Education is a lifelong pursuit that gives us the opportunity for intellectual growth and discovery. But, traditionally, adults interested in continuing their education—on any level—would be obligated to attend evening classes at a college nearby, or to put much of life on hold for 1-2 years while earning their degree.

Not anymore. The online world has evolved: today, with what techies and marketers refer to as “Internet 2.0,” there are scores of reputable, long-established colleges and universities that offer classes and degree programs online, on terms you can work with. Really: these are parameters you can make work.

101-year-old May Princkley hints that if she can cruise the web, then you too have what it takes for online college.

 

E-learning technologies have become more useful; colleges have put the time and money into designing classes specifically for the online student; and, if you don’t mind exploring just a bit, you’ll discover some pretty nifty opportunities. With today’s advantages offered by online classes and programs, you have the ability to expand yourself in exactly the way and to the degree you’d like.

You may want to learn a new set of skills, or to grow your expertise in something you already love. You may want to develop a new earning potential that fits with your current life. There may well be an online college degree or certificate program that suits your needs perfectly.

But, no matter where your starting point is, earning a certificate or degree online has so many advantages: You minimize all the travel, scheduling, and retention issues that being an adult student presents. You may have challenges presented by a job, or by your family—and, certainly, by the general busyness of life. But by studying online, you’ll have the flexibility to blend your studies into your current schedule, your preferred style of learning, and your life.

 

 

Even 20 minutes spent Googling ironically for “slacker lifestyle” and its variants can count as part of your preferred style of learning, provided you’re writing a blog post about preferred styles of learning. 

 

A key ingredient is that most online colleges and universities allow you to work at the pace that’s right for you. You may desire to study a subject or skill at a more leisurely pace, as you’d do with an interest or hobby you want to take to the next level. Or perhaps you want to work at an accelerated rate, throwing yourself into a subject and working to receive the class credits and graduate quickly, and move on to your next step. Whatever specific goals and priorities you have, the world of online learning is at last ready to meet help you meet them.