The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which was founded in 1994 and known for its charitable contributions in and out the United States to help create and spread innovations in education, technology and world health, recently donated a total of  $12.9 million dollars to several community colleges towards virtual learning improvements.

Among the college recipients were Carnegie Mellon University; Monterey Institute for Technology and Education; Global Skills for College Completion; and National Center for Academic Transformation who received $2.5 million, $5 million; $3.6 million; and $1.8 million respectively.

The Carnegie Mellon University will use its $2.5 million for the improvement and developments of web based and open learning environments of its Community College Open Learning Initiative. Carnegie Mellon aims to improve their course completion rates by 25 percent.

Monterey Institute for Technology will utilize its $5 million grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create developmental math course material that will be available as an open educational resource. They will also use the grant to increase the number of students who can meet math standards so they can move into post-secondary educational programs.

On the other hand, Global Skills for College Completion who got $3.6 million will establish ways to teach math and writing skill using social media and technology and the National Center for Academic Transformation will make use their $1.8 million grant to do outreach to community colleges to convince them to incorporate technology-based learning into their math programs.

The newsletter also shared that Lamar online students who are taking Masters in education got higher scores than most campus-based students who have taken the same exam. In fact, 96% of Lamar’s online master’s degree students passed the principal exam. Interesting isn’t it?

This simply implies that online students are not inferior to campus based students. And I was impressed with the quality of online education of Lamar because their passing margin became higher since their online Master’s of Education degree through Lamar University’s Academic Partnership with Higher Ed Holdings was offered two years ago.

So if you want to obtain a top quality Masters in education, why not check out the online programs of Lamar University? They offer over than 100 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs than can be taken in-person and through online classes. Lamar University is known as comprehensive public university in Beaumont, Texas. This university is a member of The Texas State University System and duly accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The student would be able to integrate applications of psychology with business and leadership training. This would enhance the students’ employment options. The benefits of online programs offered by University of Rockies are many.

One is Innovation; it takes the student to a dynamic and flexible online learning without affecting the other aspects of the students’ life. Second is Acceleration; courses are taken in six weeks with no breaks in between the courses. Pacing and completion is swift and practicums are nine weeks long.

Third is Prestige because the calibers of faculty are in rival to the prominent institutions. Instructors are established professional with doctoral degrees.

The University of the Rockies is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.  It has been granted Category I status as a degree granting institution by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE). University of the Rockies is likewise an associate member of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology.

Listing of online psychology programs for masters degree are  Master of Arts in Psychology,  majoring in Business Psychology, Criminology and Justice Studies, Evaluation, Research and Measurement, Executive Coaching Specialization, Health and Wellness Psychology, Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Mental Health Administration, Non-Profit Management Specialization, Organizational Consulting, Organizational Leadership Specialization, and Sports and Performance Psychology.

Listings of online doctorate psychology programs are Doctor of Psychology – majoring in Business Psychology, Criminology and Justice Studies, Evaluation, Research & Measurement,  Executive Coaching Specialization, Health and Wellness Psychology, Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Mental Health Administration, Non-Profit Management Specialization, Organizational Consulting, Organizational Leadership Specialization, and  Sports and Performance Psychology.

Whereas, for those people who are high school graduates and does not have an Associate Degree, unemployment rate is over 4 percent. Employers prefer to hire applicants who at least have an Associate Degree.

In fact, between 2000 and 2010, employers are requiring an Associate Degree from their employees. On top of this, workers who have an Associate Degree earn more compared to those whose highest educational attainment is a high school diploma. Those with bachelors or associate degree earn 65 percent more than those who graduated from high school.

Hence, in two years, one can already make it to the entry point to one of the fastest growing industry, increase earning and open the door for further advancement. So, if you feel you are not anymore fitted to go back to school, think again.

Do you know that 27.5 percent of the US population has bachelor’s Degree? This is an opportunity for you and your family. This could open vast possibilities for you to improve yourself and your family’s’ economic status.

If you are the person who aspires  opportunity for yourself and  for your family; if you are in search for an advance academic study; why not take an Associate Degree or an Bachelor Degree?  Any of the two degree is now possible in online degree studying, so start planning now and elevate your career soon!

But completing any post-secondary degree would not be possible for the young lad without the emergence of online universities or colleges. Fostorian Zack Ickes availed of post secondary option that which allows high school students to take college online classes while in high school.

In the case of Ickes, he began this education journey with an online class each semester. Attending online classes are convenient and can be done even at home. This approach didn’t interfere in his normal high school life; in fact, Fostorian Zack Ickes is very active in their high school activities, band and sports including football and cross country. But of course, the real secret in this wonderful achievement of this young gentleman is his capability in managing his time.

The Post Secondary Option that Ickes availed is being offered in Owens Community College since 2002. This is open to students in grades 9 through 12. Students who want to avail of Post Secondary Option need to have at least 3.0 GPA in the subject area they want to study.

Online degree studying is indeed on the rise! I just read that Western Illinois University is expanding its online and distance learning offerings to reach more individuals who may be placebound.

They are currently in the process of developing new online courses such as the technical support and expertise of Western’s Center for the Application of Information Technologies (CAIT) and faculty training by the Center for Innovations in Teaching and Research (CITR).  WIU is likewise developing 11 new online courses like MUS 190 (What to Listen for in Music), SOC 300 (Minority Peoples), IDT 538 (Imaging Technology) and FIN 301 (Personal Finance Planning) that will be introduced this year.

The addition of new online courses paves way for Western Illinois University to accommodate more students. In fact, a total of 69 online courses will be offered this summer as compared to only 41 summer online classes last year.  WIU even established several new partnerships with Illinois community colleges.

The WIU Provost and Academic Vice President,  Jack Thomas believes that it is important for them to accommodate the needs of all of their students whether they are traditional students at Macomb and Quad Cities campuses, at an off-site location in Illinois or taking classes from the comfort of their home in Texas. And by increasing the number of their online courses, WIU is now more capable to provide educational opportunities to those individuals who may not be able to attend a class on campus.

With the new digital campus website, students and prospective students can now get the information they need about the university’s online degree course offerings, professional development and other matters pertaining to online degree studying.

Aside to the 18 online degree programs that University of Minnesota offers, they also provide an opportunity for individuals with unfinished degree programs to complete their degrees in a very convenient way.  These degree completion programs are intended for students who have at least 50 college credits and they may choose to complete it toward a degree in Applied Studies or Multidisciplinary Studies.

University of Minnesota’s online degree offering is guaranteed to be equivalent to their on-campus degree programs because all degrees are conferred by the Regents of the University of Minnesota and they generally have the same instructors, program requirements and curriculum.

To learn more about the online degree programs of University of Minnesota, please click here.

It was mentioned here before that Abilene Christian University will promote online learning through the use of portable or handheld gadgets. They will provide free iPhone or iPod touch for their freshmen that will be used to receive their homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes. And I just read now that Abilene Christian University has bought more than 600 iPhones and 300 iPods for their select students starting this fall.

Also, it has been reported that the University of Maryland, Oklahoma Christian University and Freed-Hardeman University already announced that they will give portable devices for their students. This is a clear indication that online learning is being promoted by growing numbers of universities in the United States.

How about the students? Are they also into online learning? I guess so because in Stanford University, students registered more than 700 iPhones with the campus network in 2007. And we all know the convenience of receiving school updates, class announcement, lectures and instructions from our professors anytime of the day.

Apple indeed hit big time because their sales were definitely augmented with the rise of online learning approach. Both students and academes make use of these portable gadgets as their studying tool. In fact, universities are buying iPhones and iPods by bulk for their own students.

Ellis University has more than50 different accredited online programs that include graduate, undergraduate and associate degree programs. In addition, it also offers a host of new programs in professions that are in high demand.

The new Ellis University has an exclusive Virtual Campus platform equipped with dynamic online classrooms provide, fully-interactive instructions and career-based curriculum that allow its students to practice and apply new skills immediately. All online programs of Ellis University begin every six weeks and this means more convenience and flexibility for prospective students.

TROY Global Campus is the new name for Troy University’s administrative unit that includes its 60 teaching sites, TROY eCampus and international initiatives. TROY Global Campus will serve non-traditional students such as military and government agency civilians, their dependents and other adults seeking degrees who want to earn college degree and non-degree certification programs and seminars through flexible programs and courses.

Some of the new program offerings of TROY Global Campus are certifications in Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) for the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM). To learn more about its program offerings, you may want to visit the Academics Page of TROY Global Campus.