Paid Review: Online Design Degrees

I have been asked to write a review for Online Design Degrees, specifically online graphic design degrees at EarnMyDegree.com. From what I can tell, EarnMyDegree is an online portal or hub that provides information about degrees and online degree programs. You can read about the programs and request to receive free information about each one.

I say “from what I can tell” because this wasn’t immediately obvious to me when I first saw the site. It took me a day to mull over the clues I had gathered and decide what this site actually was. For a while I was convinced it was an online college. This was partly due to the fact that I started from an internal page, which doesn’t have the more straightforward explanation that the front page has. Maybe that’s a flaw (and I am guilty of this too); a site should describe itself clearly throughout, so people starting from an internal page know where they are.

I also want to mention that I think the information organization of this site could be improved. On the same page with graphic design degree programs, there is this list of careers one can pursue with a graphic design degree:

I don’t understand why a fluid layout would have such a narrow, fixed-size list like this. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the design and it’s a very poor use of space. I also think that in some areas, the text lacks spacing, such as in the boxes under “Select a Graphic Design Degree.” Finally, on this page for Online Certificates in Graphic Design, the last two breadcrumbs are redundant and the links to get information are launched with Javascript, which is not a good way to handle links.

But aside from these flaws, it’s a very good idea to have a place where people can find information about online degree programs. It turns out there are more colleges than I thought that offer online degrees, and if I am ever in the market for one, I would definitely use a site like this to help me find the right program. In my own experience, however, the past 4 years of college have been enough for me, and I’m enjoying my break. College is such a PITA. And that’s not Greek.