Online Office Administration Degree Programs

Meeting new people, solving problems, communicating with individuals of all types, and sending emails and office memos — this is the world of a person employed in office administration. Office administrators are usually able to juggle multiple tasks at once, engage in work with a variety of people and quickly assess what needs to be done when a problem arises. As you can see, office administration can be a job that is full of variety and that can be both fun and challenging for those who are up for the job.

Online degree programs in office administration may be a good fit for anyone who wants to learn new skills, work on a postsecondary education or be able to retain full-time employment while seeking career goals. Online degree programs in office administration can offer a convenient way to earn this degree at your own pace. Students may be able to find hybrid programs, allowing them to incorporate both campus-based and online coursework.

What do office administrators do?

It’s unlikely to ever be a boring day for an office administrator. He or she may oversee many different moving parts, both literally and figuratively, in an office. Whether it’s helping a client or patient on the phone or taking care of jammed paper in a printer, an office administrator might be asked to provide a solution. Some of the tasks that office administrators could be expected to do include:

• Answering phones and transferring calls
• Inputting information into electronic database systems
• Making copies or writing memos
• Ordering office supplies
• Performing bookkeeping or other basic tasks
• Scheduling office events
• Sending out office-wide emails

Occupations and Career Outlook

Office administrators are needed in many different fields, ranging from medical and health services to engineering, research, education and the legal field. Office administration courses or degree programs may be useful for obtaining a job or seeking more challenging opportunities or positions. The details below provide more information about an office administration career.

Choose a degree that can help you meet your career goals

There are many different online degree programs in office administration available, including at the certificate, associate and bachelor’s degree level, which can be offered in fields as specific as business and healthcare.Take a look at the following online degree programs in office administration along with what you can expect to learn in the program and what you can do after earning the degree.

Online Certificate Programs in Office Administration

What can I expect to learn in an online certificate program?

Online certificate courses in office administration can help you to learn more about the field in general. These distance-based programs are similar to campus-based classes andfocus on teaching students both basic and more challenging skills. Content in an online program is typically accessed through a learning management system or through use of videos, chats and other distance-based tools.

Typical duration:Can be finished in a year or less

Typical coursework: Some of the courses that students take may include:

• Communication
• Data Entry
• Office procedures
• Word Processing
• Report Preparation
• Spreadsheets

The short time to certificate completion may be attractive to students who are looking to advance their knowledge, but want to keep their costs low. Another advantage for online certificate programs in office management is that the start dates are often rolling, meaning that students can start at any time that they wish or that there are a good number of start dates available throughout the year.

Certificate courses are designed to increase a student’s confidence and abilities in accounting, business correspondence, software applications and even website maintenance may have grown.

What can I do after earning a certificate?

Jobs that you may be able to do after completing an online certificate program in office administration include those for file clerks, human resource assistants, office clerks, and receptionists and information clerks. You also may be able to seek employment in fields as varied as banking, government, real estate, private practice or other areas.

Online Associate Degree Programs in Office Administration

What can I expect to learn in an online associate degree program?

At the associate degree level, office administration programs typically become more focused For example, an online associate’s degree program in office administration could be targeted toward business administration or medical office management. These can help a student direct their path toward a specific field or industry, but also set them up for later educational opportunities if they wish to pursue a four-year degree.

Typical duration: Two years

Typical coursework: Courses that a student in an online associate degree program in office administration can take may include:

• Accounting
• Advanced Software Applications
• Database Concepts
• Principles of Finance or Marketing
• Records Management
• Web Fundamentals

Electives: An advantage to an associate degree program is that students generally have the opportunity to take a few elective courses depending on their area of interest and to become more deeply engaged in their learning.

What can I do after earning an associate degree?

An associate degree requires more courses and more effort than a certificate program, enabling students to build more specialized skills and knowledge. With an associate degree, you might be able to pursue employment as a:

• Clinical technician
• Compliance manager
• Community service manager
• Human resource associate
• Medical administrator
• Medical office clerk
• Office manager
• Patient care advocate
• Sales manager

Online Bachelor’s Degree Programs in Office Administration

What can I expect to learn in an online bachelor’s degree program?

At the bachelor’s degree level, online programs in office administration usually are more nuanced, allowing students to pursue a focus relevant to business, healthcare, human resources, public service or other fields. Generally, many of the foundational courses are similar to an associate degree program, but upper-level courses are focused more specifically in these fields to build skills in communication, office applications and technology, and decision-making processes.

Some online bachelor’s degree may allow you to transfer prior credits in (why accreditation is important!) or to receive credits for prior experience or learning.

Typical duration: Four years. Courses may be offered in eight- or 16-week formats providing more flexibility than campus-based learning.

Coursework: Students in online bachelor’s degree programs in office administration may take courses such as:

• Accounting
• Business or Healthcare Ethics
• English Composition
• Introduction to Computers
• Leadership Skills
• Organizational Behavior

Many of these programs include general business courses of one type or another.

Electives: There are likely to be multiple opportunities for electives depending on the field, allowing students to take courses in areas that interest in them or that could be tied in to their specific career goals.

What can I do after earning a bachelor’s degree?

Your job opportunities may increase after completing an online bachelor’s degree program in office management. You may find more jobs open to you and more opportunities available across numerous industries. Positions can be as varied as:

• Branch manager
• Human resources specialist
• Management secretary
• Office associate
• Records manager
• Sales manager

Accreditation and Licensures

One way to know that you are gaining valuable, high-quality instruction is by making sure you choose a school that has been granted accreditation through a regional accreditation agency. There are seven regional institutions that have approval through the U.S. Department of Education to grant institutional accreditation and these institutions closely look at theacademic quality of a program to evaluate whether it meets set standards before granting accreditation.

This accreditation can be valuable in other ways. For example, if you want to enroll in an online bachelor’s in office administration program the school you are interested in may require that prior coursework come from an accredited school.

Depending on which state you live in, you may need to pass an administrative licensure program to be eligible for administrative positions in educational institutes. In order to be eligible for a license, most licensing bodies require that you graduate from an accredited school.

Employment Statistics

Administrative Services Managers

Source: 2020 Occupational Employment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov.