I want to get my degree.. any good online schools?

[MDesigner]

My background: started school in '92, majoring in CS. I left in '97 because I had some money issues and needed to get a job. Now I've been in the tech industry ever since... so I've got a crapload of experience behind me, but no degree. I don't think it will ever be a major issue, but who knows....

Problem is, I am WAY too busy to attend a school physically. I work all day, and then I have side jobs as well (working for myself). The only online school I know of is University of Phoenix Online. Are there other good options? Has anyone here taken courses at these schools and had good experiences? Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[krunchykrome]

Have you considered Devry? Also, a lot of colleges including community colleges offer online courses.

 

[yllus]

This is sort of useless because it doesn't end with you obtaining a degree, but MIT offers OpenCourseWare: "A publication of MIT course materials not requiring any registration with 500+ courses available." Good luck.

 

[badmouse]

Check out degreeinfo.com .

I got my second degree, CS, from Excelsior College (Regents College back then); it's a non-traditional school that accepts credits from many sources: regular course credits, correspondence, online, exams, and "life credits." Quite a few of the computer course credits for me came from certification exams.

 

[DrPizza]

There are a LOT of online classes that you can take. I highly recommend that you take courses from an accredited institution. DeVry isn't. (afaik) The reason: any degree is worth far more if it's from an accredited university, and credits are likely to be transferable. Anything from a non-accredited school is unlikely to be transferable to anywhere else. I was just checking out IUC online. Sounds good to me.

 

[CanOWorms]

A lot of universities have distance learning programs for professionals, too. They usually start late, like 6pm, and they'll be taught in a normal classroom with university students with working professionals participating over the Internet.

 

[Hammer]

UoP online like you said, but be prepared to pay a LOT.

 

[gistech1978]

im pretty sure penn state offers some online courses.
but again, probably be prepared to pay through the nose.

 

[waggy]

what about that arizona online college? probably getting the name wrong. but have seen it on TV.

 

[CaseTragedy]

Originally posted by: badmouse
Check out degreeinfo.com .

I got my second degree, CS, from Excelsior College (Regents College back then); it's a non-traditional school that accepts credits from many sources: regular course credits, correspondence, online, exams, and "life credits." Quite a few of the computer course credits for me came from certification exams.

did the online degree help your employment?

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
There are a LOT of online classes that you can take. I highly recommend that you take courses from an accredited institution. DeVry isn't. (afaik) The reason: any degree is worth far more if it's from an accredited university, and credits are likely to be transferable. Anything from a non-accredited school is unlikely to be transferable to anywhere else. I was just checking out IUC online. Sounds good to me.

DeVry is accreditited. http://www.devry.edu/online/advantage_accreditation.html

 

[Imdmn04]

Devry is a joke. A lotta managers will just throw your resume into the recycling bin when they see the word Devry.

 

[vegetation]

Check your local state colleges first. Times have changed greatly since 97, so you'll find a lot of them offer a good chunk of online classes now. You really want to get a degree from a respected institution and not some "online university" that spams people to increase enrollment.

 

[AgentEL]

Carnegie Mellon University has a distance-learning program.

Although it's mainly for a MS, I believe they do have a program where you can just take classes for "Life-Learning." However, I don't think it's the focus of what they're doing.

PM me if you want more info.

 

[kranky]

Just my opinion, but if I was going to get a degree online, I would get it from some place with a physical campus, so the degree didn't automatically mean "Online degree". I hear people who make hiring decisions at work chuckling about people with U. of Phoenix degrees.

They believe that U. of Phoenix is legit, but completely geared towards putting degrees in the hands of full-time workers with the ability to pay. They don't consider it challenging, more of a "if you have the money, you'll pass" thing. They have the same view of any online-only program. I have no idea whether that is justified, but I'm just passing it along.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: kranky
Just my opinion, but if I was going to get a degree online, I would get it from some place with a physical campus, so the degree didn't automatically mean "Online degree". I hear people who make hiring decisions at work chuckling about people with U. of Phoenix degrees.

They believe that U. of Phoenix is legit, but completely geared towards putting degrees in the hands of full-time workers with the ability to pay. They don't consider it challenging, more of a "if you have the money, you'll pass" thing. They have the same view of any online-only program. I have no idea whether that is justified, but I'm just passing it along.

I'd like to see them take some of the degree classes U Of Phoenix offers. It isn't that easy. I have taken a couple. U of Phoenix does have a physical campus as well. Many of them as a matter of fact.

 

[tnitsuj]

I would avoid the for profit universities such as Devry and U of Phoenix. A lot of real schools have online programs that should fit your needs.

 

[C'DaleRider]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
I would avoid the for profit universities such as Devry and U of Phoenix. A lot of real schools have online programs that should fit your needs.

While it's true that many school s have online programs, it is difficult to complete a degree online from most of them because the vast majority have a requirement for X number of hours be taken on campus....our local univ. has a massive distance learning program esp. geared toward MBAs, but the student must take quite a few hours in person physically on campus.

 

[Justin218]

Yeah, check out your local universities web site and look at the class schedule. Just search for online classes. I am sure you will find quite a few. You'd probably still have to take some classes physically though. But even then, you don't always have to go to class...

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I'd like to see them take some of the degree classes U Of Phoenix offers. It isn't that easy. I have taken a couple. U of Phoenix does have a physical campus as well. Many of them as a matter of fact.

Just telling you the perspective of people I work with who make hiring decisions.

 

[MDesigner]

Wow..thanks for all the advice.

It's true, hiring managers do not give Devry and similar schools as high regard as major universities. Unfair? Maybe. It's just the way it is, unfortunately.

I live in the west suburbs of Chicago.. so I'm looking at taking some classes at DePaul. It's a pretty good school from what I hear. And hey, if I need a class that's not online, one of the campuses is just about 15-20 mins away from me.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: MDesigner
Wow..thanks for all the advice.

It's true, hiring managers do not give Devry and similar schools as high regard as major universities. Unfair? Maybe. It's just the way it is, unfortunately.

I live in the west suburbs of Chicago.. so I'm looking at taking some classes at DePaul. It's a pretty good school from what I hear. And hey, if I need a class that's not online, one of the campuses is just about 15-20 mins away from me.

DePaul is a good school. Good luck to you!

 

[skychief]

I'm currently enrolled with the UoP and so far it has been all positive (short of a few financial aide problems and the cost). I have taken several classes at a traditional campus, and have been online for over a year. I can honestly say that I feel I gain a lot more from these online courses for the simple fact that you deal with subject matter seven days a week and not just two or three. The classes are only five weeks long but trust me when you are done you definitley feel like you know the material. They are definitley alot of work!

 

[Chrono]

I attend DeVry and am on my way to finishing a BS in CIS. DeVry is an ok school. If you work at anything really, then obviously you'll learn. If you go to the labs or go through the material that is given to you and keep practicing learning it, you'll learn a lot definitely. I needed to finish up school quick so that I can quickly go out and find a job. That's why I went to DeVry. I know many people who are trying to finish as quickly as possible as well, with ages ranging from 18 -> 50 year olds.
DeVry is accreditted. The only thing annoying about Devry is that they're just like any other private school, which is, they try to milk as much money from you as possible.

 

[MDesigner]

Hm, my girlfriend told me DePaul is also kind of expensive.. not sure how it compares to UoP in terms of prices. She said to also consider IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology), so I'll probably check into that too.

The thing is, I'm looking at the courses for Computer Science major, and it's still very much stuff that is useless to me... assembly programming, data structures, blah blah. Then I look at other majors like Info Technology & Management, and there are cool, RELEVANT classes like some of the above (data structures, etc) but also good stuff like UI design theory, designing Internet apps, stuff like that (I'm a web programmer/designer for a living). But I don't think the IT or MIS degrees would carry as much weight as a CS degree...but I would definitely learn a lot more that I could apply to my job.

What do you think?