W4  Essay For this essay, follow the Writing and Formatting Your Essay Guidelines that you followed in the previous assignments. As...

W4  Essay

For this essay, follow the Writing and Formatting Your Essay Guidelines that you followed in the previous assignments. As always, please review my notes/comments in previous essays before submitting this assignment. Doing so will help you avoid repeating past mistakes.

W4 essay prompt:

Should colleges offer degree programs entirely online?

You will need to take a stand on the issue and state that claim in a clear thesis statement. A few examples of reasons on either side of the argument are included below. You do NOT need to use these: I simply want to provide you examples of a clear topic sentence.

For the above assignment, here are some articles for and against online degree programs. You are not required to use these, but you may, and you are encouraged to find additional online resources on your own:

(These sources are listed in 8th ed. MLA. In your paper, the second line of each reference will be indented)

Haynie, Devon. "How Employers View Your Online Bachelor's Degree." US News and World Report, 14 Mar. 2014.  http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2014/02/28/what-employers-really-think-about-your-online-bachelors-degree Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.

Hickey, Ryan. "The Pros and Cons of Getting a Degree Online." USA Today College, 25 May 2015.  http://college.usatoday.com/2015/05/25/the-pros-and-cons-of-getting-a-degree-online/ Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.

In addition, you may use other sources on the internet to support your argument. (Note: all sources you use to support your argument need to be available to me on the Internet or through the MSU library databases.)

As with all essays written for this class, follow the specific guidelines outlined in the Writing and Formatting Your Essay Guidelines. In addition, review the Essay Grading Guidelines to be sure that you are meeting all criteria.

Remember, take a stand (thesis statement), then use topic sentences to introduce paragraphs that support your stand/thesis. Below are a few example topic sentences. You do NOT need to use these: I simply want to provide you examples of a clear topic sentence.

Yes:

• Online degree programs offer flexibility for students who work or have families.
• Online degree programs allow students who do not live near a university to earn a degree.

No:

• Academic honesty is difficult to monitor in online courses.
• Online classes lack the individualized instruction of face-to-face courses.

References note:

Use a minimum of 2 authoritative, credible online sources to support your argument, at least 1 source in each body paragraph. Each quote should be introduced in the text: let the reader know in advance whom you are quoting and the context of the source. All sources are correctly cited in the text using parenthetical citations where needed, and each source is included in a Works Cited or Reference section at the end of the document, following either MLA or APA style guidelines (see course textbook) consistently. Do not cite sources in the body of the essay with Internet addresses (URLs), nor only use a URL for the reference at the end of the document.