If you're considering updating your skills or training for a new career, you very well might be in good company. Many adults in this sluggish economy with high unemployment rates are heading back to school to accomplish just this; turning their current "lemon" into a great drink thanks to the university degrees they can obtain to aid their employment and advancement.

If you're considering updating your skills or training for a new career, you very well might be in good company. Many adults in this sluggish economy with high unemployment rates are heading back to school to accomplish just this; turning their current "lemon" into a great drink thanks to the university degrees they can obtain to aid their employment and advancement.

In Rhode Island, a woman told the Providence Journal in April that the financial planning industry she was in had changed, that she viewed the Internet and computers as the future and that she had returned to school to "retool". A man who reportedly held a dozen jobs since his 1996 high school graduation returned to school to study Web design after being laid off in 2008 from a payroll company where he worked, according to this same Journal report. If you need more information about distance learning master degree, look on the internet.

People (by some estimates) change careers every 10 years, and Labor Department approximations suggest that 40 percent of the American population changes jobs each year, according to a "32 Trends Affecting Distance Education" report. The report also noted that the Information Age that we're in is expected to cause a continuous cycle of retraining and retooling.

Adults who are interested in retraining and retooling might find online college classes and degree programs particularly appealing. Many of these programs better enable students to schedule studies between family and work responsibilities. Students enrolled in distance college offerings can also save on time, fuel and costs needed for commuting while, at the same time, enhancing their technology skills simply by participating in coursework. Adults interested in updating their skills or training for new careers can find online degree programs available at the associate, bachelor, master's and doctorate levels. Online certificate programs also are available.

Some programs are offered entirely online, either by colleges and universities with physical presences as well, or by institutions that are entirely virtual. Other programs come in "hybrid" varieties, where students participate online and spend some time on campus. Online college enrollment, as well as the number and variety of degree programs, have been growing substantially. Degrees online include areas that some consider high-growth, such as engineering, technology and environmental sciences, and health care. There is an abundance of information about on line college degree on the web.

In California, a woman unable to secure a teaching job even with a bachelor degree and several teaching credentials now works for an environmental company, according to an April San Diego News Network report. The woman, who returned to school for an environmental certificate, landed a job as a sales consultant for a Pasadena-based composting service and education company, the news network noted.

At least one school has established a program intended especially for those who want to change careers. This Atlanta area institution offers a hybrid doctorate program designed for executives who want to become professors, according to an April report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A twice laid-off six-figure executive is among the program's students, the Journal-Constitution article noted.