This is a good thing – a sane thing, even – and as someone once told me, “They can take everything away from me, but they cannot take my education away.” There’s certainly no denying that.

Because of the pressures so many of us are under, with family, children, work, (and some of us working two or three jobs and/or trying to run our own businesses just to stay afloat….) the idea of completing a degree online can hold enormous appeal because of the flexibility involved. One can study at their own pace, so on and so forth, and do so from home.

Again, this is a good thing. However, I must sound some cautionary notes. Before plunking down thousands of dollars to embark on an online degree, it’s very smart to do quite a bit of research first.

The fact of the matter is that some online degrees, and some online schools, are simply not given much credibility by employers. If you think that you can just breeze through a bachelor’s degree and be guaranteed a job on the other end; better think again. Having said that, I have seen and heard from employers that people who have a traditional bachelor’s degree, and then go on to get an online MASTER’S degree, do tend to have an edge over applicants without the online degree.

Your friendly Ms. Sanity has assembled some links to help you do some research before you buy into one of these schools. Be sane and look before you leap. See what other students are saying about a prospective school, see what their reputation is, or if you’re really brave, you might contact the Human Resources department at a big company and point blank ask them what they think of a certain school.

Obviously, the first thing you will want to look at is whether or not a particular school you are considering is accredited. Don’t even consider a non-accredited school or one where “accreditation is pending.” This could be an extreme waste of your time, money, and energy.

One of the largest sites is “Online degree reviews written by students” located here. This site has first-hand experience summaries written by people who have actually attended particular schools.

A forum where students discuss their online learning programs and schools is located here.

This blog post includes a link to a white paper that looks like a proprietary study (which means take with a grain of salt the results) about the attitudes of hiring managers to online degree recipients. Still, the attitudes seem to be mostly positive. See: http://onlinestudentsurvival.com/2009/01/online-degrees-now-widely-accepted-by-consumers-and-employers/

All in all your best option if it is even remotely possible may be to attend online classes through a traditional brick-and-mortar school in your area. But just like everything else, your needs may vary, and the economic value of your degree may vary as well.

My entire point is very simple: do your homework, before, well, doing your homework. To fall for a glowing sales brochure about an online school is insane. Education is certainly a value in its’ own right, but if you’re going back to school to increase your marketability for jobs, then you had best look before you leap. Do that, and you can no doubt find an online option that will fit your needs, for most professions.

It’s called “Great Sites To Visit” and is located here: Great Site Reviews.

The web is so big, and there is so much stuff out there, (along with a lot of crap!) that it can be maddening to try to find interesting websites/good info/etc., and I suspect that because so many of us are so busy, that we probably often tend to go repeatedly to the same handful of sites time after time. However if we do that… we are also cutting ourselves off from finding new, glorius stuff. And we are also cutting off bloggers and webmasters from making money!

This is probably at least part of why sites like digg and delicious et. al have grown so popular. Anyway, the fact that they are running a contest right now (take note, bloggers!) is not the only reason that I’m writing about them, I swear. I have looked around at their site and their site reviews and I believe they are offering the web a useful service.  I appreciate an editorial look at websites, in blog format, and a well written review of what they are all about. I think some of my readers will, too.

For example, he’s written about a new social networking site called “Plinky.” I tend to see the words “new social networking site” and think  “ho hum” as there are already about a billion of them….but after quickly reading his short review of Plinky I can see that it might be something that I actually would be interested in, though I most likely would never have gone there on my own, and now some day I will. See, it works for everyone-me, the reveiwer, and the site being reviewed.

Anyway, check it out on your own, this is one to subscribe to or bookmark. And for my fellow bloggers, here’s the link to the contest info. Great Sites Cold Hard Cash Contest.