As an employer, what are your thoughts about on-line schools?

Question

How do employers today look at degrees from on-line college and universities? How do these degrees compare to those of actual college and university campus degrees? If you were an employer and had two qualified applicants but one had an on-line degree and one went to university, which would you choose? Would it not make a difference to you?

Answer 1

Employers don't even ask how the degree was earned.  If the school is regionally accredited, then it's equal to taking the same program at a physical campus.  The diploma doesn't distinguish between online or on-campus programs, so neither will the employer.  Now, if the degree is made from some online, unaccredited "life experience" degree or something, then yeah, that's a problem.  Make sure your degree is regionally accredited, and no one will care how the courses were taken.

Answer 2

Employers generally prefer those that attended classes.  But I also must tell you as a person that conducted tons of job interviews for a government agency, it would have made zero difference to me, or others at the agency.  With the government it would probably be illegal anyway to discriminate against those with on line degrees.  However non government organizations are not held to the same standards.  

If you must do it on-line, do it with a brick and mortar school whose on-line degrees are no different from the one you get while attending classes.  That way employers will never know.

The person who posted that employers will never know is only half correct.  Some schools do nothing but on-line degrees, so a degree from them is a dead give away.  That's why you should try do it from a school that also issues brick and mortar degrees.  Of course that should not dissuade you from pursuing some of the excellent specialist on-line degree's programs that brick and mortar schools don't really offer, such as those from Henley Puntam.  Graduates from there are mostly employed by the government anyway, and as I said previously it is doubtful they would discriminate.

Thanks

Bill