Online Secretary Schools and Courses
In online secretary programs, you can learn how to run an office, transcribe documents and handle accounting issues. Find out how online and hybrid courses work, and get more info on the topics you'd study as a secretarial student. Get info on choosing a school for your education.
What You Need To Know
Many online degree programs can help prepare secretaries for their work in office administration. When looking at online secretary schools, you can choose from many varied options based on the specific field you'd like to work in, the skills you already possess, and whether you want your program to be partially or fully online.
<table border="1"><tr><td> <b>Degrees</b> </td><td> Certificate or Associate's Degree in office administration, office management, or administrative assistance</td></tr>
<tr><td> <b>Courses</b> </td><td> Word processing, business English, business communication, records management, as well as specialized courses for working in medical or legal fields</td></tr>
<tr><td> <b>Online</b> </td><td> Some programs are completely online, while others may require some in-person classes.</td></tr>
</table><h3 id="section---WhatProgramsCanPrepareMeToBecomeASecretary">What Programs Can Prepare Me to Become a Secretary?</h3><p>You may find the most common options for online secretarial programs are certificate and associate degree programs in subjects like office administration or administrative assistance. Specialized degree programs, such as medical or legal administrative assistance or office management, are available as well. These programs may be completed in as little as one semester or as much as two years. They may be available either entirely or partially online.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatCoursesWillITake">What Courses Will I Take?</h3><p>Courses that are common to all secretarial programs may include subjects like business communication and word processing. You'll likely have general education coursework, in addition to some of the following topics of interest:
</p><ul><li>Records management
</li><li>Accounting
</li><li>Business English
</li><li>Desktop publishing
</li><li>Database management
</li></ul><p>If you choose a specialized program, such as medical office administration, your classes will also include topics like:
</p><ul><li>Insurance claims
</li><li>Medical machine transcription
</li><li>Medical terminology
</li><li>Psychology
</li><li>Pharmacology
</li><li>Anatomy
</li><li>Physiology
</li></ul><h3 id="section---WhatOtherCoursesMightIFind">What Other Courses Might I Find?</h3><p>If you enroll in a legal or law office management program, you'll likely take courses in legal transcription and research. Internships may be available in online secretarial programs as well. Some of the topics you might be studying are listed as follows:
</p><ul><li>Law office procedures
</li><li>Business law
</li><li>Ethics
</li><li>Jurisdiction
</li></ul><h3 id="section---HowCanIChooseASchool">How Can I Choose a School?</h3><p>It's generally a good idea to look at admissions requirements prior to enrolling in a school or program. Some online secretary programs may not offer all of their courses online. You may be required to visit the campus to take some courses. Although most secretary programs teach basic typing and word processing, some may require you to already possess these skills before beginning any courses.
</p><p>Also, because online degree programs generally require special software and hardware to participate, you'll need to find out the technical requirements for not only the program itself but for each individual course as well. You'll most likely need access to a Web browser and a reliable Internet connection. Some programs may require you to be proficient in areas like chat room and email communication. Others may require you to have a computer with multimedia viewing capabilities.
</p><p>These schools offer online secretary courses, some with a specific focus on medical or legal office administration:
</p><ul><li>Bryant & Stratton College (Albany, NY)
</li><li>Herzing University (Menomonee Falls, WI)
</li><li>New England College of Business (Boston, MA)
</li><li>University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA)
</li><li>Purdue Global (West Layafette, IN)</li></ul>