Welcome to part 3 of our series on distance learning.  You can check out past posts on whether online classes are right for you and what the significance is of accreditation for distance learners. Today, I am focusing on financial aid for distance learning. Here’s the good news:  As long as you are attending a nationally accredited program (here’s a link to a list of accredited online schools), you are eligible for the same federal and state financial aid as a student attending a brick and mortar school. This also applies to most private scholarships, although some scholarship...

I’ll be back next week with the final segment in my series on Online Learning Programs.  This week, however, we’re taking a short break to look at the educational requirements of a career in the gas and oil industry.  The field offers a number of high paying opportunities, and even with the current economic crisis, these jobs are still in high demand.  That’s the good news. The less good news (well, only if you’re not the perpetual student type) is that most of these positions require an advanced degree — at least a Master’s Degree, and preferably a Ph...

As promised in last week’s post, Is An Online Degree Right For You?, I am back this Monday still talking about distance learning.  Specifically, we are going to take a look today at the accreditation of online programs — what is it and whether it’s important.  Let’s dive right in. What is accreditation? According to the U.S. Department of Education, the goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. The DOE meets this goal by publishing an annual list of accredited schools in the Uni...

Not everyone graduates from high school at the age of 17, packs up all their worldly possessions in the back of a beater car, and drives across town — or across country — to enroll at a quaint little college on the hill. Whether it’s because you need to earn money NOW, or you just aren’t sure if college is the place for you, or any of a myriad of other reasons, the traditional four-year plan to a Bachelor’s Degree at a brick-and-mortar college is definitely not for everyone. The good news is that in the last decade, your options for education have grown exponentia...

Hope you all have been having a great weekend.  I have been busy reading this weekend, all about the depressing unemployment rates for November, on the one hand — and recession-proof jobs, on the other.  I also have some great job-hunting tips in here, too.  Happy reading and have a great rest of your weekend! >> Unemployment Rates Reach 34-Year High in November 2008 @ Yahoo Finance. The news is definitely disheartening, but knowledge is power, so take it in stride. >> Top Recession-Proof Careers @ Five Cent Nickel.  It’s the silver-lining to the unemployment new...

Every Monday at the JobMonkey blog, we focus on a different career path and the educational background you need to get started.  Whether you are still in high school and thinking about your future, or you are a professional in a different field looking to try something new, the information here should help you get started on your journey. If there is a career that you are particularly interested in learning more about, please let me a note in the comments section so I can feature it in the coming weeks. There are many different career paths for someone wishing to work in the veterinary fie...

The economy is in the tank and gas prices are unstable at best. People everywhere are cutting back on a travel, especially vacation trips. Frequent business flyers report flying less than ever, as companies cut all but the most urgent of business trips to save money.  Given all that, you might think pursuing in a career in the aviation industry is not exactly the most prudent choice. Well, according to wired.com, you would be wrong.  The perception that airline jobs are less than plentiful could not be further from the truth: Despite an inexorable rise in fuel prices, the International Ai...

As promised, Mondays at JobMonkey are now going to be about education and your career. Don’t worry: You probably do not need a Ph.D. to land the job of your dreams; but most professions do require a certain level of education and/or training.  At some jobs, this can take the form of on-the-job training; but for other professions, you will need to show up with a resume that includes course work, a major or even an advanced degree in a specialized field. What all of this means is that no matter where you are at in your career path — from the high school student trying to figure o...