Civilian employers know that the demand for talent is increasing and competition for a shrinking talent pool will be even fiercer as baby boomers retire. However, in this economy, employers need workers who have the advanced education to innovate and lead their companies. In a search for the best and brightest, more employers are increasing their minimum requirements for education and are demanding job seekers posses a college education.
As employers raise the bar, many adults are returning to college to get their bachelor’s or master’s degree to remain competitive. Adult students have to find ways to complete their education while balancing work and family life. The answer? More colleges are creating innovative ways to accommodate the growing adult student population’s schedule.
According to the Department of Education, an estimated 12.2 million students were enrolled in college-level, credit-granting distance learning courses during the 2006-2007 academic year. Already more than 96 percent of the largest institutions (those with over 15,000 enrolled students) offer online courses. Even more schools offer alternative course schedules for evening and weekend programs.
America is responding to the alternative learning programs. An estimated 17 percent of bachelor’s and 43 percent of master’s programs are completed with some, or all, of the coursework completed online.
This is especially beneficial for military students, who need to find the same balance between completing their college education and the high-tempo work schedule of today’s forces. Alternatives to traditional classroom education offer students the ability to budget their time for school around their hectic schedule, without sacrificing the quality of their education.
A survey from the Distance Education and Training Council found that 70 percent of corporate supervisors rated degrees earned through alternative education, such as online coursework, as equal to most campus-based degrees.
“Our online courses are taught by the same professors as our on-campus programs,” said Gary Carr, director of eLearning student services management for the University of Toledo. The University of Toledo has 44 academic programs which can be completed entirely online; from the certificate level through doctoral.
“We recognize military personnel sometimes don’t have many options to finish their degree any other way due to PCSing and operation tempo,” said John DiPiero, military talent manager for USAA. “Online education is a valid way of showing that commitment to education and self-improvement.”
Employers recognize that staying competitive in the marketplace requires the modernization of teaching techniques through technology. Online classrooms have become a priority for many colleges to meet the need for adult and military students. However, most of the stigma about online classrooms remains not with the employers but with the students.
“When online education first began, schools didn’t realize that an online environment is very different,” said Mary Jane Snyder, director of military education for Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. “Not all faculty had the skills to teach online. Today, interaction with each student is essential to online teaching. Likewise, students cannot be ‘wallflowers.’ They must be motivated and demonstrate their knowledge through participation.”
The biggest challenge for military students choosing an online program is that they have to dedicate the time to the program. Online courses rarely allow the students to be passive participants in the class. Some programs require weekly submissions to the class, like an online forum. Educators require more interaction from students to ensure they are learning.
The advantage is that online courses normally end up with students who feel they were more engaged with the classes, even though they may have been thousands of miles away from the other students.