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Online College degree programs - What's recommended?

post #1 of 11
7/8/05 at 11:50pm
Thread Starter 
Hello everyone! I'm slowly coming to the realization that without a college degree, you're essentially stuck in the rut that's called "jobs that barely pay enough to live on" and so forth. I'm so frustrated right now I'm screaming inside day after day and I've decided I've had enough: I'm going to pursue the completion of my degree at last.

Anyway, I work a full time job and unfortunately, going part-time isn't an answer as I need all the money I can get. I'm seriously planning on getting an online degree (at least going for a Masters in Information Technology), but I don't just want to get a crappy one where employers will snub me just because I got it online. I have looked at the following:

University of Phoenix Online

Western International University Online

Axia College Online (an A.A. degree program that seems to be affiliated with University of Phoenix online but tuition is cheaper).

All of these seem reputable but I wanted to find out from anyone here if they've gotten their online degree from these places and what their opinions are. I want to investigate this whole thing before I finalize my student loans and choose a college.

EDIT: Bah...title should have said "Online College Degree Programs - What's recommended?"
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post #2 of 11
7/9/05 at 8:50am
Any reason you don't go full time to school and take out loans?
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post #3 of 11
7/9/05 at 10:45am
Thread Starter 
Shelby- Yes. I work full-time, as I said. I think I wasn't clear enough: Going to work part-time and school full-time is not an answer as I need all the money I can get.
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post #4 of 11
7/9/05 at 11:35am
Quote:
Going to work part-time and school full-time is not an answer as I need all the money I can get.

The reason I think ShelbyB mentioned it was because school loans will cover school plus living expenses.
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post #5 of 11
7/10/05 at 7:03am
Congrats on making the decision to return to school. Many online programs don't get the recognition they deserve. One good one that comes to mind is University of Maryland University College. They are affiliated with the Univ of Maryland school system and they seem to be pretty well respected. The military seems to push this option to allow service members to work on their education no matter where they are deployed.

www.umuc.edu

Good Luck,

Jeff
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post #6 of 11
7/10/05 at 12:16pm
many state schools offer online classes now. I take my MBA at a state institution here, the degree says U of _____ and not U of ___ online.
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post #7 of 11
7/10/05 at 2:30pm
The simple truth is that there's a hierarchy of schools. An employer is generally going to be more impressed with someone with a degree from Harvard than from some State University. And in most cases, online schools are going to rank near the bottom in employer perception. That doesn't mean they're no good, just that even the best of them probably won't look as good to an employer as a degree from Cal State Fullerton, or other universities near you. Of course, if you can get an online degree from a b&m college that won't indicate that it's online, that seems like a smart thing to do.
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post #8 of 11
7/10/05 at 6:32pm
That was the point I was driving at. Provided you are not high maintanence, a college student typically lives quite cheaply. Get enough scholarships and loans to cover room, board, and any audio habit you have developed. I honestly think that is the best option for your education, plus its more fun that sitting in front of your computer at home and at work.
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post #9 of 11
7/11/05 at 2:37am
Would taking the degree online be any cheaper then going part time?
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post #10 of 11
7/11/05 at 7:16am
What is your discipline like...how committed are you? Do you have 3-4 hours every night to dedicate to studies? Do you have young kids, bad habits, etc? My sister is doing an MBA via Univ of Phoenix and I can tell you, it's not a walk in the park. She graduated with honours from Univ of Michigan and she has her hands full.

Drop out rates are extremely high in online programs so they are now screening for this.

You need the same time and commitment whether you go local or online. The beauty with online is that you get to manage you schedule better. I predict that B&M colleges will be dinosaurs in the next decade or two.
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post #11 of 11
7/11/05 at 8:50am
Quote:
You need the same time and commitment whether you go local or online.

You need more for online. I floated through my undergrad with a 3.7 because I WENT to class. I never studied, never really had to do much homework because hardly anyone tested outside what they lectured. Having to read the chapters and keep up is proving difficult and I've had to scale back to one class per semester.

the easy online classes are the ones that have something due each week, that forces you to keep up. the ones that have 2 projects and a final are a killer.
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