Top universities offer the flexibility to study from home, writes Diana Clement
Gaining a qualification from one of the world's top universities doesn't need to involve leaving home.
Every year, a few thousand Kiwis sign up to learn everything from management to obscure medical degrees from foreign universities.
Having a top university's name on your CV isn't the only reason for
studying by distance. More often, it's because you can fit the study around your schedule.
Aid workers and those in far-flung industries such as petroleum may move frequently or not be based near a campus.
The flexibility may suit mothers with young children or full-time workers - fitting their own personal framework.
Or it may be that the course is obscure and not available here.
The latter was the reason why Auckland-based Dr Sarah Fortune chose to study an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), which she completed in the northern hemisphere 2008-09 academic year.
Fortune, a clinical psychologist who specialises in suicide prevention, was in the UK doing a post-doctoral fellowship at Oxford University when she signed up to the internationally renowned programme.
She chose the distance option because she didn't want to have to travel to London. During the course of study she moved to Leeds and then back to Auckland for her maternity leave.
"The real advantage (of distance learning) if you are based in New Zealand is you can advance your learning in a very specialised field from an international centre of excellence," says Fortune.
She met fellow students on the course's online noticeboards from Kazakhstan and parts of Africa, as well as closer to home.
The LSHTM is part of the University of London's external division, which proves 100 different programmes to 45,000 students, of which only 6000 are based in London.
Students don't get a degree from the University of London. Rather, the programmes are run through constituent colleges, such as the London School of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies or Royal Holloway.
Fortune found the flexibility of distance learning fitted with her other commitments, but recommends that only self-motivated and self-regulated people study by distance.
On the downside, she found writing a dissertation by distance created some difficulties because the potential for wide-ranging discussions with supervisors was limited.
Like Fortune, Glenys Ker found the ability to move around a great advantage while completing her Masters degree in career development by distance, through Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth.
"At the time I was the manager of the career centre at AUT and had studied both the graduate certificate and graduate diploma in career development through AUT - so decided it was time to study somewhere else other than where I was currently in a management position."
She subsequently moved to Dunedin when her husband found a job down south. Unlike "taught" students, Ker didn't need to change universities or programmes when she moved city.
Another reason Ker chose ECU was that the cost was commensurate with a New Zealand university because she was not viewed as an international student.
"(This) was certainly helpful when making my decision to study overseas," she says. Papers at the university cost $1500 each and Ker needed eight to finish the degree.
Since completing her degree, Ker has begun teaching by distance at both ECU, through AUT University, and also mentoring individuals - by distance - to make career decisions through her own business, CareerFit.
Ker works with some of our top athletes through the New Zealand Academy of Sport, advising them on how to study around their training and racing so they have another string to their bows when they retire from sport.
Some programmes require students to spend a certain number of days or weeks on campus a year, says Ker. ECU was very flexible in that it will offer those "intensives" in other centres if there are sufficient students and it also tends to schedule them outside of peak holiday periods - making travel and accommodation cheaper.
Distance learning is, of course, possible through New Zealand institutions and if you are required to turn up in person once a year this can be a good option. Courses range from the mainstream, such as a Bachelor of Education through Massey University, to more obscure degrees such as a Bachelor of Theology by distance learning from Laidlaw College in Auckland's Henderson, or midwifery through Otago Polytech.
Students aren't just limited to New Zealand, the UK and Australia. Up to 2000 American universities such as the University of Phoenix offer some form of distance learning as do institutions from many other countries.
MBAs in particular are often completed by distance learning. Provided you aren't required to attend campus at any point, the world is your oyster. That's one of the reasons Greymouth-based GP Dr Carol Atmore chose to study for a masters in public health through the LSHTM - she didn't have to attend in person.
The only time Atmore needs to travel away from her West Coast base is to sit exams at a recognised centre. In her case, that's the University of Canterbury.
Another option was to study at the University of New South Wales. But that would have required her to spend two weeks a year in Sydney, which wouldn't fit her lifestyle.
She finds it ironic that it was easier for her to study public health through a London-based university than one in New Zealand.
The fees at the LSHTM were around £8,000 (just over $18,000) in total, which is not hugely more expensive than studying through a New Zealand or Australian distance learning university. Like many distance learning students, one of Atmore's employers pays the bulk of the cost.
Although Atmore hasn't yet finished her degree it has already had an impact on her career: "It increases your knowledge, which is useful in its own right, as is the stimulation. Last year, I started in the role of clinical director of the Bowel Cancer Programme with the Ministry of Health. I think having already gained the diploma in public health at that stage bolstered my application, as well as my experience as a GP and GP Liaison in my region."
Aucklander Ian McInnes' career changed dramatically as a result of the MBA and MSc in development management, which he studied by distance through the UK's Open University (OU). McInnes had been working in outdoor education management in New Zealand for 10 years when he decided on a career change to aid management.
He was by coincidence in Sri Lanka when the Asian tsunami hit. McInnes, his Sri Lankan wife and sister-in-law volunteered to run an emergency medical clinic in the south of that country. The two women are both doctors. Soon after, he began studying for his degrees.
The two OU programmes took a total of 26 months to complete, during which time McInnes was based variously in the UK, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The portability of his learning became especially important thanks to those moves.
McInnes views distance learning as a very concentrated way of obtaining knowledge and qualifications: "Time wasn't wasted."
He is also keen to point out that although the OU's name doesn't have the standing of Harvard or Stanford the quality of the education and the calibre of staff is extremely high.
On completion of his studies, McInnes was appointed as director of the Tear Fund's operation in Sri Lanka.
The qualifications were instrumental in his gaining that role because the Sri Lankan Government will not issue work permits to foreigners if there is a suitable qualified local to do the job.
McInnes' career change has taken him from a "reasonably comfortable job to being quite stretched in a whole new career and put on the global stage".
"It has enabled me to work in far-flung parts of the world I couldn't have without the study," he says.
The learning not only helped him land management roles with Tear Fund, but also assists him in the field.
"I find myself drawing on the theories and looking at problems in the field through the lens of my education and training."
Next week, McInnes starts a three-month secondment to Tear Fund UK to run its Haiti disaster response programme.
