You can earn your degree in the middle of the night, in your pajamas if you want to. Online degrees mean you don't have to miss class if you can't find child care, if you have a lot of doctor's appointments or if your job makes you keep strange hours and travel. You don't have to drive in bad weather or worry about transportation at all. You can do your coursework late at night, early in the morning, all at once or in small increments. It's highly flexible.
Just because you don't take up physical space on a campus doesn't mean you won't pay for the university name. Some online programs are far more expensive than traditional classroom courses. There's no rhyme or reason to it. Some institutions charge you for their reputation, others for the convenience, and still others charge you high fees because they're private for-profit schools. Schools that have both in-class and online classes, particularly state-funded schools, are traditionally cheaper than for-profit, online-only schools.
There are some ways in which online courses can save you money. Campus housing, lost wages, childcare, gas, public transportation fees, supplemental learning materials and costly college food courts likely won't be among your expenses.
If you earn your degree online, you miss out on some of the best parts of the college experience. You won't get to experience dorm life, Greek life, involvement in student organization and the chance to meet hundreds of new, diverse people on a face to face basis. You're less likely to be invited to parties by your online classmates and you'll have less access to guest speakers, campus entertainment and campus media like newspapers and radio stations. This is ideal for some learners, but a major turn off for others.
If you're shy, online classes give you the benefit of anonymity when participating in chat discussions or completing online assignments. You have more time to think about and prepare your responses before you make them. For those with classroom anxiety, online school is a blessing. It's unlikely your professor will call on you while you are unprepared or that you'll have to give an oral presentation in front of the whole class.
While many prestigious schools offer online classes, online degrees don't yet have the reputation of brick and mortar establishments. Another problem with the reputation of online schools is that many of them lack accreditation by the government or by individual program accrediting bodies. This can render students ineligible to take licensing exams after their course of study.