Online Education Paths: Determining if a Degree or Certification is the Best Fit for Your Career
Online learning provides students with a diverse range of options. A person considering a career in nursing or education now has more choices than ever. Do they want to get a full degree, or would they rather get a certification?
Both paths have their pros and cons. In this article, we will thoroughly explore both options to help you decide what education path is right for you. Read on to learn more about if you would like to get a degree or certification in your chosen field.
When You Should Consider a Degree
Degrees are optimal for people who have never been to college before. In this case, you are starting from the very beginning, taking not just classes that complement your area of interest, but also gen-eds and other university requirements that everyone has to take.
In this case, certification options are usually not available to you in the first place, and you will be best off looking for a full degree program.
These usually take four years to complete but there are ways to either accelerate the process or maximize the impact of your education. For example:
- Work with your guidance counselor. While the four-year timeline is pretty set in stone, you may be able to accelerate your education if you already have college credits from relevant high school classes, and are willing to fully pack your semesters. Your guidance counselor may be able to work with you on what to take and when so you can shave a semester or so off of your degree completion timeline.
- Consider a direct-to-hire degree. Alternatively, you can consider a degree path that bundles your undergraduate and graduate studies. These options allow you to graduate in 4-5 years with an undergraduate AND master’s degree. They are really intense courses of study, but they have the benefit of allowing you to make more money right out of the gate.
Degrees take longer to complete than certification programs. That said, they also have more flexibility. If you want to change your educational path, or maybe take your foot off the gas for a semester and lighten your courseload, these options will be easily available through a traditional four-year degree program. It won’t be possible for students seeking alternative certification paths.
When You Should Consider Certification
Certification is the right choice for people who already have a four-year degree and are interested in either pivoting into a new career field or enhancing their existing credentials. For example, let’s say you majored in English ten years ago when you completed your college degree. Now you are interested in becoming a teacher, or perhaps a nurse.
There are certification programs available for both career paths. In this case, you will be able to get certified in 1-2 years without needing to take classes that are unrelated to your area of interest. Naturally, the opportunity to skip gen-eds and speed up the completion timeline is very appealing to many people. Certification pathways, though not cheap, are also much more affordable than a traditional four-year degree.
Where completing undergraduate coursework may cost $100K all totaled, many certification programs range in price from $10K-20K. Still nothing to sneeze at, but much more affordable than alternative options.
Certification programs are extremely fast-paced. You may only be learning for 3-4 semesters, but they are jam-packed with work. This can make these programs difficult for people with current jobs or families. The programs are generally arranged to accommodate the fact that many people are using them to pivot into a new career path—night classes, summer sessions, etc.—but there is no getting around the fact that they are intense courses of study.
Is There a Third Way?
Some people who would like to work in a field that requires specialty certification—some administrative healthcare careers, social work, education, etc.—will decide that neither path appeals to them. They don’t want to spend four years getting their undergraduate degree. They also don’t want to put their life on pause for twelve months and focus all of their attention on a certification pathway. What else can they do?
In certain cases, getting a graduate degree will be the next step. Graduate programs allow you to take classes at your own pace, like traditional four-year degrees. If you want to take a few classes at a time, you can do it. While most people finish within 2-3 years, there is no hard and fast rule saying that you have to.
Graduate degrees provide students with an advanced level of understanding of their subject area. They also make them eligible for higher base pay right out the gate.
Are there downsides? A few. Naturally, graduate programs tend to be a little bit harder than undergraduate programs. This may make it difficult for someone who does not have a background in the discipline they are trying to learn.
Graduate degrees can also make it a little harder for someone without work experience to get hired. Let’s say you were certified as a teacher. Thanks to your graduate degree, the school legally cannot hire you at an entry-level pay grade. Nevertheless, you are—no offense—an entry-level teacher.
This issue is less prominent now than it used to be. Healthcare, social work, and education have all experienced massive staffing shortages over the last decade. The odds that you won’t be able to find a job because you have an advanced degree are low.
Online Learning Makes it Easier
The good news is that virtually all of these certifications or degrees can be attained online. Online learning adds flexibility to any educational curriculum. If you are interested in exploring a new professional degree or certification and feel that you are self-motivated enough to work effectively from home, consider the convenience and ease of an online degree.