Imagine a 12% return on your investment. In today’s struggling economy, that kind of return is something like financial wizardry. Distance learning degree programs, however, are continuing to experience that kind of phenomenal market growth.

The latest distance learning degree program surveys, conducted by the Sloan Consortium, however, concluded that enrollment in online degree courses throughout the country had in fact increased by 12 percent during the last year. As a result, more than 4 million people nationwide are enrolled in distance learning classes.

Increasing fuel costs, job losses and economic uncertainties have contributed to these rising figures, according to the survey. As more people struggle to replace lost jobs during this recession, they turn to online degree universities to find distance education degree programs to help them gain an educational edge over their competitors.

In addition, many people find themselves working harder, or working more than one job, in order to meet the financial demands of their family members. Graduating from a traditional college degree program is almost impossible for these people, who turn to distance degree programs to help them achieve these objectives. And in the end, those who are motivated and dedicated do find what they are looking for - undergraduate and graduate degree programs that provide family and job security.

In his last term of office, President Bush “blessed” our country with educational legislation designed to help American students keep pace with foreign degree students. But will “No Child Left Behind” actually help - or hurt future university degree program students?

One of the key goals of this legislation is to help offer students gain more access to educational programs. How? By advancing the right of any student to enroll in any degree course and to “learn” from that course. What this basically does, though, is to allow any student at any high school to decide that they want to enroll in any course - and be granted the right to take that class.

For example, even if Sally is one of the poorest math students in her high school, she can decide that she wants to take calculus, and enroll in that class. The teacher must teach the class so that Sally has a chance of succeeding in this class - no matter how much more every other student in the classroom understands about math.

The problem with “No Child Left Behind” is that it leaves every  student in every classroom in the United States at risk of being left behind. Because students like Sally can enroll in calculus, the professor has less opportunity to teach the other students, which means that they will learn less and do more poorly on entrance exams for college degree programs. Because American students do poorly on entrance exams, students from other countries have a greater opportunity to enroll in American degree programs.

Sure, other students from other countries have every right to enroll in American colleges and universities. Unfortunately, greater numbers of foreign students enrolling in top undergraduate and graduate degree programs throughout the country mean that fewer numbers of American students will benefit from the the nation’s best schools. This offers fewer educational and employment opportunities to American college graduates.

Congress wants to leave no child behind - instead every American student will be left behind. As the United States continues to lose ground in comparison to other countries with respect to education, perhaps one day government officials will wake up and take notice. This attempt to help more students get college degrees will actually help fewer students to succeed in the best traditional colleges, and possibly even the top online schools in the country.

Even if you’ve been lucky until now, your luck may not hold out much longer. In today’s economy, the job market is continuing to tumble. Most people who do not have a college degree presently, and many who do, are out looking for work.

Even if you do have an undergraduate degree or Master Degree, some job markets are just not hiring. Many real estate and mortgage companies are tightening their belts, and new graduates with accounting degrees or educations in finance will find the available positions very competitive.

So what job markets are still open? Most people in the nursing profession continue to report that they have no difficulty in finding their choice of positions. In fact, many have gone back to school to earn an online degree at the Bachelor level, or have even enrolled in graduate degree programs because of the increasing nursing shortage.

Many people with business administration degrees are finding positions in foreclosure companies. While this may not be exactly what they were considering when they began their college degree programs, young graduates quickly find that these companies pay the bills. They are quickly finding out that “a person’s got to do what a person’s got to do.”

If you are considering going back to school, or want to earn a college degree at home, take time to do some research. Which career fields are going to offer the best return on the job investment right now. Are you already qualified for these positions? Are you interested in any of them? You want to be able to pay the bills, but take the time to find the career that’s right for you. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a job you can’t stand, but from which you can’t escape because you have to pay the bills.