Flexibility is a primary reason why many adult students choose to pursue a degree online. You don\u2019t have to drive to campus to attend class. Meetings with fellow students or your instructors can be done virtually. And much of the work can be done anytime you please. Except for participating in class, nothing is on a fixed schedule.<\/p>\n
Increasingly, education providers are offering the opportunity to skip class, too. You still do the work, of course, but the learning is self-paced. You can skim material you already know and focus on skills and competencies that you need to learn. Sounds great, right? But not all self-paced programs work the same way. And not all of them deliver a degree that\u2019s respected by employers.<\/p>\n
As flexible\u00a0programs emerge, it\u2019s worth asking some key questions before diving in and investing your time and money. Here are five key areas to explore\u2014and information on how Capella University\u2019s self-paced option, FlexPath<\/a>, measures up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Accreditation is the gold standard for quality in education. It is the result of independent analysis by a group of individuals who evaluate whether an educational program is delivering value to students. What\u2019s more, employers value degrees from accredited institutions.<\/p>\n Capella University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of the six regional accreditors in the U.S. Capella\u2019s FlexPath was the first direct assessment<\/a>\u00a0degree pathway to be approved by both the US Department of Education and the university\u2019s regional accreditor.<\/p>\n Some of Capella\u2019s academic offerings have also earned specialized accreditations. The MBA and BS in Business specializations, which are offered through FlexPath, are accredited<\/a>\u00a0by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You want a degree you can put to use immediately. You want to impress your current employer with what you\u2019ve learned, or prepare yourself for work at another company or in another field altogether. You need a self-paced program that delivers the right skills.<\/p>\n Professional alignment and application is one of FlexPath\u2019s key features. Gathering information from experts, employers, and other trusted sources, Capella develops a picture of the skills most needed to thrive in the workplace. Curriculum developers then reverse-engineer that information to design courses that focus on those skills and tests that indicate students\u2019 likely success at executing employer-identified tasks in the actual workplace.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s unlikely you\u2019d encounter an essay question, multiple choice test, or standardized exam in the course of your everyday job. Such evaluation methods aren\u2019t used in FlexPath. Rather, competency in key skills and concepts is demonstrated through authentic assessments<\/a>. Such assessments are based on real-world tasks, with context and deliverables that you would expect to find in a contemporary workplace.<\/p>\n And because authentic assessments are rooted in the real world, they\u2019re meant to be immediately applicable to the work you\u2019d do in your job.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Good instructors in online education have professional experience as well as academic training. Their experience inside and outside the classroom gives them perspective that\u2019s valuable to adult students who desire to apply their learning from the classroom to their work in the world.<\/p>\n1. Is It Accredited?<\/h4>\n
2. Does the Self-Paced Program Provide the Kind of Knowledge, Abilities, and Skills Employers Are Looking For?<\/h4>\n
3. How Is Your Knowledge Tested in the Program?<\/h4>\n
4. What Are the Qualifications of the Faculty?<\/h4>\n