Good idea to check with HR. The restriction about paying for classes only at brick-and-mortar campuses may really be more about only paying for accredited programs, than it is an outright rejection of distance education. If the objection is specifically to distance ed, you need absolute clarification as to why that modality is unacceptable. Are there sufficient 4-year institutions in you area for students like you to take the (presumably) evening and weekend courses that they’d need while holding down a typical 9-5 job? Chances are that your home-state public Us have some programs that are offered both on campus and in distance format. Your transcript and diploma would not indicate any difference at all between those classes. Other than HR noticing that you are registered at a campus several hours away, there would not be any way for them to know that your classes were distance ed.