Selecting an online graduate program is a decision you shouldn’t make lightly. As you’re evaluating programs, consider how each school’s resources, reputation and value line up with your career interests and goals.
Graduate programs can be highly specialized and enable students to get deep into a specific subject. Before you decide on a program, make sure you’re passionate about the topic and want to become an expert in it.
Whether you want to build on your undergraduate area of study or go in a new direction, you can narrow down your program choices with the help of academic advisers at institutions of interest. Past professors and connections from your undergraduate alma mater are another good source for program recommendations. Also, check out the many U.S. News rankings of accredited online master’s programs and specialties to further your search.
When choosing an online master’s program, prospective students should
ensure the school is accredited by an organization recognized by either the U.S. Department of Education or the nonprofit Council for Higher Education Accreditation. These organizations monitor programs and schools and renew their accreditation every few years. Accreditation is a process that an outside authority conducts to ensure a school or degree program – either on campus, online or a combination of both – meets certain quality standards. Attending an accredited institution is important for your career, as employers favor certain accreditations over others.
Prospective students may come across for-profit and nonprofit online schools in their search. For-profit schools are privately owned entities that, for years, have rehabbed their image as high-acceptance, low-graduation and higher debt colleges. To do this, for-profit schools began emphasizing things that nonprofit schools are known to prioritize, including student support services and the use of entrance exams to gauge students’ college readiness.
Be aware that for-profit schools' priority is to make money. Watch out for online degree scams and
red flags. If a school’s website suggests you can earn a degree in a very short time period or at an extremely low or abnormally high cost, conduct further research.
Once you narrow down what programs you’re interested in, make sure the courses are in your ideal format. There are various program and individual course structures in online learning.
- Asynchronous: Courses are self-paced with weekly deadlines.
- Synchronous: There’s a preset schedule of classes and conversations, typically via videoconference.
- Hybrid: Activities are a mix of online and in person and combine synchronous and asynchronous methods.
- Open-schedule: This asynchronous format lets students complete assignments based on their course start date.
- Fixed-time: In this synchronous format, students must log on to attend class at specific times virtually with no in-person meetings required.
Before applying, review admission requirements and application fees and compare the availability of financial aid. Look into details about the school, like competitiveness, what fees you have to pay on top of your tuition – including book, course material and online delivery fees – and information about student services and the faculty.