Find Online Colleges
If you want to find online colleges look no further. In this article, you’ll discover the best ways to find online colleges with programs that match your career goals. Not only will we give you some practical search tips we’ll also list the best online college search websites and tools to help you find the best online college for you.
How to find online colleges
There are several ways you can find great online colleges through available surveys and websites which help you narrow down your choices. Below we’ve listed the top four online college matching sites to help you find colleges that match your specific needs.
Top Online College Matching Tools
| Name | Degrees Offered | Rankings |
| Degree Locate | All degree types | 98.03% Satisfaction |
| Find Online Colleges | All degrees plus certificate programs, trades schools, coding schools and more. | 93.17% Satisfaction |
| Degree Snap | All degree types | 91.09% Satisfaction |
| Degree Explore | All degree types, trade schools, certificates, and more. | 97.33% Satisfaction |
Why choose an online college?
Online school or “distance learning” has been rapidly growing in popularity in the last few years and it’s projected to grow exponentially more over the next 10 years. And it’s becoming clear why so here are the three main reasons why many students will choose an online college.
Online college is cheaper
Most online colleges and universities are about ⅓ the cost of a regular on-campus college. And when you add in living expenses, like rents, food, transportation, and more, on-campus college can be 5 – 6 times more expensive than online college. In fact, a traditional college 4-year bachelor’s degree can cost on average $197,000. Compare that to a 4-year (which can often be completed in 3 years or less) online degree which will cost on average of $30,000 – $60,000 depending on where you enroll.
Flexible scheduling
Online classes allow you to create your own schedule which means you can work at any time from anywhere. Many online students have full-time jobs, travel a lot, or have families they need to spend time with so they like the flexibility of creating their own schedule. Above everything cost, this is the number one reason why people choose an online college because they can get educated on their own time.
Online college is credible
Despite the popular belief that online college may be less effective when it comes to getting a job or the quality of your degree, the evidence suggests otherwise. In fact, most on-campus colleges now offer online classes and it’s not required that you list anything but your college on your resume. For example, if you went to Arizona State University online, you would just put on your resume Arizona State University. And no employer is ever going to ask you if you went to an online college or on-campus college because they don’t care. They just want to see that you’ve completed your degree.
According to a recent survey by CareerBuilder,
“Over 83% of executives say an online degree is just as good as one gained on-campus”
Most online colleges are much more affordable than traditional on-campus colleges however there are a few that are much cheaper than most. But, besides being affordable you should look for colleges that are also accredited and have a good reputation.
One of the best places to find affordable online colleges is through our website here at houredu.com/online33 where you can quickly find a college that matches your needs.
It’s important to find accredited online colleges because it helps determine if an institution meets or exceeds minimum standards of quality and assists institutions in determining if they accept transfer credits.
If a university is “accredited” it means a group of experts took time to evaluate its operating system and that it meets the needed standard to be called granted an accreditation.
A nationally accredited college or university is a bit different than a normal accredited college. National accreditation agencies focus on accrediting colleges, religious institutions, trade and vocational schools, as well as career programs that offer certifications and degrees.
Chances are you won’t be able to transfer your nationally accredited units to a regionally accredited school.
It’s important to read reviews from students who have attended the schools that you’re interested in. In fact, student reviews might be the most important thing to consider when looking into a school. One thing you should be careful of is negative reviews. Many times people who give negative reviews are people who take one issue and embellish on it and then over-exaggerate it because they are angry and irrational. Take negative reviews with a grain of salt.
A public school is a college or university primarily funded by a state government. Public colleges and universities generally are larger than private schools and have larger class sizes. Public online colleges are just the online version of the regular public college. For a list of great public online colleges click here.
Selecting the right degree for you really depends on your interests but there are certainly certain degree programs that lead to high salaries. To see a list of high paying degrees please search our website and enter “top degrees” to learn more.
Discovering online colleges that fit your needs may also require that you “find online colleges near me” which is actually more common than you would think. Although many people like to take classes online there is a certain comfort that people find in having a physical campus close by. It’s helpful to be able to go to the school and speak with admissions, teachers, faculty, and staff if you need to. So here are a few ways you can find online colleges nearby.
Your friends and family
There is no better way to get real, good information on schools than from people who have been there and experienced things for themselves. For this reason, it’s great to reach out to friends and family who have gone to college or online college and ask them about their experience. You’ll always find helpful information and get insights you won’t find anywhere else. If you can find people who attend online schools that have a local location, even better.
Reviews of online colleges
As we mentioned before, you’ll get the best information from previous students and current students of the schools you’re interested in. So here’s what to do. Search online colleges near me in Google, once you have a list of colleges, then head over to YouTube and search for reviews of those colleges. Students are constantly making reviews about colleges and chances are that you find at least 10 reviews on each school that you’re interested in.
We also have a student review section on our website at Houredu.com. Find the student reviews by using the search function on our site, or click the menu bar and navigate to the topic you’re interested in and you’ll find reviews.
Directory websites for search
One of the best ways to find online colleges near you is to search for local business directories. Most businesses list their information on directory sites so that they can be found on search engines more easily. And since online colleges are technical businesses, they also like to list their information on directories. Not only can you find information like the name, phone number, and address of the potential only colleges, you usually also see reviews and ratings as well.
Sites like local.com, yellowpages.com, and google locations will have directory listings that include local schools. You can also find directories by searching out “business directory” on google search. Once you’ve done that, select a site and search for “online colleges” in your zip code.