Given Mosher's hectic schedule, you can imagine the road to success wasn't easy. "I've always been a driven kind of guy," he says, adding that the right attitude makes all the difference in taking online classes. "Are you disciplined? Can you set aside a dedicated amount of time? Are you a self-starter?" he asks. "If you're not a self-motivated person, online learning is not for you."

"While online learning can make life easier in some ways, the additional time required of online coursework can make a seemingly simple task like scheduling Fluffy's veterinary appointment hard to do. You've heard there's no such thing as "free" time, and that's certainly true for online learners. Time management is key. Make an honest assessment of the time you can commit to your coursework, and accept that some aspects of your life are going to take a back seat to the pursuit of your degree. But don't think of learning online as lockdown sentence for the next few years. See the list at right for some tips to maximize your "free" time, so you won't be known around the house as "the stranger who shows up to dinner occasionally."