The Foreign Service Journal, June 2010

66 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 0 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT may sound like a good way to evalu- ate instructors, it can lead to a low- ering of standards. Although Mayadas encourages looking at nonprofit institutions first, he admits that researching their online degree programs can be a frus- trating experience. The public insti- tutions’ online offerings are often a maze to navigate because, by contrast with many for-profit institutions, online programs are not the public universities’ first priority. “They are not as savvy with cus- tomer service, either,” Mayadas acknowledges. “In the end,” he says, “there are pros and cons either way. The most important advice is to make sure the institution is regionally accredited” (see p. 76). Finding the Right Program Finding a suitable program is the next step, and it also takes some effort. Because online education is in the “gold rush” stage right now, there are literally hundreds of schools ready to convince you they have exactly what you are looking for. Many of them are excellent, but not all will suit every circumstance. Research into classes and pro- grams was essential for Julie Barnes, a Foreign Service spouse who is cur- rently enrolled in the Accelerated Online Hybrid Nursing program at Northern Virginia Community Coll- ege. She completed all of the prereq- uisite courses for the program while living in such far-flung places as Kinshasa and Kigali, thanks to dis- tance learning. “I decided that I wanted to go to nursing school while we were living in Congo, and the only way to complete the prerequisites was through distance learning,” she explains. “I did have to do a lot of research to find some of the courses, such as anatomy and physiology, to be sure that they were delivered in a completely online format.” Barnes is so delighted with online education that she plans to take more classes in the future. “We will proba- bly be going back overseas in the next few years, and I plan to continue my online education. So I am currently looking at several bachelor’s and mas- ter’s programs that offer a majority of their courses online. I am also looking at the possibility of working on a mas- The public institutions’ online offerings are often a maze to navigate. Continued on p. 70