You may be wondering what kind of people participate in online and distance learning programs. These students come from many different walks of life and educational backgrounds, but for the most part they are just like you and me. They all share a desire to learn, a life with multiple interests and responsibilities and a willingness to give up some of their free time to further their education.

Let's take a look at some of these students . . .

Francis M. is a procurement manager from Charlotte. She is taking
Fundamentals of Purchasing online from the Institute for Supply
Management. She is new to her position, having been promoted from
Accounting. Francis received her degree in Accounting a few years
back and really is not interested in obtaining a Master's degree at this
time. However, she recently had a meeting with her supervisor and
discussed her need for professional training in procurement.

While there are lots of procurement classes available, her company is
small and currently has a very limited travel budget. Training also
takes employees away from the office and there's really no one to
back Francis up when she's gone. So finding this foundation course in
purchasing was terrific, Francis is able to work on the class from her
desk in the office. All of the readings are self paced and online. She
spends some time each day reading the responses of other students
to discussion questions from the class leader, and making posts of
her own. Not only does the class offer relevant articles and examples,
it also provides additional resources Francis can read at her leisure.

Francis is enjoying this class so much she is considering working
towards her C.P.M. (Certified Purchasing Manager) designation.

Keisha R., in Atlanta is working on her MBA. As an HR manager for a
small security firm with nationwide customers, Keisha must travel to
help staff new job starts; projects that last up to two weeks at a time.
Obviously, this keeps her on the road a good bit, making an "on the
ground" MBA an unfeasible option.

Keisha wants this degree to enhance her opportunities for promotion
to a more general management position. Her employer, who is paying
her tuition, has indicated that she needs to learn more about other
disciplines than HR.

Keisha started her MBA at the University of Phoenix about a year ago
and will finish soon due to the accelerated and condensed program
that UOP offers. "I like that the classes are filled with students
with such diverse backgrounds, both geographically and
professionally" stated Keisha. "I am learning so much from my fellow
students about their firms and the roles each of them plays in their
organization." While the accelerated schedules mean there's a lot of
tough work to be done, Keisha is looking forward to receiving her
degree. Her company has even offered to send her to Phoenix to
receive her diploma!

Dorothy B. lives in Greensboro Georgia, at least 50 miles from the
nearest classes in Art. However, when she retired last year after a 30
year career as a registered nurse, she wanted to fulfill a life long
dream of becoming a painter.

Her daughter-in-law guided her to the programs offered by Thomson
Education Direct and now Dorothy is in their "Artist Program." She
likes how the instructional materials include readings, videos and
learning aids like post cards, drawing kits and matting kits.

Dorothy also likes the convenience. Even though she'll probably
complete this program in a little more than a year, she still has time to
play tennis three days a week, ride in the boat, play with her
grandchildren and work in the local charity clinic. So even though
she's learning, it doesn't interfere with her busy retirement!

Dorothy also feels the lessons are a success; she's already sold a
few watercolors and won an award in a local art show!

Cathy T. is working on her Project Management Certification at
Villanova University. She's had an excellent career in the Finance
Department of a major telephone company but sees that her position
maybe done away with in a new restructuring plan.

Most recently she has been working on a large ERP (Enterprise
Resource Planning) project which involved both business process
redesign as well as software implementation. While she has learned
much about project management in this role, she feel that earning her
PMP (Project Management Professional) certification will make her
more valuable to her current company and more marketable should
she leave. The program not only covers Project Management and
Team Effectiveness, it also covers preparation for the PMP exams.

Cathy already has a bachelor's degree in accounting and her MBA,
both from traditional "on the ground" schools so she's not interested in
pursuing a degree program. She likes the online format for its flexibility
and really likes the ability to continue life long learning without having
to be in a formal degree program.

What are your education goals?

From the profiles above, you can see
that online students are from all walks of life with all
kinds of
objectives. What are yours? It's likely you can find a program that will fit
your needs!

View Related Programs:
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