Online Degrees Gaining in Acceptance Among Employers – But Concerns Remain

How do potential employers view online courses and degrees? How are job candidates viewed based on their academic credentials, online or traditional? Under what circumstances are online degrees viewed as a “non-issue” or an asset for job applicants?

These were some of the questions posed in Hiring Practices and Attitudes: Traditional vs. Online Degree Credentials, research undertaken by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and commissioned by eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics, which connects prospective students with online degrees. And as with a number of similar studies undertaken over the past ten years, the results reflect an interesting and transitioning set of assumptions among hiring managers about the value of online degrees and degree-holders.

See the key findings as an infographic!

These assumptions, expectations and sometimes misperceptions are assuming increased importance as the United States’ fights to maintain its competitive edge in a global economy. In fact, a forecast recently released by the Georgetown University Center of Education and the Workforce, Help Wanted: Projecting Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018, states that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education, employers will need 22 million new workers with post-secondary degrees and given current enrollment rates, we will miss this mark by three million workers, or 300,000 graduates annually through 2018.

These assumptions also have a major impact on the lives of millions of students who, in an effort to increase their ability to contribute at a professional level while still working full-time to support themselves and often others, are taking online courses and/or degrees. According to findings from the Sloan Consortium’s 2010 report Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, 2009, over 4.6 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2008 term. This represents a 17 percent increase over the number reported the previous year, and a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent since fall 2002. (The 17 percent growth rate for online enrollments far outpaces the 1.2 percent growth in overall higher education enrollments.)

Hiring Managers’ Assumptions About Online Courses and Degrees

Based on the responses of 449 human resource professionals randomly selected from SHRM’s membership, the survey results reflect an increased acceptance of accredited online courses and degrees among HR professionals. 79 percent of the SHRM study participants stated that they had hired a job applicant who had an online degree in the last 12 months and a large majority (87 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that online degrees are viewed more favorably today than they were five years ago. This is similar to findings reported in the 2008 Online Degrees Survey undertaken by career services web site, Vault, which found that 83 percent of 172 employers and hiring managers surveyed said that accredited online degrees were more acceptable than they were five years ago.

Additionally, 73 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “individual courses taken online are equally credible to traditional [“brick-and-mortar”] university courses,” an increase over the 68 percent who held this opinion in 2009. And nearly half of survey participants (49 percent) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “online degree programs are equally credible to traditional degree programs.”

However, in an emphatic indication that private-sector schools need to be able to demonstrate quality metrics more effectively than is currently being done, 61 percent of the respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that “distance learning online education (no physical classrooms or campuses, e.g., Walden University, Capella University, California Coast University) is equally credible to online degree programs that are associated with traditional universities.”

This lack of confidence in – or knowledge of – the credibility of accredited online degrees is repeated in participants’ assessments of online versus traditional degrees’ difficulty and quality:

• 41 percent agreed or strongly agreed that online learning was easier than face-to-face, while 19 percent felt the same about traditional learning;
• 44 percent agreed or strongly agreed that online learning was of lower quality than face-to-face, whereas only 3 percent thought the same of traditional learning; and
• 39 percent agreed or strongly agreed that “even if an online degree credential is from a reputable institution with name recognition, if it was earned online, it will be considered less credible.”

These findings are somewhat surprising for a number of reasons.

First, it’s generally recognized that to succeed in an online program, students must have a higher level of maturity and self-management skills in order to be able to manage the course requirements – which contradicts the idea that online courses are “easier.”

Second, accredited online degrees are just as credible because these programs must prove the same level of academic standards required of their brick-and-mortar peers in order to qualify for accreditation, a voluntary form of self-regulation and peer review that ensures quality and educational excellence.

The last point is perhaps less surprising, but likely contributes to a perceived lack of credibility for online programs.  Since online education is a fairly new approach to education, it will take a while to prove its reliability to those used to more traditional formats.

Assumptions About Job Candidates’ Education Credentials

Nevertheless, 60 percent of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “job applicants with traditional degrees are preferred by my organization to applicants with online degrees, presuming work experiences are similar.”

Although this is a decrease from the 63 percent who felt this way in 2009, it still represents a significant number of HR professionals who have more confidence in the value of traditional rather than online education and make hiring decisions based on those preferences.

This finding, however, is somewhat contradicted by the number of large corporations that either have agreements with one or more private-sector online universities to provide online courses and degrees to their employees at a discount, or provide tuition reimbursement for online degrees. (It’s been estimated, for example, that roughly 50 percent or more of University of Phoenix students receive employee-tuition reimbursement.)

Differentiating By Employment Levels and Degrees

When asked about the acceptability of online degree credentials for various levels of job applicants, respondents indicated that online education was perceived as less acceptable the higher “up the ladder” an applicant was aiming. This is to be expected if online degrees are still “proving themselves” – it’s understandable risk management.

• for entry-level positions, 83 percent felt an online degree was acceptable or made no difference;
• for mid-career positions, 56 percent stipulated acceptable or made no difference; and
• for management-level positions, 39 percent felt an online degree was either acceptable or made no difference.

For executive-level hires, however, only 30 percent felt an online degree was acceptable or made no difference.

Similarly, when asked “if job applicants with the same job experience and same level of education were applying for the same job at your organization, what type of educational credential [online or traditional] if any, would tip the balance in one candidate’s favor,”64 percent indicated that it made no difference at the associate’s degree level, 48 percent indicated no difference at the baccalaureate level, but things changed with master’s degrees. At this level,

• 41 percent favored both credentials from a traditional college or university;
• 5 percent favored an online undergraduate degree combined with a traditional master’s degree;
• 15 percent favored a traditional undergraduate degree and an online master’s degree; and
• 39 percent stipulated no difference.

As noted, this is understandable from a risk-management perspective. However, companies are facing an increasingly graying (that is, retiring) managerial workforce and consequently need new, well-educated managers. Therefore, it will be critical for online degree programs and institutions to ensure that potential employers understand the “no significant difference” finding regarding online learning in order to position themselves to help fill this gap. (The “no significant difference” finding refers to the 355 research reports, summaries and papers that document no significant differences in student outcomes between online and traditional learning. For more information, see http://www.nosignificantdifference.org.)

It should also be anticipated that as employees who have actually experienced and benefited from online degree programs are promoted up through the ranks of organizations, it is likely that someone with an online degree will be seen as just as credible – and promotable – as the candidate with a traditional degree.

Perceptions of Online Institutions

While ground has been gained, responses to a question about the perceptions of online institutions show hiring managers place preference on online programs from institutions with a physical campus.  The question asked, “When evaluating the educational credentials of job applicants, how favorably or unfavorably do you view the degrees obtained from each of the following types of online educational institutions, compared with degrees obtained through a traditional degree program?”.  The breakdown was:

• Public, brick-and-mortar university that also offers online education: 9 percent very or somewhat unfavorable, 92 percent just as favorable, somewhat favorable, or very favorable;
• Private, not-for-profit brick-and-mortar university that also offers online education: 17 percent very or somewhat unfavorable, 83 percent in the favorable range;
• Private, for-profit brick-and-mortar university that also offers online education: 27 percent very or somewhat unfavorable, 73 percent in the favorable range; and
• 100 percent distance learning university (no physical classrooms or campuses): 58 percent very or somewhat unfavorable, 42 percent in the favorable range.

Assumptions About Characteristics of Online versus Traditional Students

In addition to their perceptions about online courses and degrees, the SHRM study participants were also asked about their assumptions regarding the personal strengths of online versus traditional students. Their responses:

• Self discipline: 35 percent agreed or strongly agreed that online students demonstrated stronger self discipline, while 30 percent agreed or strongly agreed that traditional students did so.
• Communication skills: 12 percent agreed or strongly agreed that online students were better communicators, but 56 percent agreed or strongly agreed that traditional students excelled here.
• Time management: respondents awarded a tie here, with 29 percent “agree or strongly agree” votes for online and traditional students each.
• Motivation: 34 percent agreed or strongly agreed that traditional students were more motivated, while 22 percent felt online students took the honors.

Again, it’s likely that as more employees who have actually taken an online degree move into key roles within organizations, there will be a greater understanding of the strengths demanded of online students in order to successfully complete their degree programs. These include solid organizational and self-management skills; ongoing determination and motivation to succeed despite multiple roles and obligations; an ability to use advanced communication, information and team collaboration technologies; and expertise in participating in or leading virtual teams and projects.

It’s no surprise that these characteristics appeal to employers such as the Central Intelligence Agency, which doesn’t hesitate to hire candidates with online degrees.

Putting “No Significant Difference” Into Hiring Practices

Academia has done the extensive and rigorous research to prove that there is no significant difference between online and face-to-face learning outcomes, but that also means that an applicant can have a great online or traditional learning experience, or a mediocre one. Just as there are highly effective online instructors and terrible classroom-based ones, academic quality and what a student learns are much more dependent on the quality of teaching than on where or how it takes place.

So how is an HR manager to determine whether an online degree has delivered the needed knowledge? By asking the applicant some key questions, including:

• What accreditation did your program have?  If job applicants can’t knowledgeably discuss their program’s accreditation, they may not have paid sufficient attention to the academic standards of their program. This may also indicate they didn’t take their education efforts very seriously.
• What were your toughest assignments?  This will provide a sense of the level of difficulty and academic rigor of a given online degree program, and also the type of work – strategic thinking, project management, business-level research, etc. – focused on. Also, many online programs now require students to establish an online portfolio that will give prospective employers an additional sense of an applicant’s quality of work. The existence of this type of cutting-edge learning tool will also speak to the quality of the program itself.
• What communications and collaboration tools did you use?  Any quality online degree program will insist on a high level of engagement and interaction among students and faculty and students and classmates. This should be one of the value-adds an applicant with an online degree brings to the organization.
• Who was your favorite instructor, and why?  One of the “quality” questions regarding online degree programs is the level of interaction with faculty, or lack thereof. This question will reveal whether the degree program’s faculty took student interaction seriously, and also whether the applicant was a student who actively pursued these relationships.

Based on the SHRM study as well as others, it’s clear that online courses and degree programs are gaining in acceptance among employers. However, online education providers need to continue to find ways to demonstrate and document the credibility, quality and solid learning outcomes of their degrees. The goal is not to prove that online or traditional education is a better choice, but to clarify for employers that the format of that education is irrelevant compared to the value a potential employee can deliver.

If we hope to have the capacity to provide employers with those 22 million new workers with post-secondary degrees, employers and educators will have to collaborate in supporting multiple avenues to learning in the coming years. Online education provides students an opportunity they might not otherwise have to gain the degree that the modern economy demands. The availability of online education is a testament to the innovative and responsive nature of American higher education, something we should be celebrating and encouraging instead of diminishing.

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