How do you choose and attain a college degree
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How do you choose and attain a college degree?
Part 1The reasons for not starting the college degree process or stopping it when you did, all seemed reasonable at the time - and perhaps they were. But now you're finding yourself with some renewed desires and ambitions for life and work, and a college degree will play nicely into that dream. Perhaps you have also realized that the job market increasingly requires workers to be educated beyond a high school degree, and that means that more and more people are going or returning to college. You might be one of them – or maybe you're thinking about becoming one of them. No matter what level you are studying at, or what stage of life you are in, if you are going to take college classes, you are going to have choose something to study. A read through this guide should help you understand the different types of degrees available as well as the different areas in which you can concentrate in, and most importantly, how to determine which of these are best for you.
College? Who me? You must be kidding!
You might be thinking to yourself, “College? College isn't for me. I hated school every minute I was in it, and I swore I would never go back!” Perhaps you already have a degree and wonder why you would ever want of need another. Or maybe you think that you are to old for school – or you have a family that needs taking care of... Well, let me be one to tell you that there really are no excuses. If you want to do college and you live in America, you can complete college. It might take a bit of sacrifice, but you can do it. The whole system is set up so that you – or anybody else who wants to – can do it. And YES, that is true. If you grew up poor, there are scholarships, grants and programs that will help with money, tutoring and more. There will likely be some "red tape" and bureaucracy, but with some perseverance, you'll get the information you need. If you have been out of school for a while and fear the time commitment, you can consider doing the whole process online. The educational opportunities these days are simply second to none. As an example, my wife went back to graduate school in her early 40's and completed a Master of Speech Pathology degree from a California State University. The process was not easy, yet, it was FAR more convenient than taking classes at night (which are not always available either close to you or in the field you want to study) or traveling 3-4 hours round trip to find the right program in another city. She did this while maintaining a full time job, and kept 3 kids (let alone me) clothed and in their right minds - all the while NOT being a type A-hard drive personality. She is smart, but she mostly disciplined herself to do what ever it took to get the work done. So, while there can be some formidable obstacles, like most things in life, if you want something bad enough and are willing to put your mind and heart into it, it CAN be done.
As mentioned, there are a number of alternate ways to go through school these days and most of these have been set up to accommodate for non-traditional students, which are normally defined as older students returning to school (with all the "life complications" that goes with it - job, kids, home and of course a dog) or younger but already carrying a full time job. The vast majority of colleges offer night classes, weekend classes, on-line classes, and some that have special commuter schools. Degrees can be completed in very short periods of time, or very slowly over a long period of time - all depending on your schedule, budget, and interests.
Types of Colleges - multiple opportunities
There are a number of different types of degrees that you can get from colleges and universities, not all of which have always existed, and a number of different sorts of colleges granting those degrees.
Community colleges or Junior colleges usually offer associate's degrees, which are designed to be completed with two years of full-time class work. People getting associate's degrees typically transfer to a college to work on a bachelor's degree, or sometimes are able to enter right into the work force, especially if their degree is in technology of some sort.
As mentioned, Community colleges offer 2 year programs that lead to a Bachelors program (or a "4 year degree"). It is common for community colleges to have 2 primary emphases: 1.) Allows a student to complete the pre-requisites for a bachelors program. Completes the lower level math, English, history, psychology, sociology etc. 2.) They also usually offer certificates or diplomas in technical trades as well – degrees for technology specialists or a whole host of specific medical trades, for example: dental hygiene, surgical technician, x-ray technician, or respiratory therapist. A nice bonus concerning the Community/Junior College is that they are normally quite inexpensive.
Colleges and Universities: Normally when someone mentions the term college or university, we think of big 4 year institutions like USC, University of Texas, Stanford, Kansas State and the like. But as we discussed above, colleges (not universities) also include 2 year schools, usually called community colleges as an excellent starting point. 4 year schools can be of the large variety like above, but they also include smaller colleges like Tabor (KS), Seattle Pacific (WA), Samford (AL), Oberlin (OH), Taylor (IN) and so many more. Some are private, others are state schools but small, and still others are church related. Within the last 15 years or so, yet a new crop of schools have come to fruition. These are the online variety, some of which specialize solely in distance learning degrees. Some distance learning degrees will require brief, intensive 1-2 week on-campus stays (often in the summer), while others permit the entire degree process to be done without ever leaving your personal computer screen.
Completing your degree may seem daunting, and yes their are a number of steps to take, but "arming" yourself with the right information, will smooth your path. So far, we’ve started the process of helping you get started or re-started into the world of a earning a college degree. In part 2 of this article, we’ll talk about the types of degrees as well as what each degree allows you to do.
About the Author:
Copyright © : All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be used on any website without consent. See part 2
Mark Whyte has taught Sociology for the last 7 years as an online college professor. He also owns and operates a website at http://packupthehouse.com, where he assists you to find the just the right moving boxes, shipping company, rental trucks, supplies to get organized, and of course bubble wrap, moving tape and moving supplies when you move from your homes or businesses.
