What is a correspondence course in universities? What forms of education are there: what should a future student choose when applying?

Statistics show that the majority of full-time students are young people who entered university immediately after graduating from school. The majority of correspondence students, on the contrary, having focused on their career, realized that without a diploma they could move on career ladder not easy. However, leaving your job, even temporarily, to go to university for five years is tantamount to starting all over again when you return. Realities modern life dictate their terms, today, in addition to the classic full-time and correspondence forms of education, distance learning and part-time education are becoming increasingly popular.

What is full-time and what is part-time?

Unlike for full-time training, when students come to the session twice a year, take tests and exams, defend coursework, part-time classes are held regularly, but in the evenings or weekends.

Of course, for a person who works every day, it is difficult every evening with maximum return sit a few more classes, so the schedule is designed in such a way that lectures and practical sessions take place no more than two or three times a week.

The curriculum devotes a lot of time to independent work. For any questions that arise during the learning process, students can consult with the teacher without waiting for the session.

The total volume of extracurricular assignments, the number of coursework and tests corresponds curriculum correspondence courses. Unlike the daytime course, when one or two pairs per week are allocated to control knowledge, part-time and part-time students complete assignments independently.

Another advantage is the cost of the form of training in question; if the amount of the full-time training contract is too high, it makes sense to take a closer look at part-time training; budget places are also provided for in the license.

Schedule and terms of training

The schedule of classes and consultations is made in accordance with the regular schedule of the educational institution, and is not adjusted to each student. In some cases, for example, when couples are scheduled for a weekday evening, at the request of the entire group, they can be rescheduled for a weekend. In addition, training according to an individual schedule agreed with the head of the graduating department and the dean’s office has not been canceled.

Intensity of full-time training full-time lower than that of full-time students, the duration of study also increases. Thus, the defense of a bachelor's degree will take place not in 4, but in 5 years.

Briefly about distance learning

After the Internet became an integral part of our lives and previously unprecedented amounts of information became available, new form training – distance learning. Obtaining an education document without leaving home? Just a couple of decades ago, this was only possible in a fairy tale.

The essence of the form of training is in the remote format of acquiring knowledge using the opportunities provided by modern IT technologies - online broadcasts, teleconferences. The advantages are obvious; this form of training is convenient for everyone who has access to the Internet. The student can communicate with teachers and classmates located anywhere in the world. But in order to get a mark in your record book, you still have to meet with the teacher in person.

When is the best time for distance learning?

This form of training is very convenient for people receiving a second higher education, young mothers. Correspondence education is the optimal solution for residents of remote settlements and people forced to look for a job immediately after graduating from school. Students learn the secrets of the profession by independently planning a schedule for completing tests and coursework. The cost of training is another plus. However, twice a year you will have to try. Lectures, practical lessons, preparation for exams and tests, receiving assignments for the next semester - all this must be completed in two weeks.

Advantages of full-time and part-time education

Undoubtedly, the part-time form of education is more democratic and adapted to the modern rhythm of life.

The advantages include the following:

relatively low passing score and lower contract cost;
enrollment continues in September, so if you are not on the budget, you have the opportunity not to lose a year, but to become a student;
the opportunity to combine study and work;
gaining real experience, which gives advantages over full-time diploma holders;
paid leave for passing the exam and working on a diploma; in fairness, it is worth noting that not all employers act within the framework of the law.

It won't be without problems. Get ready for

increased loads, you will now have to combine intensive work with equally intense studies;
It is not always possible to combine work and study schedules; teachers and management are unlikely to be bothered by your problems;
Only full-time students are entitled to a deferment from the army.

The choice is yours!

Part-time and part-time education – how is it?

Alas, sometimes a student’s life develops in such a way that, it seems, you want to keep your job along with your earnings, but your conscience does not allow you to completely forget about studying at a university. Most educational institutions meet their students halfway in this regard, realizing that wages V modern conditions- an extremely necessary thing. For students who do not have the opportunity to study full-time, part-time and part-time forms of education were specially invented. And if the word “correspondence” does not cause us the slightest misunderstanding, then sometimes people hear about full-time and correspondence departments for the first time. And in vain, because this option is an ideal choice for workaholic students.

Part-time and part-time education - what is it?

Let's start with the theoretical part. Another name for part-time and part-time education is evening. This training option was designed specifically for combining study and work. Training with such a system takes place at any time of the day - morning, afternoon or evening - depending on the student’s work schedule. This form of training is closest to correspondence, but has a number of advantages over its “colleague”.

Despite the fact that most of the material is given to students for independent study, the student still regularly meets with his teachers, receives instructions and recommendations from them. As you know, unsystematic learning creates a kind of chaos in the student’s head and does not allow one to organize knowledge in the head “on shelves.” Part-time and part-time students are under the control of their mentors, which has a positive effect on the acquisition of knowledge and the acquisition of working skills.

Advantages of full-time and part-time education

There are a number of additional advantages of this training structure, including:

More low price education compared to full-time education.
An easier option for admission, the Unified State Exam limit for full-time and part-time study is noticeably lower.
The amount of knowledge gained is practically no different from the full-time program. The number of teaching hours for students in this form of study is up to 70% of the load on the full-time course. For comparison, in the correspondence department the same percentage ranges between 10 and 12.
Students dreaming of college life will also not be offended. They will be able to attend lectures, consultations with teachers and communicate with their classmates. Only the training schedules and the number of training hours will differ.

Classes are distributed depending on how it is established in the educational institution itself. On average, 3-4 classes are held per week, three of which are held in weekdays in the evening and one on the weekend. There are so-called weekend groups, in which training takes place only during weekends. Exams for such students are also scheduled on non-weekdays. It may seem to some that studying in this way is very difficult, and, as they say, there is no time left “for life”, however, believe me, the above-mentioned advantages of the full-time and correspondence course of study will definitely allow you to make the right choice.

It is worth noting that in the text written above the part-time course of study is spoken of as an exclusively evening course. This is naturally not the case. The student can work in night shift, and attend classes during the day.

This means that when receiving an education, the applicant does not have to give up everything he has worked on for months, or even years, but will be able to combine business with pleasure in a form convenient for himself. By the way, it is this training system that is used by people receiving additional higher education.

Benefits for full-time and part-time studies

Part-time and full-time students receive a number of benefits during their studies:

An employed student has the opportunity to receive additional vacation time, paid in the amount of the average monthly salary.
During first-year sessions, working students are given 40 days off to take exams; final year students receive 50 days off. These days are also paid by the employer.
Before passing state exams and thesis the student has every right to receive four months of paid leave for preparation.
Immediately before exams and graduation working week the student may be reduced for a period of up to seven hours, and the employer undertakes to pay at least 50% of the previous salary.
Often, enterprises themselves provide financial incentives for their workers to obtain additional higher education.

Thus, we have found that part-time education allows you to profitably combine work and higher education, while receiving a whole range of preferential terms. The quality of such education is practically no different from the full-time education and, at the same time, looks much more respectable than the correspondence system.

Upon admission to educational institution applicants are faced with such concepts as full-time and part-time study. Everything is more or less clear with them. But there is a third option. And in this regard, the question arises: “Part-time and part-time education - how is that?” Let's figure out what it is and how it differs from the first two options.

Full-time

In order to understand what full-time education is, it is necessary to remember the origin of the term. Full-time - from the word “ochi”, which means “eyes”. Therefore, this option assumes that teachers and students will meet regularly and visit the educational institution every day, except weekends.

Full-time study does not necessarily mean studying in the morning. After all, schoolchildren also often go to the second and even third shift, but their version of the educational process is still called full-time. And in universities there are working semesters, when students do practical training during the day and gain knowledge in the evening. The main criterion for full-time study is regular meetings with the teacher.

Full-time education has many advantages. Information from teachers comes in full, gradually, constantly and in small portions. Knowledge is more easily absorbed and reinforced by numerous practical and laboratory work. There are only two disadvantages to this option of getting an education: lack of free time, since studying “eats up” most of days, and a higher cost if we're talking about about the paid department.

Correspondence form

The correspondence option is the opposite of the full-time option. It means that students must prepare on their own - using textbooks and training manuals. And only meet twice or thrice a year to test knowledge and pass coursework and exams.

If we compare it with full-time education, we can highlight the following pattern: with full-time education, 80% of the material is given by the teacher, 20% is left for independent study. In absentia, the numbers are the same, but exactly the opposite.

Usually, mature, formed people with work experience who have realized that moving up the ladder enter the correspondence course. career ladder without higher education it is problematic. They are capable of self-discipline and know how to distribute their time so that there is enough for everything - work, study and personal interests.

The disadvantages of the correspondence option are obvious: not everyone is capable of self-study complex university disciplines, there is no opportunity to consult with teachers in complex issues, and the level of knowledge acquired is noticeably lower than on a full-time basis.

But there are also advantages: more personal time and lower tuition costs. Moreover, the discount can be very, very significant - from 20 to 50%.

How about part-time and part-time education? We've dealt with the first two. It remains to understand what the third option is.

Part-time and part-time education - how is it?

Sometimes an applicant finds himself in difficult situation. He cannot study full-time, for example, he does not have enough money to pay for education, or he has a job, or he did not pass the exam. the required specialty etc. But at the same time, he does not want to enroll in the correspondence department, since it is largely intended for already formed specialists who only need to hone their knowledge in their profession and receive a diploma. What should we do in this case?

We need to remember that there is a third option - full-time and part-time education. This is like an intermediate option between full-time and part-time. That is, students and teachers meet regularly, but to a lesser extent than full-time students, and mainly in the evening.

Previously, this option for obtaining education was called evening. And this is not surprising. The part-time department allows you to combine work and study, so classes are held either on weekends or in the evening. The time and frequency of attending classes is determined by the educational institution.

In the part-time form, disciplines are taught in blocks (the same as in the full-time form), but in a reduced volume, due to the lack of teaching hours. Each block is followed by an exam or test.

Advantages

What are the advantages of full-time and part-time evening education? There are few of them, but they are all quite significant:

Possibility to combine educational process and work.
It is easier to get into the chosen university with a lot of competition for the desired specialty.
The system for delivering educational material and passing exams is as close as possible to full-time. The difference is often only in fewer training hours.
Education fees are significantly lower.

Flaws

This option also has disadvantages. First of all, this is a lack of time - due to the fact that we have to combine study, work, and also personal life. The second disadvantage is the lack of any benefits for students. That is, no scholarships, no free rides on the subway, no place in a dormitory. At the same time, you will have to study the same amount as full-time students.

Who can study part-time/part-time?

There are many options. Almost every educational institution in the country offers students full-time and part-time education. The only exceptions are specific specialties, for example, medical direction, as they require extensive practice.

For example, it is impossible to obtain an education in the specialty “Dentistry” through part-time or part-time study. All universities offer only full-time studies with a duration of study of 5 years. However, in this way it is possible to obtain diplomas in the medical field in specialties " Public health", "Medical and preventive care", "Pharmacy", but only if you have previously received secondary specialized medical education.

A diploma in jurisprudence through part-time or part-time study can be obtained without any problems - all you need to do is pay for your studies and pass exams on time, since this specialty is available in the evening department at most specialized universities.

Most willingly, various humanities are taught in the evening: a student can easily get an education as a journalist, art critic, sociologist or manager.

At Moscow State University through part-time and part-time study you can get an education at 28 various areas. These can be either two-month advanced training courses, for example, in logotherapy or psychological family counseling, or training for 5 years with a bachelor’s degree in the faculties of sociology, law, economics, computational mathematics and cybernetics, etc.

Each of us has friends who received full-time education and those who were part-time students.

Is there a tangible difference expressed by significant differences between full-time and correspondence education? This article is devoted to this problem.

Full-time training is a classic type of education in which the student methodically attends lectures and seminars a whole semester, at the end of which he takes session exams.

Correspondence studies– periodic. The student prepares himself using the materials given to him, then attends a course of lectures that are given over, for example, one month. The culmination of the semester for a part-time student is the exam. The final grade in full-time education can consist of both the sum of current grades and the exam score, or consist only of the grade obtained in the exam. In the case of distance learning, the most important thing is how the student will perform in the exam, because he prepared for it during the semester mainly on his own, doing occasional work and consulting with teachers. Correspondence education usually lasts less than full-time education, since shortened programs are provided for it, because large number Correspondence students receive a second education in this way. Typically, part-time courses are cheaper than full-time courses.

Interestingly, full-time education requires the presence of budget places and the payment of scholarships to state employees, and almost never by correspondence. Another difference between full-time and distance learning is that correspondence education does not give reasons for deferring military service. It is believed that some specialties, such as translation, for example, cannot be mastered by studying by correspondence, since studying foreign languages requires constant practice and honing skills, which is why many universities do not correspondence department for language majors.

Generally, distance learning convenient for those who do not have a lot of free time due to work, family circumstances or health problems.

Less obvious differences between full-time and distance learning:

Full-time education – standard form education, which involves constant continuous study, and correspondence education - periodic;
Full-time education provides a deferment from the army, but correspondence education does not;
Full-time and correspondence education differ in organization educational process within the semester;
Correspondence education allows people to engage in several types of activities in parallel, which is very difficult with full-time education;
Full-time students are many times more likely to study for free, but in general, distance learning is cheaper;
Some specialties, for example, medical or linguistic, are practically not represented in correspondence form.

When entering a university or college, the applicant is faced with a choice of form of study.

In this section we will look at the main question:

What forms of training are there?

The main forms of conducting the educational process are:

It should be noted that each form is unique and has its own advantages and disadvantages.

"What form of education should I choose when entering a university or college? "

1. Full-time (full-time) education at a university or college.

Full-time education assumes a systemic curriculum, in which students regularly attend classes 5-6 days a week. Class attendance hours are predominantly in the morning. But there are cases when educational institutions are forced to schedule classes for students in the second shift. This may be due, for example, to the desire of the educational institution to provide students with the opportunity to work part-time in morning time, or a lack of classroom funds, irrational distribution of teaching staff and other reasons.

The full-time training program involves a large volume theoretical material, lectures and seminars, tests, laboratory and practical work. The student has the opportunity to listen to the entire required material, ask questions to the teacher, and consolidate the knowledge gained.

In their final years, university and college students undergo practical training at enterprises and gain the necessary initial work experience in a particular field.

Total training period full-time (full-time) is 4 years for a bachelor's program, 5 years for a specialist program, and 2 years for a master's program. In the case when a graduate of a college or technical school enters a university for full-time study in a specialized specialty, it is possible to reduce the period of study to 3 years.

The standard period of full-time study at a college, upon admission after 9th grade, generally ranges from 2 years 10 months to 4 years 10 months, depending on the level of secondary education obtained vocational education: basic or advanced. When entering a college or technical school for secondary vocational education programs, after 11th grade, the period of full-time study ranges from 1 year 10 months to 3 years 10 months, depending on the level of secondary vocational education received: basic or advanced

Advantages:

Serious theoretical training of a specialist
When studying full-time, students are granted a deferment from military service (in the event that he uses the deferment only for the first time. If the student has reached the age of 18 and has previously received one deferment, for example in college, then when studying full-time form, the student will no longer receive a second deferment)
Vibrant student life, participation in competitions, events and holidays of the educational institution, the opportunity for self-realization.
When studying in a free department, good students are paid a stipend.

Flaws:

The theory received at a university does not always correspond to the real situation at enterprises.
Upon graduation from a university, a specialist has no or minimal work experience, and in most cases can only count on starting positions when finding a job.

2. Part-time (evening) form of study at a university or college.

Part-time and part-time education assumes enough large number classroom training, but of course less than full-time. With this kind of training, students usually attend classes 2-4 days a week (mostly on weekdays, less often on weekends) in the evening. It is usually assumed that in this way students will be able to safely combine labor activity and obtaining knowledge and skills within the framework of a higher professional education program. Thus, the student has the opportunity to obtain the necessary material, discuss it with the teacher and use it in his work. This combination contributes to the rapid acquisition of useful experience and development of a specialist.

Part-time and part-time classes are usually conducted in the form of systematic classroom training, throughout academic year, followed by passing the test and examination session.

Standard training period for part-time (evening) form at the university for a bachelor's program is 4.5 years, for a specialist program from 5.5 years, and for a master's program 2 years. The duration of study after college or technical school, according to an abbreviated program, is usually from 3 years.

The standard period of study in full-time and part-time (evening) forms in college, upon admission after 9th grade, generally ranges from 2 years 10 months to 4 years 10 months, depending on the level of secondary vocational education received: basic or advanced. Upon admission to college or technical school, for secondary vocational education programs, after 11th grade, duration of study in full-time - correspondence (evening) form ranges from 1 year 10 months to 3 years 10 months, depending on the level of secondary vocational education received: basic or advanced.

When completing initial vocational education programs, the duration of study at a college or technical school is usually from 1 to 3 years.

Advantages:

Possibility of independent income, effective combination of work and study
Upon graduation from a university or college, a specialist already has work experience and can apply for career advancement

Flaws:

When studying at the part-time (evening) department, a deferment from the army is not granted
Due to lack of time, students evening department unable to participate in the student life of the educational institution.
Lack of opportunity to receive a scholarship when studying locally, financed from state budget RF

3. Part-time study at a university or college.

Educational process correspondence courses involves a small number of classroom hours. The bulk of the material is studied by students independently, and then the educational institution monitors knowledge in the form of tests and sessions.

Currently, in each educational institution the process of learning via correspondence is structured differently. Some universities and colleges conduct classes throughout the year, for example, once a week on a weekday or weekend (weekend groups), and after studying the discipline, they immediately conduct a test or exam on it. Such a system is called “modular”.

Other universities and colleges adhere to classical correspondence course of study, where students are given a “reading” of orientation lectures immediately before the session, and then students, having listened to training course and having additionally studied the necessary literature, undergo certification control in the form of tests and exams.

The correspondence form is convenient for that category of citizens who do not have the opportunity to regularly attend classes at a college or university. This form is also suitable for combining study and work at a company. At the same time, at the request of the student, during the session the educational institution can issue a certificate of summons, which is the basis for employers to grant study leave to the student.

A separate item should be highlighted “Correspondence courses using information technology” or “Distance learning”

This form of organizing the educational process involves the use of a computer with Internet access. Possible for students various ways receiving educational materials. In most cases, these are online lectures using special software, webinars.

Certification activities for this form of training can also be carried out online, via information technology, but more often teachers send students tests and practical work by email or personal account educational Internet resource. To help students remote form provide access to electronic library an educational institution where everyone will find the necessary material on the topics being studied.

The duration of part-time study in college for secondary vocational education programs ranges from 3.5 to 5 years.

The duration of study at a university for bachelor's programs is usually 4.5-5.5 years, for specialty programs on average 5.5 - 6 years, for master's programs 2 - 2.5 years.

Just like full-time and part-time forms of study, correspondence courses can be implemented with a shorter period of study for graduates of colleges and technical schools entering a specialized field of study, or students receiving a second higher education in a bachelor’s or specialist’s degree program at a university.

Advantages:

Possibility of combining work and education
Relatively little time is devoted to studying disciplines - often this is the only option suitable for pregnant women or students already caring for small children. This form is in great demand among people working on irregular schedules.

Flaws:

Low level of education received
No deferment from the army
Lack of opportunity to receive a scholarship
Correspondence students practically do not participate in the events and student life of the educational institution

4. Externship at a college or university.

This form assumes that a college or university student independently masters educational program, and the educational institution carries out control and certification of the student, with the subsequent issuance of a document confirming the graduate’s qualification level.

Those. The educational institution does not conduct classroom lectures in which the student could master the material.

The training period is calculated based on the requirements state standard, where, as a limit on the number of possible disciplines passed by a student, the figure appears - 20 disciplines per year.

Advantages:

Most quick way obtaining education and qualifications.

Flaws:

Complexity self-study
Inability to use benefits for students