Ten years ago, if you told someone you were getting a distance degree, it may be that all you got in response was a smirk or even a snicker. This is because until very recently, any degree that wasn't earned in a traditional academic setting wasn't considered particularly legitimate. Many schools offered occasional online courses, but only as an adjunct to the hundreds of classes taught on their campuses. Common belief held that if a school wasn't operating in classroom buildings, then it was probably a sham feeding off the degree dreams of students who couldn't find any other way to get to school.

Today, though, distance learning is a thriving academic business. In fact, if you still believe that online degrees are a bunch of bunk, it's time to shuck those thoughts right out the window. The Internet Age has brought technology, academia, and legitimate education right into our living rooms. Online and distance learning have become increasingly effective and now, Congress has given the industry a lot more clout via the federal student aid program.

Non-traditional is A-OK
In a nod to non-traditional students everywhere, Congress lifted what was known as the "50-percent rule" in February 2006. This rule had required schools to offer at least 50 percent of their classes in a classroom setting to be eligible for federal student aid. That made it very difficult for the for-profit distance learning sector to access federal funding for its students.

Originally put in place to deter what was considered rampant fraud in the industry, the 50-percent rule kept things in check by preventing so-called "diploma mills" from getting their hands in the federal cookie jar. Prior to this restriction, they had effectively lured in students with the promise of federal aid to pay for their education and as a result, made a tidy profit without offering any real education to anyone. Since most of these agencies offered virtually no actual classes, when the rule went into effect, their access to federal funds went away as well.

You can't please everybody
Not everyone is thrilled with the change in the law. Traditional colleges, while increasingly offering their own Internet-based classes, still maintain that their status as "legitimate" schools entitles them to a bigger piece of the pie. Most of them are non-profit institutions and count on attracting students by offering attractive student aid packages.

With for-profit schools edging in on a limited pot of money, some fear that attracting students and keeping the bills paid will become that much harder in an age where tuition keeps going up and the amount of money available for aid gets spread more thinly.

Learn to earn
Diverse opportunities for education are what Congress and its constituents want, however. Enrollment in online learning has sky-rocketed in recent years. Graduates from non-traditional programs get jobs, pay taxes, and become part of a thriving economy — and that's an outcome that Congress wants to help support. There are now roughly 2,500 non-traditional, for-profit schools that the federal government has accredited to receive federal student aid, the largest of which is the University of Phoenix, with 300,000 students enrolled nationwide.

This is good news for all you rural, military, and working students — you CAN get a degree online and you'll have all the support you need to make it happen!