Welcome to Tuesday Tour Day on BackToLearn.com. Each Tuesday we’ll bring you a different education opportunity to consider for your back to school experience.

Today we look at Rochester Institute of Technology—Part-time Undergraduate Studies

Career-focused. Specialized. Technologically-based. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a respected, internationally renowned private, coeducational university enrolling more than 16,500 students.  More than 65 of the University’s 200 undergraduate programs can be taken on a part-time basis.

A degree from RIT comes with certain perks. Greater earning potential in growing fields, the support and experience of accomplished professionals with real-world connections, and a world-class reputation that earns immediate respect from employers around the world. Our full-time job is making it easier for part-time students.

RIT offers programs from our main campus in Rochester, N.Y. and around the world through the convenience of online learning. Traditional classroom courses are offered to meet your working schedule: evenings, Saturdays, and days.

Our convenient quarter calendar means our classes last only 11 weeks, offering the opportunity to take classes four times each year — beginning in September, December, March and June.

A part-time certificate or degree from RIT is worth more and impacts your earning power for years to come. You’re prepared to step into the better-paying, high-demand positions in today’s hottest, most lucrative fields. So as you grow, so will your paycheck.

>>To learn more about RIT, view their programs and to request information, click here!

Then consider a future in the cosmetology industry.

Note that each state has different licensing requirements for beauty-related careers.

A career in cosmetology provides flexible hours and locations and may include work in hair care, skin care, nails and makeup.

Now’s a good time to pursue a cosmetology career—the need for salon professionals is increasing. It’s also a great business if you are entrepreneurial. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also notes that about 44 percent of workers in the personal appearance industry are self-employed!

Some career ideas (and their average earnings, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) include:
* Theater makeup artist ($12.63/hour)
* Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists ($11.13/hour)

Start your search for beauty-related college programs here!

Airports provide a wealth of diverse and interesting jobs. Careers can be found in security, maintenance, or take to the skies as a pilot. Most civilian aircraft maintenance workers earn their credentials through a FAA-certified program. Many have worked on avionics in the past for manufacturers or in the military.

Often, pilots also have related military experience and have also earned a college degree.

If you’re a vet looking for a second career, or an adult learner looking for an interesting job choice, then check out aviation programs!

Start your search for a career in aviation here.

Let’s see…there’s the commute (5 seconds), wardrobe flexibility (bathrobe OK), class schedule (work school around work) and ever-growing acceptability in the workplace.

Are you thinking about an online degree? What’s holding you back? Or if you’re already in a program, what are the benefits and challenges of learning online? Share!

So when you’re looking at colleges, don’t fixate on the prestige of the college name.

High school students particularly focus on the brand name of the college. They don’t want to have to explain to family and friends why they’ve chosen a particular school or major, or what they’re going to do with their degree afterwards.

They just want people to “get it.”

As an adult learner, you, too, want people to just “get it.” You don’t want to have to explain why you chose a particular program, nor why you chose a particular college.

But that doesn’t mean you must attend a national university or prestigious college.

Take a minute and think of the people you meet on a regular basis. How many of them went to an Ivy League college? How many of them went to a college you’ve even heard of? Better yet, how many people do you meet and never even learn which college they attended?

Exactly.

Instead of focusing on the name of a college, consider these other questions:
- Will the credential help you further your career?
- How will you manage childcare while attending classes?
- What kind of online course or degree programs are available in the field?
- How will you pay back the debt you might incur?
- What is your ultimate goal in earning a degree?
- What is the best college choice for you?

Remember, it’s not where you get your degree that counts; it’s what you do with it. And that goes for high school students and adult learners alike!

“Now, they’re regarded in much the same way of degrees that are earned in a more traditional way,” says Don DeVito, Campus Director for Rasmussen College Online.
“Most recent surveys indicate that, if anything, online education is starting to get as much acceptance—if not more in some cases, in terms of the academic rigor—as a more traditional path.”

“A lot of employers don’t make a distinction between the two.”

Here are some more tips from DeVito:
* Be prepared to participate as an online student. Typically, online classes require students to contribute to online discussions. There’s no hiding in the back of a classroom.

* Determine if you can motivate yourself to stay on task, or if you need the drive of being around other students and the structure of an on-campus experience.

* Get support from others around you, such as your spouse and children. You’re going to need those people to be actively supportive and understanding of your goals and responsibilities.

* Have a clear idea of what you want to get out of whatever program you choose.

Ready to learn more? Search for a program at BackToLearn.com.

Think again.

According to one researcher, in 2006, 1.5 million students pursued a degrees completely online in 2006. And that number’s only expected to grow!

Are you a good candidate for an online degree? Take our quiz here.

But after reading through WhatWillTheyLearn.com—A guide to what college rankings don’t tell you, I’m wondering if I did myself a disservice… (Although, on the math front, I’m thinking no.)

The folks at WhatWillTheyLearn.com graded colleges based on, among other things, the classes they require for students to earn a degree. They frown upon colleges letting students, for example, fulfill a math requirement with a music class.

They do have a point.

I really wish I’d taken a class to learn more about the Constitution and how government works instead of fulfilling a college history requirement with “The history of science.” Not that there’s not a place for the history of science—just that the other kind of knowledge might have served me better in my everyday life.

Sure, much of a student’s course selection is up to the student. But maybe this report teaches us to embrace the opportunities for classic education. And to change your attitude when you have to pass, say, a seemingly random history class on your way to a degree.

Check out this excerpt from WhatWillTheyLearn.com:
“…We evaluate whether major colleges and universities require seven key subjects: English composition, literature, foreign language, U.S. government or history, economics, mathematics, and science.

What we found is alarming. …Topics like U.S. government or history, literature, mathematics, and economics have become mere options on far too many campuses. Not surprisingly, students are graduating with great gaps in their knowledge—and employers are noticing. If not remedied, this will have significant consequences for U.S. competiveness and innovation.”

(Tragic: They misspelled “competitiveness”. Oh, the irony.)

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s Tour Day here at the Best Adult Education Blog. Today’s featured school is the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Here are some highlights:

* Check out RIT’s Center for Multidisciplinary Studies (CMS), which allows students to combine their varied interests into one degree program.

* RIT has been around since 1829!

* Rochester is New York state’s third-largest city.

* RIT’s classes operate on a quarter—not semester—basis. This means that classes are only 11 weeks long.

* The most recent PayScale College Salary Report states that the median starting salary for a recent RIT graduate is $51,000, while the mid-career median salary is $82,000.

* Interesting majors include medical illustration, urban studies/planning, American Sign Language, and game art & development.

Good luck in your research!

Traditional college courses: Led by instructors, are delivered online, requiring students to attend at prescribed times and sometimes requiring group projects. School terms are generally divided into traditional semesters or quarters, and students may only start work on their degrees at the beginning of these terms. Students earn credit for time spent in class and completion of assignments, projects, and tests.

Competency-based programs: Provide students with learning resources in degree subject matter, allowing students to study and learn on their own schedules, advancing in their degrees as they demonstrate mastery of the content through tests and other assessments rather than simply spending time in class.

Combined online/traditional programs: Require students to attend class both online and in person.

BackToLearn.com’s college search tool includes both online and on-campus programs. Which will you choose?