Is Studying a Postgrad Degree by Distance Learning Really Cheaper?
There is no denying that Distance Learning is a great way to study a postgraduate degree. You’re not tied to one location, there is no need to travel and you can study at your own pace, amongst many other benefits. One such benefit, which is often thrown around is that it can be cheaper. We’re not entirely convinced, so we looked past the headlines and focussed on the facts.
Accommodation
Deciding where to live as a student and calculating living costs can be tricky, especially when it comes to distance learning at postgrad level. In fact, when discussing the ideas and research for this article here at Coursefindr HQ, it became quite a contentious issue. The more naive members of the team confidently proclaimed that postgrad study via distance learning would be cheaper because you would be studying at home with parents, however not everybody has that luxury. You may have already moved out of your parents house, you may be in your marital home, you may even be in a retirement home. Either way, the fact remains the same; you’ll still have to pay rent.
Whether you’re studying via distance learning or on a full-time course, you need to live somewhere
If you do opt to move, and live near to your university you are likely to find yourself living with others in shared accommodation. You’ll probably have the luxury of choosing from a larger selection of property as letting agents will usually classify mature, postgrad students in the same way as young professionals, but the fact still remains, you’ll have a bill each month titled ‘rent’.
Whilst this could in fact work out cheaper than living at home if your family charge you an arm and a leg for board, it will still be an outgoing that you have to consider. Whether you’re studying via distance learning or on a full-time course, you need to live somewhere, so you can’t use that as an argument for distance learning being cheaper.
Of course, you could argue that you may continue to live where you currently do, but choose to study remotely at a university in a location which is more expensive to live in. In this instance, your rent would be cheaper. You could even maximise your savings by moving to the north of the UK which is traditionally more affordable (source). On the whole, studying via distance learning won’t automatically make your rental outgoings any smaller.
Tuition Fees
In years gone by, you may have found studying by distance learning was always the cheaper option, but since the delivery methods and course content has improved, so too has the popularity of distance learning courses. As such, universities have smartened up and very often the prices of distance learning degrees are now very similar to their full- and part-time counterparts.
Whilst certain courses may appear cheaper than others, it is worth checking them against the like-for-like full-time course an institution offers as prices do vary between courses and universities.
Working whilst Studying
With a distance learning degree, you’re often free to study in your own time, and at your own pace. Of course, there will still be deadlines, but because you don’t have to be in that lecture at 11am, it means you could, in theory, continue in your current job whilst studying. This is a big decision to make though, as it is a real commitment – certainly not a choice you should make after a bottle of wine and a night of dancing.
Seriously, it is a big undertaking; you won’t want to let your work impact your studies, but at the same time you can’t afford your studies to have a detrimental effect on your work. Your boss would not be happy, especially if you’re studying a course in order to get their job!
Study Materials
For us, this was the decider. This ‘little’ unseen fee can in fact make distance learning courses more expensive. Disregarding the benefits of being able to work whilst studying, or the potential savings in rent, it’s easy to forget that studying involves a lot of reading and researching. Whilst the workbooks that you will need in order to complete the course should be provided in the fee, some textbooks and journals aren’t always included.
Textbooks and other frequently referred to content will be needed too often to rent from your local library, and invariably you will not receive them in the tuition cost. Textbooks can be really expensive, so if you need different ones for each module, the costs can mount up. This is the same for journals which you wouldn’t want to buy as you only need them for the odd piece of work. Nonetheless, you still need them, so you will need to go to a library (or travel to a larger library further away) or register to get these online.
Some universities will have extra provisions, or maybe even an online library you can access from home, although watch out for eye strain! Reading the complete works of that well-known academic is a test in itself, let alone doing it on a computer screen. Questions about university provisions are definitely something you should ask before enrolling, because if you still have to buy all the key readings, you could start to wave goodbye to any potential savings you’d make.
Whilst it certainly offers far greater flexibility, studying via distance learning may not be the cheapest option after all. Each university will vary in price, so as with all postgraduate decisions, it’s worth doing your own research; contact the institutions you are interested in and read their course literature carefully. Get your calculator out, make some provisional sums, then make a mature decision – and cry if you don’t get what you want.
All that being said, postgraduate study is an amazing experience, and if you’ve come this far, chances are you are serious about taking your education further. You just need to make sure you understand what you’re signing up for before agreeing to pay any fees, as the last thing you want is for your postgrad experience to be tainted by money issues.