Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Jim S., Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
"Listening to the brief, I thought it sounded like a good deal," he recalls.
Name: Jim Stailey
Age: 35
Marital Status: Married
Children: 3 sons, (ages 15, 12, 2), and a daughter, 10.
Current Location: Spokane, Washington
Advice for Students: It's never too late to earn your degree.
School: University of Phoenix
Target: B.S. in Business Administration, February 2008
"Plus they had some special going on: bring a few cans of food for donation, they'd waive the application fee." After a brief orientation, Jim was enrolled in the University of Phoenix's flex net program.
At the University of Phoenix, "there are three primary ways to get a degree: on ground, online, or FlexNet… FlexNet is best of both worlds."
In this hybrid program, each class is five weeks long, sandwiched by two four hour sessions in an actual classroom. At the first meeting, students are put into learning teams of three or four peers with whom they work closely during the next five weeks.
Although the middle portion of the course is all online, "by then, you've already got a nice connection and you've actually gotten to meet the people," says Jim, who thrives in a team setting. "I wanted that in-person dynamic."
Even so, the flexibility of online coursework was essential for Jim, who could have opted for the free ride offered to him by Eastern Washington University for his time in the service.
But strictly traditional schooling would mean that he would have to quit his job to devote his days to sitting in a classroom, so, in his own words, "paid for or not, it was a better decision to enroll in the University of Phoenix."
Initially, he was drawn to the University's Criminal Justice program, since he had experience with the prison system from his community work, but upon realizing how broad the field of business was, he spontaneously switched gears.
"There wasn't a lot of thought I'll admit, it was a real fast decision, but I've made giant strides since then," says Jim, who now enjoys a position as a retail operations manager, something he never imagined himself getting into. "Business classes helped a lot," he adds.
Online Degree Programs: Find an accredited online degree program that's right for you
Online Schools: Explore colleges and universities who offer online degrees
Distance Learning Discussion Forums: Ask others for opinions of online schools and online education
Copyright eLearners.com 1999 - 2008
