Understanding the Degree

Now, you can head online and just look up the available online degrees in Nevada, but it doesn’t mean that you are getting something of value. Yes, a course outline may have all of the things you are hoping to find, but unless it is offered as one of the accredited online Degree Programs it is not worth the time and expense.

Here’s the thing to know about schools in Nevada (and everywhere else) – unless they are properly accredited by the appropriate agency they are offering degrees with little to no value. For instance, there are some online nursing schools in Nevada but those without accreditation are not actually creating nurses. The same can be said for any of the online bachelors degree programs, online criminal justice programs, online associates degree programs and online Masters degree programs too.

This means you want to be sure that the schools are (1) approved by the Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities, and (2) by any secondary groups associated with the school’s area of specialization such as an IT accreditation, etc.

The Schools Available

Once you have made sure you are enrolling in a program that will have value in terms of the degree and diploma, you can then enroll in your business program. The following schools have online MBA programs available, but they also have a diversity of useful programming outside of this.

Why would this matter? Anyone who is obtaining a master’s in business administration is going to need an ongoing array of additional courses or training. This means that you will want to base your decision on the range of things offered apart from the business studies. In this way, you can continue to enroll in classes, earn further credits, and keep building your educational credentials without applying to a different school or seeking another accredited resource.

The current schools have online MBA degrees available:

• University of Nevada – the Las Vegas and Reno campuses – these two schools have enormous menus of courses available. They provide access to four year programs, but also to the post baccalaureate degree, master’s degree, and doctoral degree, post-master’s certificates, and first professional degrees as well. This is an ideal resource for the business management professional hoping to constantly improve their education outside of their years of formal study; and
• University of Phoenix – this school also begins with the four year degrees and extends the master’s degree in many different programs as well. It has several campuses in the state and can allow students to easily combine online and classroom learning if that is of benefit.

Although the online classes are not considered as limited in terms of space, it is important to accept that many professionals seek degrees in their free time, and this means classes fill up quickly. Be sure to register as soon as possible if you want to get into all of your courses immediately.

Public Administration

One of the top degree options on offer is a bachelor’s of science in public administration. This degree prepares you for a range of different career opportunities, including working with federal government agencies, working with state or local governments and working within the health care administration sector. You’ll find that this online bachelor’s degree program also prepares you for work within the nonprofit sector, and you can learn more about these online bachelor degree programs for Nevada students here:
http://sepa.unlv.edu/programs/bachelorofsciencePA.html

Social Sciences

For those who want to create their own major to match their interests, an online bachelor’s degree in the social sciences can be an excellent choice. You’ll find that these degree programs offer you the ability to study any number of majors, including:

• Anthropology
• Sociology
• History
• Psychology
• Political science
• Women’s studies

To find out more about these online bachelor degree programs for Nevada students, visit:
http://liberalarts.unlv.edu/interdisciplinary/SOCIALSCIENCESTUDIES2.html

Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene

The dental industry offers numerous areas to explore for employment, from being a DDS to specializing in orthodontics. However, there’s no need to spend so many years in school if you don’t really want to be a dentist or oral surgeon. Becoming a dental hygienist offers challenges, the ability to help people care for their oral health and an excellent salary, as well as plenty of job growth. You’ll find that these degree programs allow you to build on your existing associate’s degree in dental care, and you can learn more about these online bachelor degree programs for Nevada students here:
http://www.csn.edu/pages/202.asp

Teaching

For those who want to enter the world of teaching, there are numerous paths available, but earning a bachelor’s degree in education is one of the best options. With this degree, you’ll be prepared for teaching in a wide range of different situations, and can choose from range of specializations and minors, as well. You can also choose from a range of options, including early childhood education, biological sciences, mathematics, physics, science, geoscience and quite a few others. You can learn more about the available online bachelor degree programs for Nevada students here:
http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/tc_state_info/online_teaching_degree_nevada
A host of other online bachelor degrees are available from schools in Nevada, including business administration, nursing degrees, accounting and finance degrees and more. The trick is to ensure that you are choosing a quality school that’s accredited and has a history of providing their students with an excellent education.

The Large Public System

The accrediting agency in the state of Nevada is the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. It has the Nevada System of Higher Education under its umbrella too, and this is a group that has seven large member institutions that ALL offer fully accredited distance or online learning programs and courses.

This is a relatively high number of schools providing online degree programs, and especially when you consider that the state’s population stands at around 2.7 million in total. In Nevada the population is actually not spread out evenly across the millions of acres that make up the state. Instead, around 85% of the people live in or around Reno and Las Vegas. The remainder of the population is then spread out into areas like Lake Tahoe and even in some of the large tracts of agricultural space too.

Why do we mention this? Because it shows the benefits of going to an online school in Nevada – if most of the people live in the two largest cities it would mean that most of the “brick and mortar” colleges are there too. This prevents some inhabitants from being able to easily or conveniently attend school, BUT since seven major state schools have online programming it makes it a great bonus!

The Diverse Programming

Another of the benefits of attending online colleges in Nevada is the fact that they have so many programs available. For example, there are online associates degrees, online bachelor’s degrees, and online master’s degrees available. There are schools with online nursing programs, online teaching degrees, and online criminal justice programs too. If you can think of nearly any academic specialization, the online degree programs in Nevada can probably help to get the person qualified for a career.

We did mention accrediting above, and that too is a benefit of the Nevada online colleges. This is because the system uses the single accrediting agency and then also has specialty boards and groups that ensure all is “up to par”. For instance, the online nursing degrees are certified and approved by the Nevada Nursing Board as well as the school’s being accredited by the NWCCU.

This means that anyone interested in relocating to Nevada will be able to also get the kind of education they need to obtain one of the top jobs while living in the state. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics points out that the state’s unemployment rate will decline and that employment will increase by around one percent in the coming year. The group also points out that IT, healthcare, entertainment, business, and retail are among the most active industries. This means that someone could enroll in one of the large online colleges in Nevada in order to get the training necessary for the top jobs, and then instantly shift from student to full time laborer without struggling to find an opening.

What is Accreditation?

So, the first part of the entire process is to choose schools with the appropriate health service degree programs online. The thing about that is that the school has to have all of the necessary accreditation or else the degree work could be of no value whatsoever.

We suggest first looking into the schools offering health services degrees and ultrasound-sonography degrees, and then double checking their accreditation with Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, since this is the primary group assigned the task of doing the full assessments and approvals on all schools.

The Online Degrees in Nevada

Once you understand what is required you can look at public or private colleges, online bachelors degree programs, online nursing schools in Kansas, and any relevant certification programs that can help you get training and skills.

Although this might feel like a scattered or indirect approach to an education, remember what the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics says: “for entry into the field of diagnostic medical sonography… train in hospitals, vocational-technical institutions, colleges or universities, or the Armed Forces…Colleges and universities offer formal training in both 2-year and 4-year programs, resulting in either an associate or a bachelor’s degree. Two-year programs are the most prevalent.”

Right here you may have had an “aha!” moment because it means that you might begin the search by looking at the online Nevada schools with online associates degree programs in addition to the super-advanced online masters degree programs as well.

Schools in Nevada

So, how do you actually start assessing schools? The approach we would recommend is to ensure that the curriculum in the school’s health services courses will include everything from anatomy and patient care to basic physics and training in instrumentation; as these are only a few of the skills needed by practitioners in the ultrasound-sonography field. After that you can explore the programs related to your chosen area of specialization.

Though there are literally dozens of schools offering nursing and medically related degrees to online students, currently there is only a single school with an ultrasound specialization:

• College of Southern Nevada – this has Associate of Applied Science in Diagnostic Medical Sonography – Cardiac/Vascular Ultrasound Track, or the Associate of Applied Science in Diagnostic Medical Sonography – General/Vascular Ultrasound Track

Understanding Accreditation and Online Degrees in Nevada

In the last paragraph above we mentioned that you will want an “accredited” school or program. A lot of people are not exactly clear on the reasons behind the need for accreditation of online Degree Programs, but it is fairly simple to explain.

Unless you are studying and obtaining credit from a program that has been professionally assessed and approved by the necessary agency, the credits or degrees you receive are not valid. No employer can feasibly give you a job as an OT, PT or other certified staff member unless your education is backed up by accreditation.

In Nevada it is the following groups that offer accreditation of public, private, and non-profit degree programs (whether online or at “brick and mortar” institutions):

• The Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools;
• The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges;
• The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training;
• The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools;
• The Council on Occupational Education;
• The Distance Education and Training Council, Accrediting Commission; or
• The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

This means that you’ll want to develop your plans by first identifying the strongest career and subsequent area of study, and then finding out which of the online schools in Nevada has a suitable program to pursue.

The Top Schools

We suggest that anyone hoping to obtain an online master’s degree, whether it is from one of the online nursing schools in Nevada or from one of the online criminal justice programs, consider the following schools. (This list includes private, public, and both the profit and non-profit locations)

• Sierra Nevada College – one of the seven schools accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, this offers four year and master’s Degrees through their online options;
• Touro University Nevada – this is a private and non-profit school that has everything from two year certificates to doctoral degrees with professional practice certifications;
• University of Nevada – Las Vegas, Northern Nevada and Reno campuses – a four year school with many six year (master’s degree) programs too; and
• University of Southern Nevada – this operates as a private and non-profit school with bachelor’s through doctoral programs.

Remember to do the “leg work” before enrolling because you will want to know what is necessary for your chosen field. Because 85% of the state’s residents live in the areas around Reno and Las Vegas, you may find that even the online courses fill quickly. Because of that we suggest you make advance plans and enroll in your online degree program as soon as possible.

• The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities;
• The Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools;
• The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges;
• The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training;
• The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools;
• The Council on Occupational Education; or
• The Distance Education and Training Council, Accrediting Commission.

It doesn’t matter if you are pursuing only a certificate program or something as technical as one of the online Masters degree programs, if the school has not received the kind of validation that comes from accreditation, your work may all be in vain.
The Schools
The state has a large array of schools that range from online nursing schools in Nevada to online criminal justice programs and online bachelors degree programs. One of the best “first steps” you might do is to pursue one the online associates degree programs that will give you the proverbial “foot in the door” in terms of a “top career”.

The most popular places for associates degrees are the schools under the auspices of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. These are all public colleges, and they include:

• College of Southern Nevada – offering associates and bachelors programs;
• Great Basin College – primarily focusing on associate’s degrees and certificates (though bachelor’s programs are available);
• Nevada State College – this is a four year school with some options for those gathering credits towards an associate’s degree;
• Truckee Meadows Community College – focusing mostly on associate’s degrees, but also making certificates available;
• University of Nevada – Las Vegas – a four year school with classes that can be used towards a two-year program in an accredited college;
• University of Nevada – Reno – offering bachelor’s through doctoral degrees, and even some online MBA programs; this is a good option for anyone seeking to stockpile credits towards any degree; and
• Western Nevada College – this offers mostly associate’s degrees, but does have some four year programs as well.

Accreditation of an Online School in Nevada

All profit, non-profit, public and private collages need to be accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Also, some colleges with a technological focus will have alternative accreditation, but the primary factor is that all schools must have accreditation for any online degrees in Nevada to be of use to the student and professional psychologist.

This is not a burden placed only on psychology students, for example. If you were a student in one of the online nursing schools in Nevada and it did not have acceptance from the accrediting agency and nursing board, then you could not work as a nurse upon completion of the degree work. The same thing applies to the online associates degree programs, online bachelors degree programs, online masters degree programs, and even the online criminal justice programs which are directly related to the field of psychology as well

The Schools to Choose

We have provided a short list of the recommended and accredited online schools in Nevada for those interested in working in any area of psychology professionally.

• College of Southern Nevada – this school offers an associate’s degree online as well as majors in a range of psychological studies;
• Nevada State College – this accredited program offers bachelor’s degrees in an impressive range of specialization. From the “abnormal” to the “social” a student can really focus on a chosen area;
• Sierra Nevada College – this school offers a bachelor of arts in psychology; and
• University of Nevada – they have a bachelor’s in psychology, certificates in many focal areas that include addiction and rehab, doctoral study programs, educational specialist training, and a master of science degree in a range of focal areas as well.

Because around 85% of the state’s residents live in the Reno and Las Vegas areas, the classes at the large universities might fill quickly. This issue is intensified by the fact that fewer than ten of the state’s colleges and universities have accredited programs available to online learners.

We suggest that you make a very detailed plan for study and then begin registering for classes well ahead of schedule. This guarantees a seat, even in the online courses, but it also gives you a good idea of when you will complete the course work and obtain the degree. We also suggest that you explore your financial aid needs ahead of time too as this could become an issue that impacts the course of studies as well.

The professional outlook, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicates that psychologists of all kinds will easily find work and employment in Nevada. The anticipated earnings for a mid-level professional are expected to be roughly $70k per year, and this means that any of the online psychology degrees in Nevada are going to be very lucrative and rewarding.

Finding the Right Online Schools in Nevada

Before we start listing the places that you can get a degree, we need to discuss a few other issues. These include:

• Accreditation;
• Programs; and
• Alternatives.

Accredited schools include the many online colleges in Nevada, but only if they have been fully reviewed and accepted by the appropriate agencies. Yes, there are many ways to get online degrees in Nevada, but if the school has no official approval from an accrediting group, it means that your diploma may just be a nice piece of paper. This is especially true where nursing is concerned.

So, you have to be sure that your college and any online Degree Programs are approved by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities AND that the program has been approved by the Nevada State Board of Nursing too.

The Many Online Degrees in Nevada

Remember that nursing programs can be simple and limited to the role of a nursing “aide” or they can be business oriented and come from one of the online MBA programs. If you are interested in a “hands on” nursing career, however, you need to begin with one of the online bachelors degree programs. Currently, these include:

• University of Nevada, Las Vegas – School of Nursing  – offering the online bachelor’s degree as well as the online Masters degree programs and the PhD too;
• University of Nevada, Reno – Orvis School of Nursing – complete degree work through post-masters certification;
• College of Southern Nevada – RN Program or the LPN Program – this school also has online associates degree programs for those interested in applied sciences or certifications and refreshers;
• Great Basin College – this school offers the associate’s degree;
• Nevada State College – Nursing Program – providing full and part time studies, fast track studies and more;
• Truckee Meadows Community College – Nursing Program – this school offers the associate’s degree;
• University of Southern Nevada – providing the bachelor’s degree plus the accelerated studies programming too; and
• Western Nevada College – Nursing Program – offering the associates degree programs in nursing too.

Clearly, you have many choices. It all begins with what you want to do with the training. For instance, it is similar to those opting for online criminal justice programs. It is a matter of how far you want to go in terms of your “official” capacities. If you want to remain as an aide, you can begin with an associate’s program, but if you want autonomy and to be a full-fledged RN, we suggest the bachelor’s and master’s programs.

Selecting Your School

You may have already started checking out the online colleges of Nevada, and exploring which offer the online degree programs in your anticipated area of specialization. Have you also discovered the need for accreditation as well? Before you sign up and hand over payment, be sure that the schools with online associates degree programs, online bachelors degree programs, or online masters degree programs are also properly approved and accredited.

The accreditation of a school is essential for giving your degree any sort of practical and applicable value. For Nevada it is the Nevada Department of Public Safety and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities that is responsible for reviewing and approving online degree programs.

You also want to explore the expansiveness of the offerings at any particular school. While you may be seeking only an associate’s degree, it is quite likely that you will want an advanced degree in the future. You can cut down on future research by working with a school that has a lot of degree options in criminal justice.

Online Degrees in Nevada

What are the online degree programs at the accredited schools in Nevada? Well, there are so many that we can only give you a summary listing below (in alphabetical order):

• Career College of Northern Nevada – offering an associate’s in paralegal studies;
• Carrington College – offering an associate’s in paralegal studies;
• College of Southern Nevada – offering an enormous list of choices that include all kinds of associate’s programs, and even certificate programs online;
• Everest College – providing associate’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice;
• Great Basin College – offering up several associate’s degree programs;
• Nevada State College – providing only bachelor degrees and higher;
• Truckee Meadows Community College – this is a location with a long list of associate’s programs and certificates relating to criminal justice;
• University of Nevada – offering everything from the bachelor’s to the master’s degrees; and
• Western Nevada College – providing associate’s degrees and certificate programs.

As already stated, we suggest that you consider your entire career path and work with a school that will give you more than just the fundamentals and/or basics. While an associate’s degree is always going to be the essential first step, it is an advanced degree that really gets a career moving.

This is why we made sure to identify the schools that had everything from associates and certificates to the master’s degree options. Be sure that you explore the many facets of your area of specialization within criminal justice because you may benefit from courses that do not seem related. For instance, psychology and business management certificates are often very useful to those working in the criminal justice field. Thus, it is imperative to determine what the continuing education options are at your college or university of choice.

Accreditation Explained

We just used the word accreditation, and this is something that is an absolute essential if you are speaking about a teaching degree in Nevada. Accreditation is something done to all schools, and if they are assessed and approved by the accrediting agency their students have diplomas, certificates and degrees that will be accepted everywhere. If the school is without accreditation it is the same as saying that the diploma is without value.

So, you can scour the Internet for schools offering online teaching degrees, but it is only those with recognition by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) that matter.

Selecting the School

Once you find accredited schools with online degrees in Nevada, you can then take the time to determine if they also have teacher certification programs. Further narrow this list down by specialization and by checking that they make fully Online Degree Programs for those pursuing teacher certification.

So, if you are hoping to become a history teacher you could explore the accredited colleges with an online bachelors degree program (or even the Online Masters degree programs if you already have some college degree work completed) and then see what steps would be necessary to get the certification.

For the most part, the process involves the degree, the teacher education program, some state mandating testing about school laws and the state and national Constitutions, and the Praxis tests done by all teachers in the nation. (Degree program counselors will review these requirements with you at the time of enrollment)

Colleges with Approved Programs

This means that you need only choose a college that has online learning opportunities AND which has a teaching certification program in place. Currently that list includes the following accredited online colleges in Nevada:

• College of Southern Nevada
• Nevada State College
• Sierra Nevada College;
• Touro University Nevada;
• University of Nevada – Las Vegas, Northern Nevada and Reno campuses;
• University of Southern Nevada; and
• Western Nevada College.

These are all public and accredited. This does not mean that it is super-easy to get a place in the classes because the online venue is quite popular. The first step is to determine the online degree programs that are a match to your needs and interests. Then you will have to choose the approach necessary for your teacher training and certification. A good plan for study and testing is necessary, and you will want to work with counselors to be sure that your practical experience (meaning actual classroom time) is also planned well ahead of schedule as well since this is a mandatory part of teacher training in Nevada.