Thanks to the online education revolution, students from anywhere in the country are able to attend hundreds of different universities and their courses from the comfort of their living rooms. For the 7 million students who are taking online courses, there’s never been a better time to think even bigger and broaden their horizons by attending courses at international schools. For students interested in history, furthermore, studying at an international school gives you the ability to learn from experts that you might never be able to find in the US. What are some of the best history programs for studying abroad as an online student?
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Rated as one of the top e-learning institutions in the entire world by the Financial Times, the University of Liverpool offers international students 41 different distance learning subjects including history, geography, and political science. UL is one of the UK’s Russel Group schools, one of the most prominent collections of high-profile research institutions in the country. While UL has high standards for admissions, they also have some of the most valuable degrees you’ll be able to find online, especially for graduate programs — UL grads have the second-highest salary of any northern UK school. Students will need to pass an IELTS language test to ensure they have the proficiency in the English language for study.
Steinbeis University Berlin, Germany
Famous for their world-renowned MBA program, Steinbeis University Berlin has undergraduate and graduate history courses that can be taken in tandem with courses from other schools. German higher education is slightly different from American higher education: students will need to focus on either on straight-forward education or on research, as best benefits their academic strengths. What’s more, attendance (even online attendance) is mandatory and students who miss a class are not permitted to take the final examination at the end of the semester. The good news is that students accepted to Steinbeis University Berlin will receive very low tuition fees because German universities are subsidies by the government; a single semester may cost just 500 Euros (about $600). Students do not necessarily need any proficiency in German to take history classes, as many of the international courses are taught in English.
Thompson Rivers University, Canada
The British Columbia-based university features online programs as a complement to their well-rounded history degree coursework, featuring nearly as many students taking online courses as taking on-campus classes. You may not necessarily be able to complete an entire history degree through online courses at TRU, but you are able to connect with the history faculty members to plan out classes that you can complete and then transfer to another school. TRU also features online certificate programs, so international students who are interested in a certification in addition to their degree studies can complete it online.
Deakin University, Australia
Australian universities offer general degrees in arts and/or humanities as a complement or replacement for a specific degree. At Deakin University in Australia, students are able to spend the first two years of their e-studies picking and choosing the courses that they find the most interesting and then proceeding to commit to a major. This makes it easy for international students to browse the courses available and decide which would be helpful — either as a complete degree or as credits they can transfer to another school. Deakin makes it possible to complete a degree entirely online, since students enrolled in the online program complete the same classes as on-campus students, without needing to physically be in the classroom itself.
Online University of Finland, Finland
As the name suggests, the Online University of Finland is the flagship e-learning institute of this Scandinavian country. Worried that your Finnish isn’t up to par? No worries: English is the country’s second language and all professors can teach their classes in English. Better still, Finland’s government pays for all tuition fees, meaning that successful applicants will only have to pay administrative and books fees for their classes. In fact, students can join the Open Courses at any time, although they have to register for specific credits. Their history program can be completed in as little as three years.
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