Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Ulrich Boser
Aired June 22, 2003 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Now you can earn a college degree from your home or office. All you have to do is use your computer and you can earn a degree on line. Ulrich Boser an education correspondent for "U.S. News & World Report" joins us to talk more about this growing trend of e-learning.
Glad you're with us.
ULRICH BOSER, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Thank you for having me.
CHOI: So, tell me, what opportunities are there out there to get an online education?
BOSER: There are a tremendous number of opportunities. Some 2,000 universities are offering some online degrees. And you can learn anything from refrigeration theory to web courses, to public speaking on line. There is a really diverse number of courses that are out there.
CHOI: And who are the big players?
BOSER: Big players, some number of state universities, like University of Maryland, University College. And also the nation's largest private university and that is University of Phoenix. There is Kaplan College, Jones International University. There are really a huge number of universities.
Some have gone under recently as the dot-com bomb happened. But a lot of them are going strong with increasing enrollments.
CHOI: How important is it that you get your online education from an institution with a proven track record versus say some smaller school that you might not have heard of before?
BOSER: That's a great question, Sophia. You really should go with a school that has a proven track record. You might want to speak to students who have graduated from the program. Ask them questions like, did they get to speak to their professor a lot? Did people respond to their technical help queries? You should also look for a university that is regionally accredited, or a university that is accredited by a business association.
CHOI: Well, do employers look at that when they're looking at your resume? And do they even value online degrees? BOSER: I think employers do value online degrees. Of course, what employers like is that their employees keep working and keep learning. So, we've seen quite a number of companies like Intel team up with universities to offer company specific degrees. And that allows a company have their employees still in the workforce while learning skills and knowledge that is germane to their job.
CHOI: All right, I understand that you took an online class. So, tell me, what are the advantages and the disadvantages of getting your education online?
BOSER: Well, the advantages are clear. It is just incredibly flexible. I was able to study late at night. And that, and I was able to do some of my work during my lunch hour. So that was great.
Some of the disadvantages of course are that you don't have your classmates, your professor in front of you. We all remember being in college classrooms and you know enjoying ourselves with our classmates, with our professor. And not having those people in front of you to smile and to be with you, to support you when you're doing something wrong, is a disadvantage.
Now, some schools do require residencies, where you actually have to go and visit. Duke University, for instance, has that. You have to go once a month and spend time with your classmates.
CHOI: So, weighing all of that, in your experience, if there was a class offered that you wanted to take online and a similar class that was offered, say at a community college in your neighborhood, which would you choose?
BOSER: For me, I'd have to vote for the one that would be closest to me, because I really value having other people around me. But if that class wasn't available, I'd certainly take another one class on line. I found it a really enjoyable experience.
I took mine on mystery fiction at the University of California, Berkeley. And I love detective novels and that allowed me a chance to explore that. My local university doesn't offer that. And it was a really enjoyable class.
CHOI: Real quickly, what about graduation? Do they do that online as well?
BOSER: In fact, they do. A number of schools have online graduation. So, you'll only have seen your other students through the Internet.
CHOI: All right, Ulrich Boser, thank you so much for joining us and telling us about this growing trend in online education. Thanks.
BOSER: Thanks for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 22, 2003 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Now you can earn a college degree from your home or office. All you have to do is use your computer and you can earn a degree on line. Ulrich Boser an education correspondent for "U.S. News & World Report" joins us to talk more about this growing trend of e-learning.
Glad you're with us.
ULRICH BOSER, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Thank you for having me.
CHOI: So, tell me, what opportunities are there out there to get an online education?
BOSER: There are a tremendous number of opportunities. Some 2,000 universities are offering some online degrees. And you can learn anything from refrigeration theory to web courses, to public speaking on line. There is a really diverse number of courses that are out there.
CHOI: And who are the big players?
BOSER: Big players, some number of state universities, like University of Maryland, University College. And also the nation's largest private university and that is University of Phoenix. There is Kaplan College, Jones International University. There are really a huge number of universities.
Some have gone under recently as the dot-com bomb happened. But a lot of them are going strong with increasing enrollments.
CHOI: How important is it that you get your online education from an institution with a proven track record versus say some smaller school that you might not have heard of before?
BOSER: That's a great question, Sophia. You really should go with a school that has a proven track record. You might want to speak to students who have graduated from the program. Ask them questions like, did they get to speak to their professor a lot? Did people respond to their technical help queries? You should also look for a university that is regionally accredited, or a university that is accredited by a business association.
CHOI: Well, do employers look at that when they're looking at your resume? And do they even value online degrees? BOSER: I think employers do value online degrees. Of course, what employers like is that their employees keep working and keep learning. So, we've seen quite a number of companies like Intel team up with universities to offer company specific degrees. And that allows a company have their employees still in the workforce while learning skills and knowledge that is germane to their job.
CHOI: All right, I understand that you took an online class. So, tell me, what are the advantages and the disadvantages of getting your education online?
BOSER: Well, the advantages are clear. It is just incredibly flexible. I was able to study late at night. And that, and I was able to do some of my work during my lunch hour. So that was great.
Some of the disadvantages of course are that you don't have your classmates, your professor in front of you. We all remember being in college classrooms and you know enjoying ourselves with our classmates, with our professor. And not having those people in front of you to smile and to be with you, to support you when you're doing something wrong, is a disadvantage.
Now, some schools do require residencies, where you actually have to go and visit. Duke University, for instance, has that. You have to go once a month and spend time with your classmates.
CHOI: So, weighing all of that, in your experience, if there was a class offered that you wanted to take online and a similar class that was offered, say at a community college in your neighborhood, which would you choose?
BOSER: For me, I'd have to vote for the one that would be closest to me, because I really value having other people around me. But if that class wasn't available, I'd certainly take another one class on line. I found it a really enjoyable experience.
I took mine on mystery fiction at the University of California, Berkeley. And I love detective novels and that allowed me a chance to explore that. My local university doesn't offer that. And it was a really enjoyable class.
CHOI: Real quickly, what about graduation? Do they do that online as well?
BOSER: In fact, they do. A number of schools have online graduation. So, you'll only have seen your other students through the Internet.
CHOI: All right, Ulrich Boser, thank you so much for joining us and telling us about this growing trend in online education. Thanks.
BOSER: Thanks for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
