Just because you’re going to school online doesn’t mean that you education comes cheap. Although you’ll save money in some respects, since your tuition won’t need to help pay for facilities, online degree programs can still be costly. Luckily, if you go to an accredited online school, you’ll qualify for a number of financial aid programs.

Online of the best types of financial aid for students is the scholarships. Scholarships are based on merit, rather than need, and can be awarded based on your grades, SAT/ACT scores, community service, sports skills, talents in the arts, and other special skills or achievements. Some scholarships are awarded based on an essay that applicants write, while others are awarded simply on credentials, such as your high school transcripts. Scholarships can also be based on things like your location, your race, your sex, your heritage, and your family’s activities in the military.

The best part about scholarships is that you don’t have to repay them after you graduate, like you’ll find with most student loans. So, essentially, this is free money for college. If offered by a business, you may be required to take a job offered by that company after you graduate (this is especially common in medical fields), so make sure you read the requirements of the scholarship fully.

Prior to 2006, federal scholarship programs weren’t available to online undergraduate degree students unless they completed at least 50% of their education on a campus. Times have changed, and with more and more students interested in distant learning, that law has been repealed. If you go to college online, you’re eligible along with traditional students, as long as the program of study that you choose is with an accredited college. Students.gov is a good place to get started looking for federal scholarships, as well as grant programs.

Many online degrees programs offer scholarship directly to students. Most colleges, even if they are online, have financial aid departments. By talking to the people in this office, you can learn about scholarships available from your school of choice. There may also be scholarships available specially for your degree program. According to studies, the most popular online degree fields of study are business, health care, education, and engineering, but you can also go to school online for a number of other degrees, including those in art and design, computer sciences, culinary, legal, liberal arts, nursing, and trade industries. There are few undergraduate programs available on campuses that aren’t also available somewhere online.

As a general rule of thumb, as long as your college is accredited, you’ll qualify for any scholarship you find, even if it isn’t specially for online degree students. Before taking the time to fill out the application, especially if they ask you to write an essay, call or email the scholarship committee to make sure that you’re eligible for the funds. Some scholarships are old-fashioned and don’t allow online students to apply, but this is becoming increasingly rare.

Obtaining an undergraduate degree, either an associate's or a bachelor's, from an accredited college or university will open many doors to new and lucrative careers. The following schools offer undegrad degree programs across a wide array of subjects, including business, education, healthcare, art, and more.

Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees	Kaplan University — Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's Degrees. Kaplan University enjoys a good repuation as one of the largest accredited online undergraduate universities in the country. Degrees from Kaplan are available in a wide variety of fields, ranging from nursing to business to technology, and more.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees	Ashford University — Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's Degrees. Ashford's low cost coupled with their reputation for easy credit transfer makes them one of the top online undergraduate colleges available to students in the United States. Their online classes are available 24 hours a day and allow students to work at their own pace, ideal for busy professionals looking to earn a degree.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	University of Phoenix — Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate Degrees. The University of Phoenix is the largest private university in the United States, with almost 200 campus-based locations in addition to an enormous online presence. Simply put, Phoenix has become synonymous with top quality online undergraduate degrees.
Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	Walden University — Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD Degrees. Offering accredited online degree programs in criminal justice, science, business, health, nursing, and more, Walden University is an ideal candidate for any working professional looking to advance his/her career to the next level.
Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	Boston University — Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral Degrees. Boston University was founded in 1839, making it one of the oldest colleges that offers degree programs online. Its total enrollment of over 31,000 students makes it one of the largest private universities in the United States.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees	DeVry University — Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's Degrees. With nearly 100 campuses worldwide, DeVry University is well known as a leader in the online education industry, offering courses of study in numerous programs, including business, science, and the liberal arts.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees	Post University — Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's Degrees. With more than a century of educational know-how at its fingertips, Post University's online degree programs utilize more than 90 undergraduate and graduate faculty members. Faculty is trained both in academia and real-world, practical setting, and is made up off "committed teachers, experienced practitioners, and distinguished scholars."
Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	University of Liverpool — Master's and Doctorate Degrees. The University of Liverpool was founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool. On the cutting edge from the beginning, in 1894 professor Oliver Lodge made the world's first public radio transmission and two years later took the first surgical X-ray in the United Kingdom.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	University of Massachusetts — Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD Degrees. Founded in 1863, this public university with a total five-campus and online enrollment of more than 63,000 students annually, the University of Massachusetts has been able to expand the disciplines its best-known for (liberal arts, education, business, nursing, public health and information technology) through its online program.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	Liberty University — Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD Degrees. Established by the late Reverend Jerry Falwel in 1971 as Lynchburg Christian Academy, Liberty University is the largest undergraduate evangelical Christian university in the United States. It's motto: "Training Champions for Christ."
Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	Grand Canyon University — Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate Degrees. Grand Canyon University is a small, nondenominational Christian university located in Phoenix. GCU offers both online- and campus-based undergraduate degree programs in business, education, nursing, entrepreneurships, and liberal arts. GCU also boasts an NCAA Division II athletic programs.
Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	Capella University — Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate Degrees. Capella University boasts an online study enrollment of over 25,000 professional adults. At Capella, you can pursue a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate degree program.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees	American InterContinental University — Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's Degrees. American InterContinental University has campus presences in California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and abroad. AIU Online is an extension of the university's campus-based undegraduate degree programs, brought to the student through the convenience of self-paced learning via the Internet.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees	Strayer University — Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's Degrees. Strayer University Online offers a low-cost online learning education from an accredited undergraduate university. The faculty and staff at Strayer bring life to the online curricula, enriching students with exceptional education at unparalleled value.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctoral Degrees	Colorado Technical University — Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD Degrees. At Colorado Technical University, students receive a personal commitment to learn advanced topics in technology and engineering during their focused undergraduate and advanced degree programs. Graduates are able to achieve success in a variety of technology industries.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees	Rasmussen College — Associate's and Bachelor's Degrees. When developing its online model, Rasmussen College took the idea of small in-person class sizes online. Online program courses range between 15 and 30 students each, with students receiving direct personal attention from instructors and advisors, as well as closer interaction with fellow students.
Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctorate's Degrees	DeVry University — Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate's Degrees. South University is one of the nation's leading providers of online college education with several programs in its course catalog. These degrees are powered by career-oriented curriculum and hands-on assignments. SU is committed to helping students succeed in lucrative fields and apply their education to doing what they are passionate about.
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