I am an Industrial Engineering Major and Computer Science Minor and in my final year of courses with only 10 classes remaining. I am undoubtedly planning on getting a job at the beginning of the 2021 year in my studies because I need money for shelter, food, and travel... you know, the necessities.
Over the past 4 years though, I have been reading books and articles on mythologies from many regions. I am by no means an expert; I just really enjoy comparing the archetypes of characters and motifs of stories, and frankly, just reading them period. My center focus over the past few months has been mainly creation myths of the Indus valley, Mesopotamian, and South American region.
I would really like to further study all of these and more through an online program or university of some sorts and maybe eventually earn a higher level degree. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions? Would be much appreciated!
The means by which mythology and folklore are studied vary wildly from campus to campus and nation to nation. As one folklorist brilliantly said to me once, "there are many paths to folklore." Of all the disciplines that study aspects of the humanities, folklore is the least well formed - it is something of an asteroid belt of disciplines, composed of fragments that never quite consolidated into a full-fledged planet.
Because of this, many folklorists cannot arrive at an agreed-upon definition for the discipline, and as your question hints, there is often an inclination to discuss studies of mythology in substitution for the study of folklore. This is particularly true when dealing with ancient sources as approached by history or English departments. The term mythology is a better fits for your examples of the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia, but not so well when dealing with indigenous traditions of South America.
I have attended four introductions to mythology and folklore: one was taught by an English professor (he didn't know what he was doing); one by my mentor, Sven S. Liljeblad (1899-2000 - I was his teaching assistant); one by an Irish folklorist in Dublin; and finally one by a noted ethnographer in an anthropology department. I have also taught the introductory course many times over the span of nearly four decades. Each of these - including the class I offered - was very different from the others. There was little that tied all these examples together.
One of the problems one encounters when attempting to study mythology and folklore is the nature of academic resources in close proximity: universities often have only one person who offers a course in mythology and folklore, and that person may reside in the history, anthropology, English, of psychology departments. The way the subject is presented can be very different, consequently, from campus to campus.
Only a few universities offer an actual degree in folklore, and even among these, there can be differences in approach. Your inclination of finding an online program may be the best solution. The program you find, however, may or may not be consistent with the image you have of what the study of traditions actually means.
I recommend you consider what you find inspiring about the subject you wish to pursue and that you then look at all the options to find a program - and a specific person offering direction. Find the situation that best aligns with what you want. Do not assume that when you see the word "mythology" or "folklore" in a program's description that it will automatically mean what you think it does.
The reason why I doubt anyone can offer you a good answer is because of this problem of changing meanings and approaches. Anyone offering you advice would need to know specifically what you are after - and I suspect you only have a vague idea of that, yourself, at this point. This is not meant to discourage; it is only intended to let you know that you need to do some exploration. Fortunately, exploration is usually exciting and rewarding n its own terms.