(NAPSA)—In an economythat forces companies to scrutinize every investment and expenditure, employees are looking for ways to increase or maintain their value to their employer. Career experts agree that the value of an employee to a company increases as the employee’s knowledge and skills increase. This is the case whether looking to advance within your current company or competing in the job market. Faced with the increased challenges to stay current, knowledgeable and marketable, self-improvement becomes more than an option, but an essential element of your careerstrategy. The first place to look when evaluating your career strategy is to determine if additional education is a way to increase your professional value. An interesting statistic, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, is that adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, on average, earn 75 percent more than workers with no education beyond a high school diploma. Once you have decided that a degree or an advanced degree would be beneficial, you must decide how best to achieve your education goal. This is no easy matter. Most employees are time constrained with business, family and personalobligations. For busy working adults, a traditional university or college expe- rience, is simply unrealistic. A good alternative for working adults is an online learning envi- Online universities offer a real- istic learning option for people with business, family and personal obligations. ronment. But once again, employees should closely look at the quality of that online experience. One of the largest and most well known online learning institutions is the University of Phoenix Online. Fully accredited, and with more than 34,000 students cur- rently enrolled, University of Phoenix Online developed a course calendar that coincides with an adult pace and lifestyle. The online course calendar allows them to complete an undergraduate degree in three to four years, and a graduate degree in about two years, while they continue to hold down jobs and raise families. Provided with this flexible and convenient access to educational advancement, many individuals are recognizing a window of opportunity to improve their lives andcareers. For more information on online education, visit http://online. uopx.edu/benefit, or call 1-800796-3791.
