With more and more students enrolling in part-time and full-time distance courses, employers will start to realize it’s just another part of new technology in the workplace. And it definitely says something if a student made it through an online learning course while simultaneously working a full-time job.

…and the more a school’s reputation becomes a consideration, the more online schools will have to get theirs in shape if they want to be successful.

In reality, an employer would not know how much online content was taken by any B&M graduate these days. It varies by discipline and by institution, but can be substantial. So, what’s the difference?

For me, there is one important difference. Part time students of any type have to make far more commitment to achieving their degrees than full time students and off-campus full time students (we used to call that distance but that is misleading) generally require more commitment and self organization than on-campus students. Part time students are generally older, more mature and will often both put more in and get more out of their learning experiences.

So, as an employer, which of these looks more attractive? If I can get the maturity, commitment and experience of an online graduate from an online degree program that has earned some level of quality in its reputation, then it seems pretty good to me. Which would you take?