Online College Degrees

[KSH]

I would suggest looking for on line programs of regular well known state universities, not at private schools that are only on line schools. Most employers value those bit more.

Great advice there.

Many of those private schools that promise a degree in 6 months are VERY EXPENSIVE! You can get a degree, for less money, from a local college that is well respected.

Good luck!

[GLC1968]

My husband has two online degrees. One that he started at Univ of Maryland when he was in the airforce that he finished at University of Phoenix not long after we were married. That one is a bachelor's degree in IT. His master's degree is from Norwich University that he earned through a distance learning program a little over a year ago. The experiences between the two were vastly different and they weren't solely the normal differences between undergrad and graduate school. The quality of his education from Norwich was vastly superior to the UoP education. The Norwich program also included a week long 'residency' where he was on campus, did some group final projects, took some intensive electives and did other 'live' learning programs. It was required that he work with his classmates (one of which was in Japan) and each graduating class in the program was kept intentionally small to encourage interaction. He had a ton of contact and attention from the professors and his 'participation' requirements were much higher than any that I had when I got my "brick and mortar" master's degree. It was a tough and intensive program.

Based on what I saw him go through and how these two degrees have been treated by the corporate world, I would highly recommend what a few others have said and suggest selecting a respected University that has a good distance learning or online program.

Oh, and one of the major advantages to distance learning is that he was able to get a specialized degree from one of the most respected programs in the country - from our small town location in NC. It's a great opportunity to get an education that otherwise might be unobtainable for many people due to location and work schedules.

[surgtech1956]

Thanks for the info. I've found 3 local universities - a community college where my degree is from offers a 3+1 BA in management(I would transfer to a 4 year for the last year), another college thats about 40 miles away has an online accelerated program. I'm interested in management or health service administration. I made the mistake of requesting info from Phoenix - they sure are pushy - I tried not being rude, but finally had to tell them I wasn't interested. I should have posted before requesting the info.

[Tuckervill]

I first called Phoenix in 2004, and I received a call from them again LAST WEEK!

Karen

[Red Rock]

Surgetech-I am currently in the online program through Weber State University here in Utah. I have been doing this for two semesters now going on to my third.

My basic impressions are this: For me online seems more difficult because I feel like I am having to figure everything out, or teaching myself. There is not the direct contact, or immediacy, that you would get if you were on campus. I like to actually speak with the prof. in person.

It is nice since I do not have to move locations for an education.

I am amazed at the people that I have had class with through time. The Bahamas, Wyoming, SLC, Oregon...etc. That in itself is intresting. I wish I could meet these people in person and actually get to know them.

I have a BS plus already so I am going back for the 2nd or 3rd time for more education.

When I sign up for a class and "go to the bookstore", if there is an optional text, for an online student it is mandatory. That is how I feel at least. I would rather not guess at what I have to know.

If your intrested in Health Service Administration, you might want to check out Weber. They are accreitied, and they are brick and mortar. I am in their Clinical Laboratory Science section.

I hope this helps.

Ellen

[Tuckervill]

Contrast to me, where I absolutely LOVED my online classes--the way the worked, the amount of interaction with others, being able to do it while in bed. I don't really like being around people a lot, and I don't like having to compete for time to speak or ask questions. So, online works GREAT for me.

There were some drawbacks--like having to do group projects with people who could not function online. But for me, the online experience was the best.

Karen

[crazybikinchic]

I agree with the group project stuff. I am one that wants to get it done and move on with life, while I have had groups that are the last minute type. Again, it depends on how well the online class is set up. I did have an issue with a computer crash and losing all of the completed work to that date. Fortunately, it was only about 2 weeks into classs, and she gave us 100's for redoing the work (I had done really well on the work anyway). The other online classes I have had were a lot of busy work. That really annoyed me because I was taking a full load. If it were not for that, it would have been fine but I still had 3-4 other classes to deal with. I would stay away from U of Phoenix.

[uforgot]

Contrast to me, where I absolutely LOVED my online classes--the way the worked, the amount of interaction with others, being able to do it while in bed. I don't really like being around people a lot, and I don't like having to compete for time to speak or ask questions. So, online works GREAT for me.

Wow, there is someone else out there like me? That's exactly how I feel!