There was a time when an online education was not considered to be as good as what could be learned on campus but such beliefs are now considered to be antique and for good reason. College degree earned on line is every bit as difficult to achieve as one that would be gained on campus. In fact the online courses have many advantages which the campus classes cannot offer such as the ability to schedule your class time around a working adult's schedule. Class instruction is made available and the student can at any time log into the class to review assignment details. Forum discussions are also available for the student to visit at any time. It is probably the most advantageous factor of attending online classes. Its like having all your fellow students available to ask questions or exchange ideas, whenever you desire to interact with them.

Attaining a degree from an online college also has its challenges that a traditional college education never faces, such as all that freedom can trap a student into missing more classes than was intended. Having such a flexible schedule can also lure students into procrastination which as we all know is a slippery slope that can easily become incomplete assignments.

All that freedom and convenience is detrimental if the student is not very adamant about attending classes and completing the work assigned. There is nobody there to push the student unlike a structured environment such as on campus classes. When you have a set time to attend your courses it tends to act as a reminder that homework must be done by a certain time in order to be able to make that next day's class. When you can keep moving your classroom time to a point later in the day it builds a false confidence where the student can easily find themselves in a situation where their assignment is due and cannot be procrastinated any longer so they end up missing the deadline and getting an incomplete for a grade.

Self motivated people will do best with online classes and many will thrive in the virtual environment by using online education to its fullest advantage while avoiding the inherent dangers by simply sticking to their predetermined schedules for both attending classes and for finding time to do homework.