If you’re a career-focused RN, you have likely already considered the benefits of earning an advanced education to get ahead in your field. After all, the United States Census found out this year that since 2000, the number of adults in the country with a Master’s degree has risen from 10.4 million, to 21 million! That’s an increase of more than 100%. There are millions of people out there getting a graduate education, and you know that – especially in the field of nursing – a graduate degree makes one eligible for more advanced roles and increased earning potential. People certainly find a way to get there! So, why does it feel hard to imagine for yourself?

After 3, 5, or 20 years working as a nurse, taking a break to attend two years of classes seems unrealistic. How would you support your family? Live the lifestyle that you’re used to? Maintain your hours, or a good standing, with your job? These questions are probably very familiar to you. But, like millions of nurses out there, you can find the right balance. You can earn your MSN online.

First, there are there are few major misconceptions about what committing to an MSN program really means. (Principally, that it takes two years.) You’ve probably heard that this is just the standard length of a full-time MSN degree programs. Well, maybe the standard, but let’s think outside of the box! There is a way to get to your goals faster, while also being more efficient with your studies. You can do it with an online MSN degree program.

In a traditional program, think of all the time spent commuting, waiting for class to “settle down” and get started, for professors to answer your questions in real-time. All of those minutes add up to hours and days. With an online program, you can actually save a ton of time and increase your efficiency. You can sit down and get to work when it makes sense for you, and cut away all of those non-constructive seconds that accrue in a classroom setting, on your dollar, with an online MSN. It’s no surprise, as Education Today found, that the main reason distance learners (or, online learners) choose an online program is “convenience.” With saved time, you get faster results, and with an online program like Goodwin College’s Master’s in Nursing, you can get your MSN online in as few as 20 months, part-time.

Perhaps the other major barrier that stands between you and your MSN is the thought of taking time off of work. This is never an easy conversation to have with your boss or manager, and for an extended time, it might not even be possible. You may have to leave your job completely, which doesn’t feel like a conducive step in developing your career. What if you didn’t have to go through any of that? You don’t have to miss a paycheck with online learning. Earning your MSN online means that you can work full-time, while taking classes towards a Master’s degree. Goodwin’s MSN program is designed with the working nurse in mind. In fact, you can read some testimonials from nurses just like yourself, who say that Goodwin’s MSN program is “accessible” and “accommodating,” even for the challenging nurse schedule.

One of the major benefits of online learning is the educational value. As a smart student, this is what you’ve been wondering about all along. We’re still used to “school” meaning a classroom, students at desks, a professor at the front of the room, hard-copy homework assignments, and textbooks. Is online learning really just as good as traditional learning? Well, distance learning actually began way back in the 1700s! In Boston, an instructor would send lessons and receive completed assignments from students by mail. Yet, distance learning wouldn’t be able to harness the internet until the World Wide Web became standard in American households. The 1990s saw early adaptations of online learning by educational institutions, such as in 1994, when CalCampus in California offered the first entirely online curriculum.

Have you heard of Blackboard or eCollege? These online college resources, still used today, were actually introduced back in 1999. By 2003, 81% of colleges were offering at least one online class, and by 2009, there were about 5.5 million students taking at least one course online, worldwide. By 2014, 98% of public colleges and universities offered online programs. You can find these details and many more moments in the fascinating history of online learning, in this infographic.

An MSN degree earned online still allows you to be eligible for jobs like nurse manager, nurse educator, nurse administrator, public health nurse, and more. Additionally, it can look good as a job applicant –your career was so valuable to you that you didn’t want to stop working while studying for your MSN.

Online learning really is the norm these days. Instead of asking, “Can you get your MSN online?”, you might want to be asking yourself, “Why not?” There are so many benefits like affordability, flexibility, and value. Give Goodwin College a call today to find out more about our MSN program, offered entirely online. Call 800-889-3282 to speak with an admissions representative.