An Online Engineering Degree: Not a Shortcut, But an Easier Route to a Ph.D.
Lo and behold, a Ph.D. holder comes! She of the wire-frame glasses, with books in her hand and pen ready to write upon notebook paper! She is a guardian of academia, a titan of scholastic institutions, a deity of intelligentsia. Kneel before her!
Well, of course, a Ph.D. holder doesn't suddenly transform into some Norse god upon receiving the degree, as if the Ph.D. were some tree-pulp version of Mjolnir. But a Ph.D. is a degree that comes with a great sum of honor, prestige, and potential success. It's often a worthwhile endeavor for those who are particularly interested in their fields, despite all the difficulty that can come from trying to obtain one.
The bad news is that in the modern day and age, the academic portion of the difficulty is still just as staunchly resolute as ever; you aren't getting past that without a lot of time, effort, and good hard brain-stretching work. The good news, though, is that thanks to this new-fangled thing called "The Internet," some of the more back-achingly annoying parts of getting a Ph.D. have been made simple, easy, and manageable, especially for particularly trying disciplines like engineering.
Introducing, for your ease and comfort: the online Ph.D. in engineering! (APPLAUSE)
Online engineering degrees are available for many different kinds of engineering degrees, from the Ph.D. in Software Engineering to the Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, and even the Ph.D. in Engineering Management.
Online Engineering Degree: Advantages
An online Ph.D. in engineering will still prepare a learner for all the same tasks and duties as would a Ph.D. in engineering obtained in person. The difference lies in that the online engineering degree can be obtained from the comfort of one's own home, without many of the attached difficulties and complications that would be involved in obtaining a Ph.D. from a university in person.
Imagine that you could have all the educational content of your professor's lectures, obtained through your computer at home! Using video conferencing, instant messaging, email, and the like, the accessibility of classically institutionalized components of education for individuals who may not be able to make it to the actual institution is increased a hundredfold, thereby making an online engineering degree a great opportunity for all who are interested.
Concerns About Online Engineering Degrees
Online engineering degrees are available from a number of different universities, in a number of different subjects. You should always do your best to thoroughly investigate an online Ph.D. in engineering program, however, before you begin to participate. It is always possible that an advertised program might not be accredited, or a particular program might not provide exactly the type of education you want, due to some of the differences in terminology which breed like bunnies in the world of academia.
Furthermore, it is critical that you determine, with certainty, if the university from which you are attempting to obtain your online engineering degree is an accredited university. If it is not accredited, then the Ph.D. you would be looking to obtain would pretty much only be worth the paper it's printed on, if that. In the world of engineering, there are specific professional organizations which provide accreditation to those who work in the field, and if your degree isn't going to be recognized by the professional organization for your brand of engineering, then it's not going to do you much good.
There are also the basic differences between obtaining an online Ph.D. in engineering, and getting one in-person. Yes, obtaining the degree online will be made significantly easier by the fact that you will be able to do so over the Internet, at your leisure.
But there are attached difficulties, such as the fact that you will not be having face to face contact with your professors, most likely. Even if you are watching them give lectures over your computer screen, it will be different from seeing them in person, and you won't be able to physically go visit their offices to ask questions. If you were taking courses at the university, in person, then you'd have access to your professors on a much more consistent basis, although it is entirely possible that professors involved in programs for online engineering degrees would find other ways to provide accessibility to students, such as through forums or email.
A final concern is that a number of the best and most prestigious universities are unlikely to have any kind of online engineering degree option for interested individuals; instead, if you want to obtain a degree with those universities, you will likely have to do so the old fashioned way, in person.
Despite any of the above concerns, however, pursuing a graduate-level online engineering degree is a great option for anyone who wants such a degree, but isn't so certain about his or her own ability to manage it via the traditional route. It will still take plenty of hard work and effort, but it's certainly an option worth looking into.