Master of Arts in Military History at Norwich University (SD advertiser) - opinions/reviews

[robert_columbia]

The Master of Arts in Military History program at Norwich University is a fairly long-term advertiser here on the Dope. Has anyone investigated it (especially more than casually), or actually applied or enrolled?

Is it a quality degree program that provides a good education and is widely accepted by employers and other schools as a fully legit Master's Degree?

One suspicion that I do have is it's persistent advertising, which seems more in line with the ITT Tech's of the world.

[Duke]

Well, there's no question about Norwich University itself being legit. Founded in 1819, the university is one of the six Senior Military Colleges and is considered the "Father of the ROTC" ("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_University) (as well as being, quite as an aside, the alma mater of Bill W.) They've been offering MA's in Military History for quite some time now and they're as legitimate as those offered by VMI or any of the other Senior Military Colleges.

I'm not sure why they've decided to push online Military History MA's. Maybe they think Civil War/WWI/WWII/Vietnam War buffs with money and time on their hands might be interested. If you think it's worth the effort, well, knock yourself out.

[Little Nemo]

I'm not sure why they've decided to push online Military History MA's.There's a lot of people in the armed forces who take online courses. Maybe they're aiming for them.

[obbn]

I think that you are seeing them advertise that particular degree because a Nemo pointed out there are a TON of military buffs out there that would find a course in this fascinating. I am one of those who is a military buff, reading everything I can get my hands on. I have seen that ad and have considered responding for more information. However, the reason I don't is even if you got a "Masters in Military History", what the hell would you do with it?

[robert_columbia]

I think that you are seeing them advertise that particular degree because a Nemo pointed out there are a TON of military buffs out there that would find a course in this fascinating. I am one of those who is a military buff, reading everything I can get my hands on. I have seen that ad and have considered responding for more information. However, the reason I don't is even if you got a "Masters in Military History", what the hell would you do with it?

1) Have a lot of fun, learn stuff, and meet kindred spirits. I have taken a class (not a whole degree program, though) because I was interested in the subject matter. The class is not in my areas of academic or professional expertise and it is unlikely that I will ever "use" the fact that I took the class in order to get a job or qualify for a promotion.
2) Use it as a stepping stone to get into the PhD program you always wanted to go to.
3) Use it to get a raise if you are in a job that includes automatic raises for getting a Master's Degree (e.g. some Government jobs).

The concern that has remained in my mind is the motivation for advertising - lots of programs at many schools are so in-demand that they pretty much don't need to advertise, or they only need to advertise in much more targeted ways (e.g. distributing flyers to students at other schools, attendees at a convention, etc.). That makes me wonder if they are desperate for students (leading one to suspect that the program is not in demand, either because it is too difficult to complete or too difficult to use in real life)

Re: My remark on ITT Tech - I realized that I may be implying something other than what I intended. They're a legit school, but their degrees are not held in as high esteem as others and they are perceived as "bottom feeders", and they advertise incessantly.

[bouv]

My brother actually did that very program a few years ago.

As said, Norwich is a well respected university, and from what I hear, it's a good military history program. From what I understand, it's identical in coursework to a non-online degree, and there is nothing on the degree or your coursework that says "ONLINE DEGREE."

[Duke]

The concern that has remained in my mind is the motivation for advertising - lots of programs at many schools are so in-demand that they pretty much don't need to advertise, or they only need to advertise in much more targeted ways (e.g. distributing flyers to students at other schools, attendees at a convention, etc.). That makes me wonder if they are desperate for students (leading one to suspect that the program is not in demand).

It is an interesting question, yes. I know the university I work for has put advertising on Facebook, and was at least thinking about Google Ads. I'm curious as to why Norwich University thought that they would get a return for advertising so broadly. When we advertise online we'll be told "you can reach X number of customers for Y cost," and to keep Y low and still reach an effective number of people we have to target our audience keywords carefully. So if someone on Facebook says in their profile they're a high school student who lives in our area, they're more likely to get an ad for us. But Norwich seems to throw out ads for a lot of sectors at once. Again, I have to wonder what they're up to.