Information technology (IT) is an ever growing field of employment opportunities. There are IT roles available in all of the major industries across the globe. It’s not surprising that so many people want to re-train for a role in IT. If this applies to you then you may be wondering exactly how much money you will need to spend to attend college and gain a degree in IT, or related qualification.
There are many courses that you can attend if you want to get an IT qualification so you can change career. We are going to take a look at what costs you may incur if you attend college to study IT, and why it may be beneficial for you to consider studying online.
Costs associated with studying IT in college
It’s important to remember that bricks and mortar colleges have a lot of overheads. The budget they have has to cover items such as:
- Building maintenance
- Building purchase or rental costs
- Provision of pastoral care
- Provision of student accommodation
Obviously, the colleges have to get this money from somewhere and many of the costs are reflected in the fees paid by students to attend college and study. For a Bachelor’s degree the fees tend to be between AU$15,000 and AU$33,000. If you want to study IT at college you need to consider how you will pay these fees and whether you will be entitled to any help. Do not forget that if you study at college you will be expected to stick to a schedule so it’s unlikely that you would be able to work full time as well. You need to think about how this will affect your finances.
Studying online as an alternative
If you want to study for an IT qualification, and you feel that studying at a traditional college is too expensive, you may want to take a look at what would happen if you were to study IT online. Online courses tend to be far less expensive as the providers do not have the same overheads in terms of sustaining a physical location. If you opt to study online you will also save on travel fees to and from college, or the cost of staying on campus.
Choosing online study means that you can learn at home in your own time as you do not have the same restrictions in place as you would if you were attending a physical college. It also means that you can fit your study around everything else that is going on in your life; this is a big help if it means you can remain working full time and have the benefit of the money you earn as a result.
As you can see, studying IT at college can be expensive; although the rewards can be great if you have a successful career in IT once you are qualified. If you opt to study IT online then you can save on a lot of the costs and have the financial benefit of being able to remain in your current employment.