I just read an article on the Washington Post website, and thought that those considering where to look for an LL.M in the US may like to read more. The article is very interesting, here's a snippet from the first page:

"Congress passed a law in March that drops the requirement that colleges offer at least half their courses face to face to receive federal student aid. The new law will undoubtedly attract more students and schools into the fledgling online industry.

Online enrollment, including multiple courses taken by a single student, jumped from 1.98 million in 2003 to 2.35 million the following year, accounting for 7 percent of postsecondary education, according to Eduventures, a Boston firm that studies trends in education. Another study, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, reports that 65 percent of universities offering face-to-face graduate courses also offer graduate courses online. By early 2008, Eduventures predicts, about one in 10 college students will be enrolled in an online degree program.

"It's only going to grow," said Richard Garrett, an analyst with Eduventures. "The largest high school graduating class in U.S. history is expected to be 2009. There is going to be a lot of pressure on these students to get education in a competitive market."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/15/AR2006051501496.html

I hope it's helpful to some of you.

It is good. However, the problem is that the official government of my country do not approve any on-line degree.

Which country is that, pra608? It's interesting to hear of different countries' perception of Distance Learning. Hopefully all countries of the world will, in time, follow in the footsteps of likes of UK and USA in recognising online degrees, but there are many issues to overcome, particularly regards the perception of distance learning by students, employers and governments first.

For those of you following this thread you might be interested to know that there's an article about e-learning and Law on the front page of the LL.M-guide currently. (http://www.llm-guide.com/article/15/e-learning-the-future-of-legal-education)

I would say that it is approved in private organization, but u cannot use that kind of degree if u want to work in bureaucratic feild.

I think it is because the standard of many on-line degrees or the institutions that provide the degree themselves is still unclear and doubtful. It is very hard for the government (especially in developing countries like mine) to evaluate their quality comparing to regular degree.

Moreover, many people (including me) still think that,in some online institutions, if u have money, u can get an online degree instantly (as u can see from many spam emails).

I presume then that the government woudl not fund you on a place for a 100% distance learning programme either?

Certainly it's possible to buy a degree certificate, but the value in education is not just the degree but your learning and development. When the government of your coutry realises that the standard of LL.Ms and other studies via distance learning can be of the same quality as on-campus studies, then hopefully they will provide funding for students to embark on these courses too.

The USA already has some very innovative distance learning delivery techniques, but now that the 100% distance option is "main stream" I think we'll see a concerted effort to push distance learning to students, all around the world.

I am wondering, Pra608, which country are you from? Perhaps in future years your government will change its opinion of distance learning?