eLearners.com Outlines How to Choose the Right Online School: Costs, Resources, and More…What Questions to Ask

Research indicates that millions of Americans are thinking about going back to school online, however, ambitions are often derailed when prospective students don't know how to begin the process. The most important question - which school to attend - can be the hardest to answer. In fact, it is such an important decision that potential students often put off the process of applying to school because the long list of choices can be intimidating. To take the mystery out of the process, eLearners.com, the leader in connecting prospective students with online education, today announced a checklist of questions to help people decide where to apply, based on personal criteria that they may not have considered.

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When people consider going back to school online there can be a lot of information to digest, and sometimes the most important questions are overlooked

Hoboken, NJ (PRWEB) October 16, 2007

Research indicates that millions of Americans are thinking about going back to school online, however, ambitions are often derailed when prospective students don't know how to begin the process. The most important question - which school to attend - can be the hardest to answer. In fact, it is such an important decision that potential students often put off the process of applying to school because the long list of choices can be intimidating.

To take the mystery out of the process, eLearners.com, the leader in connecting prospective students with online education, today announced a checklist of questions to help people decide where to apply, based on personal criteria that they may not have considered.

By researching the answers to the following questions through a reputable source such as eLearners.com, potential students benefit from an aggregated resource that has done much of the legwork to gather information and pertinent contacts. Visit http://www.elearners.com to view thousands of online programs and view here for the entire checklist.

Highlights from the eLearners.com "Essential Questions" Checklist:

Does this school offer your program of interest?
How long has this degree been offered online?
How many students are enrolled in this program?
What is the average length of time it takes to complete this program?
How much time will it take me to finish? Degree completion time is directly affected by:
How many credits can you transfer if you have previous college credits?
What is the class schedule? (Are courses on a five, six, eight or fifteen week schedule?)

*How many programs start per year?

Are all costs and finances within my budget?
How much is tuition? Does it cover all costs? (Books, Software, Computers)
Does the school charge additional tuition or fees for out-of-state students?
Are payment plans accepted? How do they work?
What happens if you enroll, but never start classes or if you begin attending classes, but leave before completing all your course work? Will you get your money back?
Does your degree require specialized accreditation and is it offered?
Is faculty accessible and responsive?
What kind of response time can you expect if you have a question or problem?
What methods of contact can you use to get in touch with professors, e.g. e-mail, fax, phone, instant messenger?
Do instructors provide constant and consistent feedback?
What student support services are available?
Online library/research services
Technical assistance
Academic advising
Tutoring
Writing center
Career services
Can you try a demo or guest login to try out or see a sample online course?

"When people consider going back to school online there can be a lot of information to digest, and sometimes the most important questions are overlooked," said Andrew Gansler, President of eLearners.com. "We help guide people through this process by serving as a comprehensive resource that provides advice, research, a community forum and information about online colleges and universities to help make the process smooth for everyone."

According to an independent study for Capella University titled "Degrees of Opportunity", more than half of the survey respondents said they would like to pursue additional education - which is equivalent to more than 70 million Americans. For more information about going to school online, log on to http://www.elearners.com. You can also check out the recently updated "Guide to Online Education" at http://www.elearners.com/guide-to-online-education/, which features "how-to" sections answering the most common online education questions.

About eLearners.com
Since 1999, eLearners.com® -- Where Learning Begins -- has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including degree and certificate programs, specialized training, and a variety of courses. For prospective students, eLearners® provides a powerful search engine of online offerings as well as extensive educational resources, available at no cost. For colleges and universities, eLearners® performance-based marketing services offer a low-cost, high quality method to increase enrollment and exposure to their programs. For more information on eLearners.com, an operating division of Halyard Education Partners LLC., visit http://www.elearners.com.

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