Distance Learning / On-Line Degrees
 

So, anyone here done an on-line degree program?

Totally not interested in University of Phoenix. Had bad dealings with them and seen some pretty shady stuff. Looks more like buying a degree than earning one. Their people remind me of cell phone salesmen.

I figure now that WoW is cancelled and AoC is kinda meh I should fill my evenings with something constructive assuming I can get the funds to do so. There are no colleges around, so on-campus learning is impossible.


I want a computer science degree, preferrably something like a B.S. in Information Systems or something similar.

So far the best college I've found (that has some decent reviews) was Troy University's Computer Science program.

If anyone know of any on-line colleges that have no specific time of day requirements and can be done completely through the net I'm all ears. Preferrably ones that don't have a bad reputation like Ashford and UoP. They seem to be migrating towards being degree mills.

Well my Mother (completely out of the clear blue sky) decided to get a degree in computer programming, and did it all online. I will ask her about the program when I catch up with her. With all the election stuff happening, she hardly ever answers the phone!

I know a guy that graduated from University of Phoenix and is proud enough to sport a UoP license plate frame on his car.

I also know a girl that flunked out of University of Phoenix. I have also spoken to the UoP people and they are like pushy salesmen or something but I haven't taken any classes there.

Otherwise, you could probably learn quite a bit online. Decent writing skills will be very helpful. Whatever online college you choose, make sure to pick a reputable one.
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Vaaapp

I always assumed UoP was some kind of scam. I get tons of e-mails from them with stuff like "get your PhD in 2 weeks!" type crap. These fly-by-night places piss me off to no end as I've spent the last 11 years doing degrees at real Universities. Seeing stuff like that cheapens the whole experience really. http://discussworldissues.com/forums...ilies/mad1.gif

My parents used to work at Athabasca University. They do only distance education so they are obviously completely setup for it unlike other universities that only offer side distance ed programs. The university is located in Canada, but they were the first Canadian university to receive accreditation in the states.

http://www.athabascau.ca/programs/bsccis/

http://www.athabascau.ca/aboutAU/accreditationUSA.php

Anyway, I put it out there as an option because it is the only one that I really know of.

It would depend on what type of person you are, but I am currently in University and would never do a degree online. I even hate doing online classes because I am just not organized for it. You have to have a lot of self discipline to do a course that has no set time requirements.

They pretty much are. Just read up on how they operate and its total crap. Its probably a good thing to AVOID getting a degree from there at all costs.

The thing that occurs to me is that obviously not all of these places are created equal. I wonder how generally accepted degrees from these places are.

Well, my co-worker who I'm working on a project with is graduating from there. I'm teaching him what little I know of VB.net programming, and I'm mooching off his SQL and database knowledge.

THREE of us here at work were going to go to UoP. Myself and 2 friends/co-workers. When we talked to them I got a nice guy who wasn't too pushy, but WOW were the other's "salesmen" pushy. Calling them at home, etc. It was like constant e-mail spam, calling, and they dodged questions as good as any politician. They refused to answer honestly about a lot of things. If their salesmen hadn't scared me off the student reviews would have. The overall feeling of the school is an easymode no-brainer everyone gets a 4.0 if they pay their money kind of education. Which makes me worry that in the future employers won't even consider a UoP degree because of that. I saw someone post about receiving their masters with ever attaining a B.S.

Stuff like this just kinda scares ya off:
It’s not the first time that the University of Phoenix has been in trouble. In 2004, the company repeatedly failed to disclose in its Security and Exchange Commission filings and in its conference calls with financial analysts the existence of a US Department of Education review that had blasted its student recruiting practices. That report, which found that the university had violated a federal law that bans colleges from compensating admissions officers on the basis of enrollments, became public only after the university reluctantly agreed to a $9.8 million settlement with the Department in which it denied any wrongdoing. Done a lot of googling on them. Obviously every college has disgruntled students. Some people would have loved the college I briefly went to (IPFW), and I would have nothing but bad things to say about it. But the sheer amount of hate for UoP is just... astounding. You really have to screw up bad to get such a large crowd of bitter people setting up hate websites.

Plus my co-worker's teacher for his random required to pass but not related to anything class is like psycho. He has to pass to gradaute, and its like this woman is trying to fail every single one of them just because.. well.. because she's nuts.


I'll take a peek at the Canadian one. I would really like to do in class stuff. On-line is actually more of a pain because its not in a classroom setting, live, with an instructor and peers to share knowledge with. IMO its harder to take an on-line class. Unfortuantely, its my only option. :(

I tried to figure out the costs and time and it just wouldn't work. Assuming I could get evening classes that fit my schedule perfectly (yeah right) the time and money straing would be harsh. Classes would have to begin at 10:00 P.M. Latest possible shift at work for me is 8:00 P.M. with about an hour and half drive time to get to the college from work. The cost of gas and the time of day are a HUGE issue. According to the admissions people at Troy there's no specific time of day requirement for any of those courses, and only a few test requirements and supposedly I can do that on the weekend at some other college and pay a fee.

I miss the days of attending college, but I sure don't miss the profs. Programming teacher forced me to fail out because I got ill, missed a midterm, and he refused to show up for any test retakes. I showed up multiple days that he scheduled to take it, and he never showed for a single one. Other profs didn't like the fact that I worked 2 jobs (lol burger king) at the time and had some time issues and couldn't attend every single class, so they gave me a C. Gosh I'm so sorry that I have to buy food, and pay for gas and housing. Mostly at the financial aid system for taking into account my parents money and killing my chances at a college education right out of highschool. They wouldn't offer me close to enough to cover room and board + tuition. What they offered me INCLUDING my higher education award didn't even cover tuition + textbooks. Probably one reason why I have so much hatred for the government because of their handouts to lazy people that don't work because it pays more to procreate and watch Jerry Spring, and then screw the people like me who only wanted an education so they could be of some use to society.

Yeah... I'm bitter. And having a real bad day. I keep sleeping in some weird position that makes my shoulders and arm hurt really bad. It makes me really irritable. Moving my right arm causes me pain.

rainwind, the rule of thumb for that kind of thing is to only distance study through established universities that have a reputation and an actual campus, ect.. ie: U of Arizona distance learning as opposed to U of Phoenix. (i think Phoenix has some campuses, but their reputation proceeds them, you'd be much more desirable with a more reputable university degree) You mention Troy State, that is a good example, because they are an established big name state university (my mom was a professor their actually, for a couple of years) Anyways, something like Troy State or any well known, acredited state school is the only way to go. Private universities are fine too, but i would make sure they are primarily traditional campuses who happen to offer distance ed. Usually the way it works is you can do everything online, but they require at least a summer session at the actual institution.

the other thing is, that if there are sales people aggressively recruiting you, it's probably not an accredited or serious program. U of Phoenix and similar actually contract out telemarketing hired guns to convince you to sign up. You should have to convince the university not the other way around. (unless you are a Rhodes Scholar or soemthing)