The world of online learning has entered the mainstream in recent years. Around 80 percent of colleges and universities now offer at least some online classes, and students are pursuing two-year, four-year and advanced degrees online in larger numbers than ever before [source:Online Learning Consortium]. Even though the numbers of students pursuing online education have increased, are those diplomas and certificates worth the paper they're printed on?
The answer to that question is more complex than it may seem. There are lots of different ways to judge the relative worth of an education. The pursuit of knowledge for its own intrinsic value is a time-honored notion. In today's tight job market, expecting to spend hundreds if not thousands of hours in scholarly pursuits may seem unrealistic, though. Students pursuing degrees online tend to be more focused on their careers than on scholarship for its own sake. With that goal in mind, there are ways to assess a degree's relative value.
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