A recent in-depth study from Sloan Consortium, a group supporting online education, revealed that online learning can be just as good as, perhaps even better than, a traditional classroom based degree.

The study revealed that 57% of academic leaders believed that learning outcomes for online education match or exceed those of classroom instruction. Many experts point to the growth of the internet and technology for bringing online learning to such a positive threshold.

One major advantage of online courses is the ability to create more powerful discussion formats. Whereas in class a student is forced to answer a professor's question immediately, online learning allows students to research a specific issue, then have an online chat room format discussion with other class members. In addition, students can post a response which in turn leads another potential student to do further research, etc. The depth of such ongoing class dialogues allows online learning to be potentially more comprehensive than traditional classroom formats.

The online degree option was not always seen in such a positive light. Human Resource professionals state that just ten years ago online degrees were not looked upon as being as in depth as face-to-face classroom options.