The Education Blog

Lately I’ve been thinking about studying towards earning a master’s degree in English or creative writing, since I am a writer and have been thinking that a higher degree would be to my advantage.

But since I work full time I cannot afford to give up my day job. The only solution for me is to pursue a degree through a continuing education program, which means I can attend classes in the evenings, or else I can go ahead with one of those distance universities and learn from home online.

So being in the Boston area, I found some colleges that offer an extensive range of master’s degrees, not only in the humanities but sciences as well, including information technology, which is certainly something that would be smart to pursue these days.

Anyway, here are a few colleges offering distance programs and on-campus learning that I found when searching online:

Northwestern University — Northwestern’s College of Professional Studies offers 35 master’s degrees in the fields of education, liberal arts, project management, corporate or technical communications and various specializations relevant to civil society development. It also offers doctoral degrees in education, law and policy and physical therapy. The college offers fast-track programs, where you can earn a degree in just 12 months, related to corporate managerial roles. Most of their programs can be fulfilled online.

Fischer College — The Online Education Database (OEDb) ranked Fischer College in ninth place in its list of the nation’s best online universities for 2009. So if you can’t always make it to campus, this is definitely an option worth looking into. The Department of Continuing Education of Fisher College offers bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees and professional certifications.

Harvard University — Getting into Harvard’s Extension School is not as difficult as you might think. A friend of mine who graduated from Clark University well over a decade ago has been studying for a master’s degree in Sustainability and Environmental Management for the last few years. As you can expect he’s very happy with the quality of education he’s receiving while being able to afford taking care of his family as he works all day.

Harvard claims to offer 20 different bachelor’s degrees and 19 master’s degrees to pursue. More information can be found on Harvard Extension School web site.

Boston University — The advantage of Boston University’s Metropoliltan College is that it offers blended, also known as eLive, programs, so you can study both online and on campus. Remember that BU has a reputation for being one of the most expensive universities in the US, so you should definitely weigh cost with the value of education offered. A higher price doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting a better-quality education.

Naturally, it’s not going to be easy to swing working a full-time day job and studying at night, but if I want my master’s degree I don’t have much of a choice. If you know of any other on-campus continuing education or distance graduate programs, please leave a comment.

Photo © Sara Haj-Hassan

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