Nontraditional master's degree programs have several benefits that
them tempting to students. Convenience is the primary benefit of a nontraditional degree because it allows you to complete your course work at a time that is convenient for you. Students who already have a bachelor's degree might already be working in their intended vocational field, but might not be able to break away from work to take courses on campus. Nontraditional programs eliminate the inconvenience of traditional classes. A second benefit of the nontraditional master's degree is that the information you need to complete assignments and research is readily available with a simple search engine or database search. Cost use to be a major prohibitive feature of these programs, but many schools now offer online courses for the same amount as traditional courses.
Many different nontraditional degree programs are now offered by various colleges and universities in the United States. Among some of the more common fields of study are education, psychology, business, nursing and engineering. One reason that these fields of study are so highly represented among the different degree programs offered in a nontraditional format is because much of the subject matter can be studied without the need for hands-on application. Even subjects such as nursing, which require much hands-on training at the undergraduate level, tend to be research-oriented at the master's degree level and thus easy to offer in an online format.
Nontraditional master's degrees are fairly well represented in both traditional and nontraditional institutions of higher education. Some schools have established their academic reputations through nontraditional degree programs. Some of the more well-known schools include the University of Phoenix, Capella University, Walden University, Regis University, Union Institute and University and Nova Southeastern University. Excelsior College in New York has one of the more extensive offering of online nursing degrees. Many different traditional schools have also begun to offer many nontraditional degree programs. Penn State University, East Carolina University, the University of Wyoming and the University of Illinois are all known for their extensive offerings of nontraditional master's degrees.
Accreditation is key to obtaining a nontraditional degree that has any weight in the marketplace. Students seeking nontraditional degrees must be wary of schools offering degrees without proper accreditation. Many different "diploma mills" will sell students worthless degrees. They even go so far as to create accrediting agencies that sound official but are not. Online degree seekers should look for schools offering degree programs accredited by a regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Legitimate accrediting bodies are members of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. Schools accredited by the Distance Education Training Council are also recognized by the department and offer legitimate degrees, although they tend to have less weight than regionally accredited degrees.