Distance learning course subjects are offered at a variety of online and correspondence colleges, and are designed to give the working adult an option of returning to school to advance their education. These courses are not a new method of instruction and are gaining popularity due to advances in telecommunications. Instructors can facilitate and students can attend class from anywhere in the world. Working adults are able to balance a career, family, and education simultaneously. Distance learning courses provide students and instructors with the flexibility necessary to complete classes that may eventually lead to a degree.

A class of this nature can be taught through home correspondence where the student receives textbooks and workbooks, learns independently, and then takes a supervised final test, using a pre-selected and pre-approved proctor. Distance learning courses can also be online. Such a class utilizes a specific web-based academic software program that creates a "virtual classroom". This virtual classroom allows students to review and submit assignments, to read or listen to lectures online, and to respond to others' work. Timed exams for distance learning courses can also be taken online. These exams are usually open book.

Continuing education credits, or CEU's, for those with professional certifications can also be taken through a web education program. For example, real estate agents commonly earn their CEU's in different categories via a distance learning course. Even traditional institutions of higher education are beginning to offer these courses for students. An institution does not have to offer a 100% online degree in order to have online classes available. Currently classes with a lab component cannot be offered through a distance learning course, but with technology growing at a rapid rate, this could change. An online class is not always an independent study course.

Taking these classes online allows the student to directly relate what he/she learns to workplace or current event situations. Many distance learning courses require a fair amount of current events research and reproductions in the form of essays and questions in order to facilitate class participation and discussions. This type of class may or may not be accredited. Whether or not the course is recognized by employers or other educational institutions depends on the accreditation agency that approves the school offering the distance learning course. A common nationally recognized accrediting agency for distance learning schools is the DETC or Distance Education and Training Council. Students need to make sure that all of their hard work counts in the real world. "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:60).