Hi there,
Mr. Smaje has been toying with the idea of getting a degree online. He graduated high school, but has no college experience. We can’t afford much, and he takes care of Baby Smaje during the day, so I thought maybe an online program might work well for him.
Has anyone here gotten their BA or Associate’s Degree online? Tell me about your experience! Was it worthwhile? Have your job prospects improved? How long did it take you?
Thanks!
Well, there are different kinds of online degrees. There online-only schools, schools like DeVry and University of Phoenix that are largely online but do have local campuses, and now, you can also get a degree largely or entirely online from many (if not most) established brick-and-mortar schools. The online schools still don’t have a great reputation (although I believe this is changing), in part because some (all?) of them have open admissions (you don’t need to have a HS diploma to enroll). For B&M schools, the admissions policies tend to be the same regardless of whether you take classes online or in person, but they may have programs for adult learners with different policies, or separate pools of applicants.
I got a BS in Computer Science from a state university, and did about 75-85% of my classes online. I could have done it entirely online, but I preferred to go in-person when I could. Mine was through a sub-college of the university specifically geared toward adult students, i.e. people who had either spent time in the workforce and/or already had a degree (as I did), who might also be currently working. You could earn credit for relevant work experience, and those classes that were in-person tended to be at night or on the weekends. They counted my general credits from my previous degree, so I just had to complete the 30 or so for my major. It took me just over a year, taking classes and working a little less than full-time. I really enjoyed the classes, and I now have a totally different career that I love, that I would not have been qualified for otherwise. Two years in, I’m already earning more than I was in my previous career. The cost of tuition was the standard in-state rate, a couple thousand a term.
The big deal for me, though, was the self-discipline it took to do the classes online. I find I really learn better with an in-person instructor, and would have done all my classes on campus if I could. Don’t get me wrong; I’m very glad the online classes were available, and some were great. Some sucked; just like the in-person classes, it depends on the instructor. But it’s an added challenge, on top of the challenge of the material itself. So for someone who hasn’t taken college courses before, I’d personally recommend taking one or two intro classes in person somewhere first, to get a feel for the task. There are often night and weekend classes at community colleges, and at the online university campuses, I’d imagine. That’s where I’d start.
Also, for various reasons, I had to get it done as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that means that I’ve already forgotten a lot of what I learned. If I had it to do over again, I’d take more time with it. So, particularly if your husband has no specific career goal and timeframe in mind, there’s no need to pile on five or six classes at once. I’d say just start with one or two at a time, and ramp it up if it feels doable.
Good luck!
What kind of degree is Mr. smaje1 planning to earn and what field is he hoping to enter or improve his prospects for?
Just make sure you do your homework, so to speak, on any school you’re looking at if it’s solely online. A quick search on the Department of Education’s site will tell you whether a school is properly accredited and not “Zeke and JoeBob’s Degree Mill University.”
Regional accreditation, though coveted, doesn’t really preclude a school from being a degree mill. The reason U of Phoenix (which is accredited), DeVry, and the like are regarded as trash is because they are for-profit corporations whose main concern is maximizing shareholder returns, not education (in the case of U of P they are owned by the Apollo Group, which is a publicly-traded company). They operate on the business model of bleeding students for the federal funds that their accreditation makes them eligible for - and they’ve been wildly successful at it. Even though students at these for-profit “colleges” only make up 10 percent of college enrollments in the U.S., they account for 47 percent of the defaults on federal student loans (cite).
A good rule of thumb is not to go to any college/university that advertises on TV (or advertises anywhere, really). Enroll in a real university and then take online courses, if they’re available. This is becoming more and more of an option so definitely look into your state school’s programs.
Indeed, Frontline has dealt with these “for profit” schools at least twice that I’ve seen. They recruit you so they can soak up government grants and loans and you end up with a worthless degree, if you graduate at all, and in debt.
See the PBS website for more information.
I both got my MA (Education) in an online school and I teach for an online school. Here’s what I’ve taken from the experience:
Learning online is great if you already know your field and just need the paper to prove it, but get it done quickly. Don’t just fart around thinking you’ll do the work for the class later. Don’t expect any meaningful help, either. You’ll be largely on your own.
Very good advice. Ultimately though, he needs to think about what the purpose is of the degree. If he really wants to learn, or wants his degree to have some “value” it would be much better to enroll in a brick and mortar school that has an online component. If he just wants a degree with minimal work, he can waste his money at University of Phonenix or DeVry.
Also he could consider going to community college, especially if there is childcare. Probably more stimulation for him (if the school is decent) and he can make real connections with other students and faculty.
Bingo!
A better rule of thumb is to stay away from for-profits. The city and state universities of New York are the least expensive universities around here,they are reputable and you can hardly get on a subway train or open a Sunday newspaper without seeing their ads. It’s probably not uncommon for public universities and community colleges to advertise.
Well, it’s mainly the TV ads that are the tacky ones. But yes, I agree, for-profit is the problem. There’s a massive conflict of interest between for-profit business models and education. Now, the world of public and private academia is by no means greed-free (in some respects it can be just as rampant), but at least there are some checks on it, and overall quality control is relatively better.
Honestly, those for-profit schools should really have their accreditations revoked. I remember something about board hearings at some point where that was being considered, but of course they lobbied hard for their interests and for the time being, they’re still in business robbing the country blind (not just the students who get suckered in but the taxpayers who ultimately pay for it when they default on their loans, as most of them do).
OK OK, but you know what I mean. We’re talking about the places that advertise on Tyra/Oprah/daytime soaps/whatever at 2 in the afternoon and never stop advertising. I’m just saying that should strike anyone as a red flag.
One of my buds was looking to getting an AA degree online and I was shocked at the price. I told him to go to a Community College it was way less money and nearly half of it could be done online anyway.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. It sounds like community college might be the way to go. If only it was as hilarious on campus as it is on “Community”…