In addition to the obvious benefit of flexibility, the growth of online learning has been spurred by evidence showing it can be just as effective as face-to-face education. If you’re looking to advance your career and move into a leadership role in your profession, obtaining a graduate degree online carries a multitude of benefits.
When it comes to having a lifeline—a person who understands and is always ready to help—anyone interested in online courses and degrees has a special connection at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. That connection is Carla Fontenot, online student support specialist.
To Dorsey Steamer, one thing counts more than all the records she set in softball and track at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 1990s. She is proudest of her diploma, earned in 2016 when she took two final courses through online studies, some 23 years after her student days ended.
“For me to have that on my wall made all the difference in the world, because they changed my life,” said Steamer, who has always counted herself as a Ragin’ Cajun.
Gee Gee Rasmussen entered the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1967, but with just six credit hours short of graduation, life intervened. She left school to move to California with her husband, who had been drafted and joined the Navy. Fast-forward 40-plus years, and Rasmussen is now an official Ragin’ Cajun, thanks to the University’s online courses.
Connie Lavergne has taught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for 34 years, but she’s not behind the times. On the contrary, she is at the forefront of online education, always learning new techniques and challenging herself.
“I love learning — I don’t mind tackling something I don’t understand because eventually you get it,” she says. And she does get it; after all, she has been teaching online courses since 2007.
It’s a winning combination for veterans and members of the military on active duty — the ability to learn from anywhere and earn a degree by tapping into online courses and degree programs from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Spring 2017 graduate and U.S. Navy veteran Whitney Utter combined traditional on-campus classes with online courses to complete his bachelor’s degree in communications. The Lafayette native encourages other veterans to consider online learning as a way to meet their educational goals.
She travels a lot for her work as a fundraising consultant, so when Andrea Essling read about an online graduate program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, she knew it was for her. Now the proud owner of a Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing, she has this advice for other prospective students: “Jump in and do it!”
Essling began her online classes in the fall of 2015, spacing out the 15 hours of classes with her work and travel schedule. She admits the online format was challenging at first.
You’ve launched your job search and landed an interview. Don’t try to “wing it” and go in unprepared, says Laine Blazevich of the Office of Career Services at the University of Louisiana Lafayette.
Blazevich and the Career Services staff coach students through the job search process. “A lot of students come in not knowing what to expect in that first professional interview,” he says. “We want to make sure they’re prepared, they put their best foot forward, make a good impression and hopefully land the job they want.”
Many students look to online degree programs as a means of obtaining their undergraduate and graduate degrees while working full-time or close to it. Online learning is great for individuals who don’t have the option of taking a hiatus from work while obtaining their degree, but even with the added convenience, obtaining an online degree while working can sometimes feel like a balancing act. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers the following tips to help students achieve a healthy work-school balance.
Many students choose online classes because they afford the flexibility of scheduling classes around work, family and other personal obligations.
