan. Federal loans for student s offered by the federal government has two variations. One includes loans offered by private lenders like the credit unions , banks, loan and savings associations. The other includes loans offered by the government directly to the parents and students
• Parent Loans : In this type of loan the parents of the student apply for the loan to meet the expenses of his/ her study. The rates of interest are fixed. Repayment of this loan starts after 60days of full loan disbursement. This loan depends on the credit history of the applier. To get this type of loan in the USA, a student has to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The student also has to sign a master promissory note.
• Private Education Loans : the Private Education Loans are also called as Alternative Education Loans. Every know that the government loan is limited. Now if you want to borrow money beyond this limit you have to resort to borrowing from private lenders. These sort of loans depend on your credit score. The rates of interest are far higher than the government loans. It is always better to try for government loan and when there are no chances of a government loan then and then only opt for Private Education Loans .
• Consolidation Loan : Consolidation Loan is a combination of parents loan and students loan. It is like refinance of mortgage.
• Peer-To- Peer Education Loans : This type of loan is also called person to person lending, social lending, micro loans, microfinance. This is a nontraditional form of lending. It involves unsecured loan between persons.

One should always think about the rate of interest and repayment time before taking  the loan. Other issues  to be taken into consideration while taking a loan are the availability of student loan discount  and the  chances of loan forgiveness programs.

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Degree Programs can be offered through direct classes or through online (internet). The degree programs can also be offered by various types of bodies such as :

• Private Universities : The universities that are managed by privately by individuals or a company is called private university. These sort of universities are not funded by the government and because of this the fees is usually very high.

• Public Universities: The public university that offer degree programs are operated and controlled by the government or government agencies. They are financed through public funds. The public universities are usually called state universities too. The fee charge from the local student is very low but that charged from the international student could be very high.

• Liberal Arts Colleges: The education at the liberal arts college is not focused but broad based.

• Institutes Of Technology: Some schools focus on science and engineering. These schools offer degree programs focused on some technological aspect.

• Religiously Affiliated Universities: Some of the degree programs are offered by universities that are religiously affiliated. Most of the American religiously affiliated schools are connected to Christianity.

• Specialized Vocation Schools : The specialized vocation schools conduct degree programs with special emphasis on some specific vocation.

Credibility of the Degree programs is influenced by:

• Accreditation : Make sure that the institution offering the degree program is accredited by some body of repute. Accreditation matters a lot especially when on completion of the course, you start seeking employment.

• Year of Establishment : Conduct a research about the history of the institution offering the degree program. More the number of year , more is the credibility.

• Student faculty ratio : Try to find out the student faculty ratio. This ration shows the magnitude of person attention given to the students.

• Faculty : The faculty teaching the degree program should be well qualified, experienced and effective.

• Employment Opportunities : The Student usually join the degree programs after knowing and accessing the employment opportunities that are available in the market on completion of that degree program.

• When choosing the degree program compare the fee and scholarships at different institutions offering the degree program.

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The academic programs offered by the institutions, colleges, universities vary from location to location, country to country.  The topic ” academic programs ” can be seen differently by the educational service provider and in a all together different context from  the perspective of the student.

The Academic Programs From the perspective of the educational service provider :
The educational service provider could be the  school, institution, college or the university.

Need :  First of all the need of the course is accessed. It is decided whether a particular academic program is worth being offered to the student. This need assessment depends of criterion such as the employment sector, and the   availability of that academic program through the other  educational service providers. The employment sector is the  dominant factor.

It is the business houses and the other sectors  offering employment opportunities that create the necessity of personnel with that knowledge.  Educational  Service providers that provide knowledge to candidate launch themselves at upgrading  or teaching the candidates  with the skill that are required to meet the demands of the industries.

Most of the educational service provides are professional and offer their services not as philanthropy but  for profit. The academic program in demand can fetch more profits for the educational service provider  than the program  that does not  attract any student.

Resources :  When the educational service provider  decides  to offer a course,   the first thing it should have is  the infrastructure. For some academics programs , the infrastructural requirements are least but for some  academic programs especially programs related to medicine and surgery the infrastructural requirements are gigantic.

Once the infrastructural requirements  are fulfilled, there is need of experienced  and Intelligent  faculty  to teach the students. The faulty should be as efficient and effective as possible.  The main resource behind the curtains is the money or the funds.

The educational service provider should have enough money for the infrastructure, teachers, equipments  and  teacher aids, as well as for marketing the institution. Sometimes If an educational service provider wants to offer  an academic program on forest and management of forest products, there has to be a forest near the  venue of imparting this education.

Options : The greater the list of  the academic programs offered by the educational service provider,  wider  will be the choice with the students . This assures that the educational service provider  will not lose a student.

The  Academic Programs From the perspective of the student : The interest of the student  or the employment opportunities  drives  the student towards a particular Academic Program. Before selecting the Academic Program the student also takes into consideration the fee and the reputation of the educational service provider.

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Scholarships :
Scholarships can be classified on different platforms. From one perspective scholarships are divided on the basis of :

• merit: These sort of scholarship depend on the performance of the student at the exams.

• financial status of the student : This scholarship depends on the monetary status and the intelligence of the student.

• faith (minority) : in some institution the scholarship could be on the basis of the group that you belong to and in some cases it could be such that the minority group student is given priority for scholarships.

• physical deformities (physically handicapped ) : Sometime some scholarships are reserved exclusively for the students who are physically handicapped.

According to other perspective, the scholarships could be based on :

• Academic: The academic scholarships are offered on the basis of the academic performance of the candidates. A Specific GPA is the criteria for a Academic Scholarship. A student with high grades usually becomes applicable for this scholarship on getting admission but in some institutions there are formalities and the student has to follow an application process. If a student wants to continue getting this scholarship he/she has to maintain a ceiling grade. If the student cannot maintain the ceiling grade he/ she is put on probationary status. This scholarship can be terminated if the student fails to maintain the ceiling grade after being on probation.

• Athletic : This sort of scholarship is offered to candidates who perform excellent at sports . This scholarship is not      easy because many are there in the fray.

• Departmental awards : This scholarships are offered to students to attract their interest in other field or departments.

Funding : Funding covers nearly all the issues related to meeting the expenses at college. One can decrease the expenses at school by taking part in regional student exchange program, working as resident assistant, by buying the textbooks that are used, fixing or locking the rates of the tuition, opting for loan-forgiveness programs, joining the Armed Forces, taking the APP classes in high school and earning college credit, studying during winter and summer breaks, spending the students savings first, seeking employer programs, accelerating the studies, opting for work-study and co-ops , opting for state preferred –rate loans or the college’s own loans.

The biggest advantage of scholarships is that they have not to be paid. The other financial instruments have to be repaid with the interest.

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Someone has truly said that any can rob you off the money you have but no one can rob you off the education that you have.

Times have changed drastically. Earlier it was openly experience that was considered a desired criteria in the corporate sectors.  Nowadays one needs  something more than experience and that something includes certificate from a college of repute as well as good references and / or  recommendations.

People go to college to  :

• Increase their knowledge
• Upgrade their skills
• Learn communication both written as well as verbal
• Understand the corporate sector better
• Understand our society better.

Attaining college education obviously means increasing the chances of job opportunities. A college graduate is usually preferred to a high school dropout. A person with a college certificate earns nearly 60% more than a person with high school diploma.

Basically there are three types of colleges. What kind of college you want to join , depends on your own discretion and what sort of career you want to choose and go ahead with.

• Four Year Colleges : Usually the word ” college ” means the four year colleges. These four year colleges offer a wide range of education and you have to choose the subject of your domain or the subject that you are going to specialize(major) in. The four year colleges offer bachelors degree. The most common and famous bachelors degree are Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.).Most of the courses get completed within 4 years but sometimes the course duration can extend. Moreover the course duration can also extend if the student takes a semester off or would like to specialize/ major in two subjects rather than one. The four year colleges can be private or public.
• Two year colleges : The two year college institutions are also called junior or community colleges. These two year colleges offer associate degrees. It is seen that the associate degrees are not that much valued as the four year bachelor degree. The magnitude of personal attention is more in a two year college because the class size is usually small. More over the two year colleges operate for profits.
• Technical and Trade Schools : The courses at these institutions make the student skilled at specific technical area of his interest and where he (the student ) thinks he can make a career. With a training in specialized program a candidate becomes suited and groomed for working in that field. The technical areas include cosmetology, business, computer programming or even medical technology.

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