Wasn’t sure where to put this one. I’m basically looking for input as to how they are viewed by the rest of the world. The supposition I had was that pretty much everybody would see them as second rate. After doing a little research though it looks like they are starting to gain on the traditional piece of paper as far as credibility goes.
I’m not really looking for opinions. What I would like is statements of fact.
If you are a graduate from such a program, have you had any problems with being taken seriously?
If you do hiring / recruitment, would it jaundice your eye to see a candidate who earned their post-grad online?
Again I don’t want to fill this thread with IMHO. I want to know, from those who know, what the impact would be on a persons career.
I hire for my department in an American Multinational. If I have one position and two applicants, I would usually look at their work experience first. If one has vastly more / better experience than the other - competition over, regardless of where the necessary degree came from.
If the two candidates are pretty equal in the work-experience catagory, (e.g recent graduates) I would tend to lean towards the degree with the better grade, and that came from the better known University, whether the degree was earned, by direct attendance, correspondance or over the internet. That is to say that I would prefer a 2.1 from IvyLeague University, over a 2.1 from Unknown University in Iceland.
If I was hiring for a position that didn’t require a degree, then having any type of degree would be an advantage.
So in short - it depends. What ever University you choose - the most important thing is to get a good degree. Imagine trying to impress the interview board with a pass degree from Internet University.com !!!
Hope that helps.
This page form the American Bar Association’s website speaks generally about online or distance learning, and particularly on juris doctorates. Harvard, Stanford, and Florida State all offer online degrees now, and at the time of the writing (1999), at least one completely online school, Jones International University, gained accreditation with the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges. Unfortunately it doesn’t mention what percentage of these degrees are grad degrees or what type.
Only one completely online school is currently offering law degrees, and they aren’t ABA accredited, so one couldn’t practice law after getting a degree from them. So for the time being an online law degree isn’t recommended.