Scholarships for Online Students

Just like traditional students, online students hunt for valuable scholarships to avoid the unpleasant, huge student loan debt.

Fortunately, students enrolled in properly accredited distance learning programs have essentially the same eligibility for scholarships as traditional students. Students pursuing an online degree from a traditional college will likely qualify for many of the scholarships in the college’s and college department’s general funds.

We put together an extensive list of scholarships focused on online students including scholarships from traditional schools and online schools.

Looking for scholarships? Check out The Best Schools Online Learning Scholarship! Each year we award six $1,000 scholarships to enrolled online students.

Online Student Scholarships

(Alphabetically arranged by school name.)

Ashford University

Business School Scholarships: Ashford’s business school provides the Senior Project Scholarship and the Entrepreneur Scholarship.

Community Scholarships: Ashford University provides scholarships to students living in specific counties in Iowa, Illinois, and in San Diego County in California.

     The 25 Best Master of Social Work Degree Programs

A Master’s in Social Work (MSW) is one of the best degrees you can have for helping others and getting paid to do so. Social workers serve individuals, families, and communities. They can work for themselves, corporations, schools, and the government.

Direct-service social workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives, while clinical social workers diagnose and treat behavioral, mental, and emotional issues. Those with an MSW degree usually are employed as case workers, counselors, or therapists.

Full-time students typically complete work on their MSW degree in two years. However, many schools offer advanced-standing MSW programs to students with a bachelor’s degree in social work. These programs take less than two years to complete.

Salaries

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average salary in 2011 for social workers was $53,900.  The annual mean wage for social workers in industries with the highest level of employment for the occupation was the following, in descending order: Federal executive branch; general, medical, and surgical hospitals; local government; state government; and individual and family services.

The median salaries by skill/specialty of employees with a Master of Social Work degree are shown below:

• Counseling: $49,500
• Case Management: $54,267
• Geriatrics: $40,976
• Spanish language: $45,750
• Psychiatric: $51,000
• Operations Management: $64,709
• Fundraising: $49,500
• Program Management: $57,250

(Source: PayScale, April 2012)

Employment Growth

The BLS forecasts a 25% employment growth for social workers, faster than the average for all occupations. The expected job growth is due to an increase in demand for social services and healthcare, but will vary by specialty. The BLS forecasts a 34% employment growth for healthcare social workers, 31% for mental health and substance abuse social workers, and 20% for child, family, and school social workers.

Some of the employment opportunities for people with an MSW are shown below:

• Aging
• Public welfare
• Child welfare
• Justice corrections
• School social Work
• Health care
• Employment/occupational social work
• Developmental disabilities
• Community organization
• Mental health/clinical social work
• Management/administration
• International social work
• Research
• Politics
• Policy and planning
• Adoption and foster care agencies
• Private practice
• Employee assistance programs
• Advocacy and coalition groups
• Domestic violence agencies
• Drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers
• Nursing homes/skilled nursing facilities
• Homelessness & hunger advocacy networks
• Women’s shelters
• Long-term care facilities
• Military counseling offices
• Assisted living facilities
• Senior centers
• Social and human services centers

                    The 25 Best Entry-Level Jobs

The best entry-level jobs go to those with a marketable skill. Some companies want people with technical skills, especially in math and computers. But many are looking for people with social skills in communications, leadership, and team-building.

Entry-level jobs typically require two years of school or less. In our list of the 25 best entry-level jobs, we looked for

• personally rewarding jobs that also
• provide a good salary,
• have good projected employment growth,
• provide career advancement opportunities, and
• require only a certificate,
• or else an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

The jobs are listed in alphabetical order. We urge that you scroll through the entire list to see if there’s a job here that fits you.

ASSISTANT ACTUARIAL ANALYST

What they do: In the field of insurance, assistant actuarial analysts use mathematics and statistics to estimate the possibility and cost of claims associated to death, injury, illness, or property damage in order for an insurance company to cover its expenses and stay profitable. They also help decide the premium. Some assistant actuarial analysts work for private or public employers to manage risk for pension plans and programs such as Social Security.

Education requirements: A degree is not required; however, many companies prefer to hire people with an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, and who have good computer skills.

Median salary: $54,000 (PayScale.com, 2010)

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER

What they do: Biomedical engineers have improved and saved lives throughout the world through their innovations. They develop devices and procedures to solve health- and medical-related problems. They help develop and improve a wide array of medical instruments and device,s including kidney machines, heart valves, and lasers used in eye surgery. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a whopping 72-percent employment growth from 2008 to 2018, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.

Education requirements: Most biomedical engineer entry-level jobs require a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering or a related subject.

Median Salary: $81,540 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010)

The 50 Best-Paying Careers with Only a Bachelor’s Degree

Before you spend the time and money to acquire a bachelor’s degree, it’s best to take a look at salaries. Students who strategically choose their major have a good chance of landing a good-paying job.

This list shows high-paying jobs which only require a bachelor’s degree; however, some of the jobs are management positions which also require some experience.

The salaries are provided by PayScale and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of 2012. Jobs are listed in order of their median mid-career salary. Median starting salaries are also given.

1. Petroleum Engineer

$93,000 (median starting salary)

$157,000 (median mid-career salary)

Petroleum engineers design and develop procedures for extracting oil and gas from deposits located below the earth’s surface and from old wells.

Personal characteristics: An aptitude for math and science and strong analytical skills.

2. Aerospace Engineer

$59,400 (median starting salary)

$108,000 (median mid-career salary)

Aerospace engineers design new technologies for defense systems, aviation, and space exploration, as well as missiles.

Personal characteristics: Strong analytical skills, creativity, and an aptitude for math and science.

         20 of the Best Colleges Providing Free Tuition

Looking for a free college or at least free tuition?

A free college education isn’t the norm in the United States; however, many colleges, including some prestigious ones, provide free tuition and other financial assistance.
 
College Student Debt

In 2011, due to the high cost of attending college, the total amount of American student loan debt was more than $1 trillion.

About 25% of borrowers are behind on their loans. University of Wisconsin demographer Jason Houle finds students from middle-class families pile up more student loan debt on average than other students.

According to a Harvard University study, due to the high cost of a college education and other factors, American college students are leaving college without a degree at higher rates than in other developed countries.

In addition, the National Center for Education Statistics finds that the average total cost of attending college in 2010–11 for first-time, full-time students living on-campus and paying in-state tuition at public, four-year schools, was $20,100. The average cost at private, nonprofit, four-year schools was $39,800. The total cost includes tuition, required fees, books and supplies, and the average for room and board and other expenses. At the campus level, the average student debt numbers collected for the report vary widely, ranging from $3,000 to $55,250.

Moreover, according to the Project on Student Debt, provided by the Institute for College Access & Success, students who borrowed money to obtain a bachelor’s degree in 2011 graduated with an average student loan debt of $26,600. The report also shows that about two-thirds of students in the class of 2011 had loans. Approximately one-fifth of all student loans are private, with the rest supplied by the U.S. government, in one form or another.

Thus, many college students begin their careers with significant debt. Many of them can’t afford to take an unpaid internship, which could help put their career on an upward trajectory.

The College Board reports the following average 2012–13 tuition and fees:

• Public, four-year, in-state students: $8,654
• Public, four-year, out-of-state students: $21,706
• Private, nonprofit, four-year: $29,056
• For-profit schools: $15,172

    The 100 Best U.S. Colleges and Universities by State

What are the best colleges and universities in America considered geographically by state? In this ranking we present the best four-year liberal arts college and the best full-fledged university in each of the 50 states.

Most rankings of colleges and universities are top-heavy with schools from the East Coast (the Ivy League, MIT, etc.), California (Stanford, Cal Berkeley, etc.), and a few schools scattered throughout the rest of the country (University of Chicago, Vanderbilt, etc.).

In this ranking, we make geographical diversity our main focus, lookingalas for the best education offered in each state, from Alabama to Wyoming.

Our criteria for putting a school on this list include the reputation of the school and its faculty, its dedication to a broad liberal arts education, its accreditation, and its overall academic caliber compared to other institutions of the same type within the same state.

Some states have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to institutions of higher learning (such as Massachusetts and California). In those cases, our job was not easy. Where two institutions were dominant—one primarily oriented towards the liberal arts and the other towards science and engineering—we went with the liberal arts school as offering a broader range of excellence across the curriculum (hence Harvard over MIT).

The result is a unique list of schools, two from each state, one a full-fledged research university, the other a college focused on undergraduate education. We believe this list identifies the very best that higher education has to offer across the length and breadth of this great land.

Note: For each state, we list the university first, and the liberal arts college second, regardless of alphabetical order. Also bear in mind that names can be misleading: Several of the institutions on our list that are essentially 4-year liberal arts colleges use the word “university” in their name. By the same token, one of our nation’s top research universities calls itself a “college” (see if you can spot it).

The 50 Best Online Colleges for 2016

                    The 50 Best Online Colleges for 2016

Online colleges and online education more generally have seen an enormous increase in student e-learners over the last decade. Ten years ago, America saw around 2 million higher education students learning online. That number has now almost quadrupled.

According to a 2015 report by Babson Research titled Tracking Online Education in the United States, today the number of college students learning online exceeds 7 million. With the overall higher education student body in the U.S. currently at 21 million, that means one out of three college students is taking at least one course entirely online.

It’s therefore no surprise that online colleges and universities, which focus on delivering course content exclusively online, have proliferated. These schools enable students to finish a degree program and graduate with little more than a laptop and internet connection.

Nonetheless, online colleges and universities differ widely in quality. Moreover, with increasing competition for online students, many campus-based schools are now getting into the mix and offering online degrees. For this reason, rankings of online colleges and universities need to be regularly updated. Hence this ranking of the top 50 online colleges for 2016.

Although online education gives students unrivaled flexibility in pursuing a degree program, it is not right for everyone. Online education requires self-discipline and a set of study skills that some students on first attending college may lack. For this reason, we have supplemented this ranking with our highly informative “Savvy Student’s Guide to Online Colleges and Online Education” (located below right after our ranking).

Together, our ranking of the 50 best online colleges and universities for 2016 as well as our student guide to online colleges and online education provide the most comprehensive resource available on the web for helping prospective students determine whether online education is right for them and, if so, deciding which online college is best for them.

This ranking of the best online colleges and universities is based on extensive research and familiarity with American online education. In formulating this ranking, we looked to such factors as academic excellence, scholarly strength of faculty, online teaching methods, tuition costs, reputation, awards, financial aid, and range of degree programs offered.

ONLINE COLLEGES DEGREE NEWS-BENEFITS NOW

Acquiring a college degree in the traditional way, may be difficult for some because they may not be able to get to a classroom or may not have the time. For people like this, an online college degree can provide the flexibility that they need to complete a degree. This can be done by receiving it from an institution that you are attending already or by moving your existing credits to a different college that have an online component. Online college degree news has been surfacing recently as more and more people are opting out of the traditional way and are going online.

Online Colleges-Many people who do opt to go and get an online college degree, tend to do it because they want to save money. There are many online colleges that cost less than the standard college degree that you are going for. Manly because they are not paying for the classrooms and they are not attending the university or college itself. The credit that you receive for attending an hourly long class is less expensive than the exact same class that you are taking, at a college. Taking a degree online, will get you there in half the time and will cost less than the average college degree.

Online Colleges-You are still able to achieve your goal by going online as it is no different, to attending a college. The only difference is that you are doing it from the comfort of your own home. So, if you have children to take care of, this is a great way to still receive that college degree that you have always wanted, but still look after your loved ones at the same time.

Online Colleges-The best news about earning an online degree is that you are able to do in the fraction of the time that it would normally take you to complete a degree. However, it does depend on the degree as the time frame of the degree may not change.

Online Colleges-Having the extra education behind you definitely provides you with the added bonus against other employees because you have the extra knowledge behind you. People who do go for an online education are also able to obtain a higher salary than what they are currently getting as an employee. Having a degree, becomes an investment that will benefit you in the future. Having the added knowledge will definitely help you in your dream job.

ONLINE DEGREES

ONLINE DEGREES-WHAT ONLINE COLLEGES PLAN?

ONLINE DEGREES

What online colleges have a payment plan is a common question regarding getting an online degrees if you want an online college or an on-campus school that offers classes online. Most students get some financial aid whether it is directly through a college or from outside funding, but there is plenty of financial aid available. It doesn’t matter if you want a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctorate, MBA, associate degree or other. If you’re looking specifically for a payment or repayment plan this is usually the standard way of repaying for a loan.

Online Degrees-However there are many ways to get financial aid to go to an online college and you may also be able to go free through various grants and scholarships that are available. The grants are easy to find through the financial aid departments of the college you’re considering, Scholarships take a little more research but every year hundreds of scholarships go unawarded. This may take a little more creativity. Many science scholarships are eagerly waiting for applicants for example.

Online Degrees-So all colleges have a payment or repayment plan. It usually goes through the U.S. government programs — federal money that is available such as the Stafford or Perkins loans. There are also many types of education loans available. Those may or may not be of higher interest than the government loans depending but the government loans are usually of lower interest. So checking to see what is available through the financial aid departments is the first step. Then compare rates of interest and the term of the loans. Makes sure to apply for scholarships and grants because many people have gone through online colleges for their degrees successfully, either through financial aid programs or scholarships or grants and sometimes a combination of them which is not uncommon.

Online Degrees-Make sure the online college you plan to attend is accredited through the U.S. Department of Education. Most are but you want to make sure. You may want to transfer your credits to another school, college or university in the future. So make sure to check with the schools to make sure they will accept your credits. I always state this warning in the event you attend an online school that is really not accredited. You can be pretty safe if the school is a nationally recognized on-campus university or college also with a well- known name and reputation. But always double-check.

Online Degrees-So as to what colleges have payment plans, the answer is they all do. Although as I mentioned the payment may go to the federal government or to some other source of funding such as an education loan. Hopefully you can get some grants and scholarships to get your online degree free or at a reduced cost. You want to make sure to go to the best online school also so make this part of your criteria too.