Online University VS Brick & Mortar

March 2, 2012 - PRLog -- Online University VS Brick & Mortar


Samuel Bennett
Capital Credit Advisor
3/2/2012

They say the devil is in the details, as I get older this parable becomes more clairvoyant.  America being the great country she is has always offered its citizens a variety of ways to further their education.  Anyone looking to expand their minds by going to college realizes the process could be compared to going to a Chinese buffet.  The varieties and choices between vocational schools, online colleges, brick and mortar, in state, out of state, community colleges, and trade schools. We all could agree that time waits for no man or women, so having a good idea of what you want to do with your life before you leave high school can put you way ahead of the game, the unfortunate reality is that very few high school students aren’t that decisive with their career goals, and why not, people have a right to change their minds.  Because I happen to be a big fan of technology, I don’t want sound bias in my endorsement of online education, this new way of bringing the learning experience into the home has really had a huge impact on many people lives.  

We can look at individuals who live in rural areas that have benefited from this type of learning platform or a single mom or dad who doesn’t have the time or resources to attend the community college.  There are many pros and cons on this topic, many people feel that online colleges don’t have the same overhead as a brick and mortar and therefore the cost are not justified. As a techie I can tell you that the technological architecture that go into running a large online University are far more complicated than a brick & mortar University, and probably allot more efficient.  I give allot of credit to the campus based colleges for trying to keep with the fast paced technological advances, and I will venture to say that the social environment a brick and mortar college offers s young high school student far out weigh the cost.

We could conduct an A/B analysis on this topic, it would be very complicated if we really were too drilled down and weigh all the variables.  I guess we should be thankful that we have variety of higher education institutions to choose from. We also know that if an individual wanted to further their education in a more hands on environment then a technical or trade school would be their best choice.  I think high schools should do a better job in explaining to students the difference in the various accreditations, and explain the pros and cons of credits that may or may not transfer based on the type of college they choose.  I don’t think it’s cost effective for some to attend a technical college, and then decides they want to transfer to Rutgers, or NYU, but realizes none of their credits are not transferable.  

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