The Federal Reserve announced the sum for all college loans in the U.S. today is $830 billion. What makes this news alarming is it just became greater than the amount of debt due to credit cards by $3 billion. That now means college loans are the number one form of personal debt in the country. It’s even greater than mortgages. Therefore it’s no wonder many potential college students think twice before they enroll. Then again, colleges are now starting to think of ways around this and for many this means offering free online classes.

This is not a new idea. President Obama attempted to put in some guidelines for free courses as part of his recent education bill, which he attached to the healthcare bill. Congress failed to pass that portion. To counter this, many institutions of higher learning have increased their offerings in order to answer this shortfall. As a result, some students may be able to get a jump-start on their education while they decide what they would like to study or save up for a college degree program.

The first thing one should do obviously, is shop around. Not all colleges are doing this. Further, the ones that are just want to give a student just enough information that they end up going for a degree program. That’s the idea of this campaign, anyway. At the same time, they do offer a potential student a chance to, for lack of a better term, test the water before jumping in.

There’s even a more basic question answered than which courses to take. That is what kind of college a student would want to attend. Free online classes may help decide whether to continue learning online or commute to a brick-and-mortar campus. They can even realize whether they are ready to devote time to this endeavor.

The classic example is the working student who might decide to only take a class or two while they hold down their job. This is a strategy that could keep their academic capabilities sharp until they are ready to take on a full-time course load.

There’s another advantage for the working student. It will make them become more valuable to their employers. Free online courses enable them to keep their skills up-to-date. It also shows their managers that they are able to handle multiple responsibilities.

Now if the student manages to prove all this, the company also might be willing to go the extra mile by helping pay some – or even all of the tuition – for the degree program, particularly if their work output doesn’t suffer. If not, one could consult with the college financial aid officer about various programs out there. They do exist, and some are actually grants and scholarships to boot.

The online colleges benefit, too. These courses reduce a student’s fear about college courses, thus increasing the number of students who obtain an online degree. For everyone involved, distance learning degree programs are a win-win situation.

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