Why I chose an On-Campus experience...

It's fall and the freshman are back on campus. This is always the worst part of the year for me. They all look so young. They all are so young. When I decided to return to college I enrolled at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa. The demographic at the community college level is wider. There were many people my age and older. Working in groups was not the traumatic experience it is now. I always feel like Old Mother Hubbard now when the professor requires a group endeavor. Recently a fellow student in my Spanish class asked me, quite bluntly, "Why didn't you get your degree on-line?" That is a good question. I don't remember if an on-line degree was possible when I first returned to school, but I knew that I wanted a true college experience, including direct interaction with my professors. I also work with professionals and wanted the validation of acquiring my degree from a "real" university. I only took one class per quarter in the beginning, trying to mitigate the impact on my homelife and workplace. I told myself that it was a "life goal" and it would not matter how long it took to reach graduation. But the fact is that it does matter. The older I get the younger the other students are, and the more out of place I feel on campus at the university level. Because I attend part-time I have seen fellow students start and graduate while I continue toward my degree. I have been misidentified on campus as a professor and asked if I am a grad student. Perhaps an on-line degree would appeal to me if I were just now embarking on this adventure or if I decide to get a Masters degree in the future. I really have no idea of the reputation an on-line degree carries with employers or with the academic community. More research would be involved. I have included a link to a survey conducted by Drexel University regarding on-line versus traditional degree programs, but you must consider that they operate an e-Learning school and perhaps have geared their survey with a slant toward on-line experiences. I would rather see a survey of students that have experienced both environments, rather than a comparison of stats concerning students that have experienced one or the other.