Alex Correa

The road to a higher education has at times been a bumpy one for Alex C.

This 30-year-old system administrator has had his share of setbacks in his quest for a college degree.

But now he has finally found his groove—he's finishing up a long-delayed associates degree and will soon embark on his bachelors.

And he's doing it on his own terms by earning his degree online. Alex is currently studying business administration through
AIU Online.

Once that is completed, he plans to head directly into AIU Online's Bachelor of Information Technology program with a concentration in Network Administration.

Alex began his studies after high school, attending a traditional community college full time.

But as happens for many students, financial pressures made full-time school impossible. Alex continued to work on his associates on a part-time basis, attending classes at night after work and on weekends.

He juggled work and school for a while but the amount of time he had to put into school, with all the time sitting in traffic to commute there after work, left him with little chance to relax.

"I had no personal time," he explains.

But after working for a few years, Alex realized that to further his career he was going to have to find a way to continue his education. "I started to consider going back to school a few years ago because I knew my knowledge was limited," he says.

In his field, being out of touch with current technology is not an option. As he put it, "I needed the newer tools to be prepared for the future."

As he looked at schools locally, Alex ran into the same issues that had forced him to quit before.

"I don't like the idea of racing out of work to try to beat traffic to try to be on time to a class that only lasts an hour."

But he hit on a solution with distance learning: "I knew it was for me."

With distance learning, he says, "All I have to do is sit down at my home computer, log in, and click on my classroom. It's so much easier."

Of course, convenience is not the only consideration when choosing a school. "I wanted to be flexible with work, school, and family, but at the same time I wanted a school that had a good name."

Fortunately for him, he had a great resource right in front of him at work: his coworkers at eLearners.com.

As he researched various online programs, he asked his coworkers for feedback. He liked what he heard about AIU Online. It is the virtual campus of American InterContinental University and it is regionally accredited.

From his first contact with AIU Online, Alex was impressed with the level of attention he received.

"I was assigned an advisor from the day they received my application and to this day, the advisor contacts me every week to offer me assistance."

Alex believes that the faculty and staff want the students to feel comfortable and confident in their online learning experience. One way AIU Online does that is by offering students in the Associates programs flexible scheduling.

Students can opt to take either one or two classes for each of the five-week sessions.

Up until January 2008, Alex had been enrolled in one class at a time. Now he is doubling his workload, taking two courses per semester until he graduates in June 2008. By pacing himself he can stay on top of everything and enjoy himself, too.

"I can spend time with friends and family and manage to get my school work done in a timely manner," he says.

He also gives high marks to AIU Online's online learning environment.

"What I really like about the overall online experience is the easy web classroom interface. The design and links are simple, easy to manage and view," he says.

"I can click a button to e-mail anyone in the virtual campus if I have any kind of issue. I can always check my grades, post to discussions, and submit assignments."

Based on his experience so far, Alex feels the only drawback to online education is the lack of face time with professors and fellow students. But that doesn't bother him much.

Having had to overcome obstacles to get where he is today, Alex displays a matter-of-fact attitude: "I just want to do well and graduate."

While at one time he was concerned that he would not be able to finish his associate's degree, inside he believed he just needed to find the right place at the right time.

It turns out that time is now and the place is online. He describes himself as "very happy, very grateful to be able to do this at this time."

"I have learned a lot from this experience and would encourage anyone to chase their dreams. I've learned nothing is easy," he says. "If you want to do something, you have to make that additional effort to get yourself there."