At first I was reluctant to review a service dealing in online degrees, as most online degrees are not worth the paper they are written on. Some online degrees require nothing more than a fee of a few hundred dollars to be paid in return for a “degree”, i.e. you do not even have to study. Clearly these are nothing but a scam.

So, the first page I read on EarnMyDegree was Avoid Fake Degree’s which provides a lot of useful information for people considering online study. For example:

“A degree mill is a fake online university that sells college diplomas rather than the education that should accompany it”

The implication here is that Earn My Degree to sell, or broker education as opposed to degrees, again stressed by the “Earn My Degree” as opposed to “Buy My Degree”.

Earn My Degree identify many different scams in the world of online education and provide very useful information on how to avoid them.

Earn My Degree have a comprehensive list of available courses from a number of accredited institutions through whom online education is available, saving prospective students a lot of time when it comes to finding a course.

The courses advertised on Earn My Degree cover a huge range of subjects, and are available at different levels, for example a Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, MBA, Doctoral / PHD Programmes and other forms of certification.

Personally I would not take an online degree, physically attending University allows you to interact more effectively with other students and lecturers, and you have easier access to other resources such as the library.

That said, not everyone is in a position to attend University, having work commitments or parental responsibility that prohibit even part time attendance at University. For these people an online degree may be the only option.

The only other comment I would make regarding online degree’s (aside from making sure it is worth the paper it is written on) is that you would need a high level of self motivation to complete one. You would have to take more responsibility for your own personal development and time management.

I cannot say for sure how well regarded degrees offered through Earn My Degree are, so do your own research and make sure the qualification being offered is of real value, i.e. will be accepted and respected by potential employers.

What I will say is that Earn My Degree are far better than other sites I have seen offering online degree’s, and if you are considering enrolling for an online degree then this site is definitely worth a visit.

In case you are wondering what I mean by this, consider this blog. I try to provide objective information regarding degree’s, and try to encourage ethical behaviour amongst students.

That said, the site carries advertising which I have limited control over, so, the adwords that appear on this site sometimes conflict with my own ethics.

For example there are occasionally advertisements for “essay writing services” which are aimed at people trying to cheat on their course.

If I had higher ethical standards I would not run advertising, however this site loses money and I would like it to at least break even in terms of hosting costs, so, I sold out to Google Adsense … sorry!

The specific question posed on College Startup is:

• Should Professors Recruit Students to Blog for Money?

In my oppinion, no. There are a number of Universities that run successful blogs without carrying advertising. There are no costs involved for the University (as they use existing servers) and students contribute because they want to, meaning the quality of content is good.

Simillary I run this site because I want to, not because it earns money (which it doesnt).

So, if the author of College Startup thinks a University blog would benefit students, they should help their University set one up and see what happens.

If it is successful they could slip some adsense code into the odd post to make things a little more interesting

Although some of the advice is more relevant to Canadian students, a lot of it is generic, with some really useful pointers such as:

• Taking an aptitude / personality test to help you select a career

This is absolutely brilliant advice, many employers will profile you as part of the selection process, applying for jobs to which you have already been matched will not only be an advantage in the selection process, but increase the odds of finding a job you actually enjoy.

Another post worth reading is the Top 10 Resume Blunders as well as a post on what to take on an interview

Not all of the advice given will be appropriate for students to follow, but there are some good easy to follow pointers which are definitely worth bearing in mind.

There are lots of other posts on career advice, finance, and a funny clip of What Not To Do At Interviews!

This site has been around since 1997, and it shows in terms of a wealth of content and appalling appearance!

Do not be put off by broken image links etc. as this site has a lot of useful articles and guidance notes accumulated by a very experienced guy over a period of ten years.

Unfortunately, most of the content is contained within word documents, which is why this site can be tricky to find, i.e. Google cannot read word documents.

There is one document with some very good information on Improving Written Work on a Degree Course which is well worth reading early on in your course.

There is also information learning styles, learning techniques, Job Interview Techniques, CV writing, a lot of information regarding economics and a whole host of other subjects.

I particularly like this site as John has made his information available to everyone over the Internet, as opposed to only allowing his own students access to it (which is how a lot of Universities seem to operate, password protecting their resources).

Its a shame it looks so 1997 pre dot Con era, but at least its free of advertising. There again John doesnt have to pay for his own hosting