Perception Versus Reality for Online Students

Posted on August 28, 2007 by Jennifer Brady

As the director of marketing for UMassOnline I'm very interested in people's evolving perceptions of online education as well as their baseline knowledge of what to look for in selecting a leading institution with an established reputation of quality. While in general I'm seeing an improved awareness and more widespread positive perception, at this Yahoo Answers site, the question asked, and some of the answers given, prove that not everyone is on board or up to speed.

First, the question in question, so to speak, is from a student who only began to be concerned about the accreditation and overall reputation of her online education provider after completing course work. This is all too common, still. Students who don't check first often find later that the degrees, credits and certifications earned at unaccredited institutions are not as valuable as they assumed.

Secondly, a person leaving a comment in answer to this student's question wrote: …any college that advertises themselves online or on TV are not reputable. You'll basically be a laughing stock to most reputable employers, because they know that schools like yours are just companies trying to make money and sell a product.

For the record, determining any college or university's academic standing on the basis of how much or how little they advertise online is not a reliable method of assessment. Sure, there are online institutions that spend big on advertising and deliver little in the way of a quality education. But every major, reputable traditional and online institution today puts their messages out there online because that's where students go to find the best choices for them.