From being the "red headed stepchildren" in the family to being the most up and coming promising members of the family. This is the story of the online colleges. In the beginning, there were many people who looked at the online colleges as nothing more than virtual reality play grounds, where people who wanted to be students went to play and to fantasize about being students in a real college; even to the extent of persuading themselves and attempting to persuade others also that what they were receiving from the online colleges was the equivalent of what they would be receiving were they to be attending one of the more traditional offline colleges.

It has been truly an uphill battle for the online colleges. Not only did they have to break ground in setting up structures online that had only existed offline in the form prestigious institutions of higher academic learning; learning by trial and error how this could best be accomplished; but they had to face the challenges given them by prejudice individuals who looked at even the best of their attempts as little more than some sort of glamorized imitation, a game if you will, not even attempting to find out for themselves if these online colleges were of any real academic value, but simply deciding off hand that they were not and acting and speaking accordingly.

The first online colleges were non accredited entities, as educators who had a true vocational calling to offer the best education possible to those seeking higher educations sought to do so. These slowly evolved into fully accredited online colleges as it was shown, often by testing, that the students who were matriculating through online colleges were more than able to compare favorably in demonstrating what they had learned with the students matriculating through the more traditional offline colleges.

Today we find families taking the same pride in being able to say that certain family members are students at some well known, or even some little known, online colleges as they take in being able to say that certain family members are students at some well known or even little known online colleges. This is as it should be. Online colleges have proven demonstratively their worth and have well earned this sort of respect.

In today's world, potential employers are not inclined to ask where a potential employee got their education but rather what level of education they have received. A degree achieved online which is demons ratable through putting into practice what one has learned is considered every bit as valuable by potential employers as is one which has been achieved off line and is demons ratable through putting into practice what one has learned.

Equality is a wonderful thing. The exact same educational benefits are now available online as off, with classes taught in the online colleges by educators who are every bit as qualified and respected as their offline counterparts. It is important to note that educational opportunities are just that, opportunities. What one gets from a college education, be it offline or online, depends to a large amount what one puts into getting a college education. It is up to the individual. The sky's the limit.