| Walking across the stage in your mortarboard and | | | | sky-high. Attending a school online means you're |
| gown can be the proudest moment in any high school | | | | paying for the bare essentials of learning without any |
| graduate's life. After you earn your high school degree | | | | frivolous bills added, like the cost of transportation or |
| though, it's time to start making decisions about your | | | | housing. So by the time you've earned your online |
| educational future. For many high school grads, online | | | | degree, you've paid a minor fraction of what you could |
| colleges offer more opportunity for pursuing higher | | | | have paid at a brick-and-mortar school. |
| education than traditional colleges. | | | | Though the cost of a degree online is significantly |
| Many new graduates decide to take a year off after | | | | lower than attending a traditional college, the tuition still |
| finishing high school. Sometimes this year is just for a | | | | has to be paid. Attending school from a distance |
| break from the monotony of the educational | | | | means working on your own time, so students can still |
| environment. Sometimes the annual pause has more | | | | work and pay the bills while going to school. The ability |
| focused plans. Online colleges mean that students can | | | | to do both simultaneously means students can |
| attend school without feeling overwhelmed or bogged | | | | graduate with little to no student debt and immediately |
| down in the same old scholastic rut, simply because | | | | enter the work force, without having to worry about |
| they won't be stuck in a classroom listening to a | | | | paying off loans. |
| teacher lecture. | | | | Sometimes, it's not about the money or the free time. |
| Besides taking a year off, many new graduates also | | | | Many high school graduates find the very idea of |
| want to see the world after earning their high school | | | | college classes intimidating. Online colleges help take |
| degree. Travel itself inherently requires a person to be | | | | away some of that apprehension. Students have the |
| constantly moving between new places, using all kinds | | | | option to spend time crafting replies and adding |
| of different transportation, so combining exploration | | | | comments to the learning material when they're |
| with a college degree can be somewhere between | | | | reading. |
| difficult and impossible. Making the choice to earn your | | | | One of the other major benefits of online college is the |
| degree at an online college means you can learn while | | | | vast diversity students can find in scholastic programs. |
| you're on the go, whether you're home or abroad. | | | | Online schools offer a wide array of course material |
| Besides boredom, many high school graduates worry | | | | that may not be available locally. A lack of geographic |
| about the high cost of an education at a traditional | | | | barriers also means students have access to |
| college. When paying for tuition, you end up subsidizing | | | | professors or mentors with strong backgrounds that |
| a number of extra costs, so the final bill can seem | | | | they may never have met otherwise. |