Why Online Degrees are Better for Students Seeking More Specialized Career Paths – EDTECH 4 BEGINNERS

It’s through specialization that so many people wind up following their dreams. Maybe you’ve heard the expression: Riches are in the niches? In other words, the more specific your work, the more value it has.

Sometimes that value is monetary. You make more money because you are doing something that not many other people can accomplish. More often, it’s personal value. You’ve tailored your career to perfectly suit your interests.

If you want a super specialized career path, you’ll need to get the appropriate education. While there are many ways to do this, online degrees are often the most flexible and affordable.

What Do We Mean By Specialized?

Some jobs have broad categories and then niche responsibilities. For example, you can be a nurse. With a bachelor’s degree in nursing, you can work in a doctor’s office. A hospital floor. An emergency room. And–actually. That’s mostly it. Anything else will usually require an additional certification. Another word for that? Specialization.

Many careers follow this pattern. Teachers can specialize in special education. Accountants can become Certified Fraud Examiners. IT professionals can earn certifications in cybersecurity or cloud computing. Each specialization opens specific doors within the broader profession.

If you are interested in social work, you can work as a case manager, residential counselor, or community outreach worker with a bachelor’s degree. MSW holders can become clinical therapists, school social workers, healthcare administrators, or policy analysts. The graduate degree unlocks both higher pay and more specialized roles.

Understand though that to specialize is not always to get a graduate degree. Sometimes you can advance your career with just a certification. That’s still education though. These programs typically take less time and money than full degrees while still enhancing your qualifications and earning potential.

Other career paths may not require much of anything at all in way of continuing education for people who want specialized paths. For example, lawyers can generally enter any practice area they wish with a standard law degree. This makes even relatively obscure career paths like space law more accessible to people who are interested in spicing up their careers.

Why Specialize

There are three main reasons that people specialize:

• You want to make more money. Though the extent to which this is possible will depend on the specialization it is generally true that people with advanced qualifications make more money than those with only the base credential. You can generally get an idea of how much more you can expect to earn by looking at recruitment websites that feature listings for positions in your area. Salary differences can range from modest to substantial depending on the field.
• More Marketable: Naturally, the better your credentials, the easier it will be to find work. There is a slight flipside to this though. Most communities need fewer specialized positions. For example, your town could–and probably does–have a constant need for nurses. It might only occasionally have listings for a forensic nurse. Specialized roles may require geographic flexibility.
• The ability to do something that interests you. This is probably the main benefit. Specializing gives you the chance to focus on what aspect of your work interests you the most. You can align your career with your passions and personal strengths. This leads to greater job satisfaction and often better performance as you build expertise in an area you truly care about.

Basically, if you aren’t as engaged with your job as you think you could be, specialization might be the answer. You should, of course, make that decision for yourself. If you do want to specialize you’ll have several options. For many working professionals, however, online degrees are the best way to make it happen.

Online Degrees Are Usually More Affordable

That will depend a little on how you go about it. Brick-and-mortar universities all now offer online classes. And while creating that course costs less for them than one in a physical classroom they don’t always pass those savings on to the student. Many traditional schools charge identical rates regardless of delivery method.

You’ll usually pay the same per credit hour as you would if you were enrolled in their traditional program. A bit of a rip-off, you might reasonably think, because you won’t have access to any of the expensive infrastructure that traditional students are getting. No libraries, or labs, or 3-D printers for you. Students often question this pricing model with good reason.

If you go to a more typical online university it’s the same deal. They will have some resources, most of which will be presented in the form of a database. However, you won’t have the chance to enjoy physical classroom benefits.

For that sacrifice, you can expect to pay 30-50% less than you would at a state university. These fully online institutions have built their models around distance education from the start. Not only will you save tons of money on tuition, but you may be able to avoid borrowing money which will save you thousands more on interest payments. The long-term financial impact of graduating with minimal debt can dramatically affect your future financial stability.

Online Degrees Are More Flexible

Again, not always, but often. There are tons of different formats so do your research going in. Some platforms offer significantly more scheduling freedom than others. Some are basically the same as traditional learning experiences. You sign in for remote lectures the same way you might show up for class. These synchronous programs maintain similar scheduling demands as in-person courses. You can even meet remotely with your professor for office hours any time you have questions.

These experiences are flexible for the fact that they save you time on the commute. Certainly not nothing, but also not quite a life-changing improvement on the traditional college experience.

Other curriculums will involve prerecorded lectures. These courseloads genuinely are more convenient, allowing you to work when and how it suits you. Asynchronous learning lets you fit education around work and family responsibilities. Many students complete assignments late at night or early in the morning when traditional classes would never be scheduled.

Conclusion

As a certain tennis shoe once said, Just do it. That’s the real way to find success through continuing education. Get started. Don’t procrastinate. Proceed with confidence and persistence. If an online program is what helps you do that, then by all means go ahead.

Some people genuinely do prefer traditional learning. They benefit from the added structure. Find the route that makes the most sense and commit.