Is Online School Degree Worth It?

[career31905]

I already have a Bachelor degree, and I'm thinking about getting a Master degree through online university. Is it worth it? Do employers take online degrees seriously? The reasons why I'm asking are because online university is accredited and I think it's convenient for people who are busy working.

[texengland]

Which one are you looking at going to?

[career31905]

Master's Degree in Public Administration or Human Services at Walden University.

http://info.waldenu.edu/?dskwid=4370...FYUpaQodhSAAaw

[Caballero1508]

Master's Degree in Public Administration or Human Services at Walden University.

http://info.waldenu.edu/?dskwid=4370...FYUpaQodhSAAaw

It's regionally accredited.

[Cyber_Saint]

There are definitely online schools that have bad reputations, and depending on the employer, it can hurt your chances. Not so much in government, but definitely in the private sector. University of Phoenix for example is not well respected in the private sector when it gets compared to traditional brick and mortar institutions. I've seen employers stick their noses up at it more than once. However there are alot of traditional brick and mortar schools that have large online components. You can do everything online and come out with a degree from a known and established school. One thing to look at is whether or not the school is listed as being a for-profit status. Those are where you are going to run into some of the diploma mill schools with bad reputations (not all of course).

Accreditation means nothing. The worst ranking diploma mill schools still manage to get accredited before they are eventually shut down. Do you just need to check the box saying you have a degree or do you want your degree to stand out on a resume? I'm in the Border Patrol right now. They don't care where your degree came from. If you have it, then you get to check a box. If you want an employer to respect your education then avoid places like University of Phoenix. I did my Masters online through Boston University, and later on took a certificate program through University of Phoenix. The difference between the schools was night and day. Boston University blew Univ. of Phoenix out of the water. Everything from the caliber of the faculty/staff to the academic standards was a complete night and day difference.

US News and World report and The Princeton Review do annual school rankings in alot of different categories. Good luck in whatever you decide.

[saone]

There are definitely online schools that have bad reputations, and depending on the employer, it can hurt your chances. Not so much in government, but definitely in the private sector. University of Phoenix for example is not well respected in the private sector when it gets compared to traditional brick and mortar institutions. I've seen employers stick their noses up at it more than once. However there are alot of traditional brick and mortar schools that have large online components. You can do everything online and come out with a degree from a known and established school. One thing to look at is whether or not the school is listed as being a for-profit status. Those are where you are going to run into some of the diploma mill schools with bad reputations (not all of course).

Accreditation means nothing. The worst ranking diploma mill schools still manage to get accredited before they are eventually shut down. Do you just need to check the box saying you have a degree or do you want your degree to stand out on a resume? I'm in the Border Patrol right now. They don't care where your degree came from. If you have it, then you get to check a box. If you want an employer to respect your education then avoid places like University of Phoenix. I did my Masters online through Boston University, and later on took a certificate program through University of Phoenix. The difference between the schools was night and day. Boston University blew Univ. of Phoenix out of the water. Everything from the caliber of the faculty/staff to the academic standards was a complete night and day difference.

US News and World report and The Princeton Review do annual school rankings in alot of different categories. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Perfect reply to a question I see a lot on other forums.

[USMCPOG]

There are definitely online schools that have bad reputations, and depending on the employer, it can hurt your chances. Not so much in government, but definitely in the private sector. University of Phoenix for example is not well respected in the private sector when it gets compared to traditional brick and mortar institutions. I've seen employers stick their noses up at it more than once. However there are alot of traditional brick and mortar schools that have large online components. You can do everything online and come out with a degree from a known and established school. One thing to look at is whether or not the school is listed as being a for-profit status. Those are where you are going to run into some of the diploma mill schools with bad reputations (not all of course).

Accreditation means nothing. The worst ranking diploma mill schools still manage to get accredited before they are eventually shut down. Do you just need to check the box saying you have a degree or do you want your degree to stand out on a resume? I'm in the Border Patrol right now. They don't care where your degree came from. If you have it, then you get to check a box. If you want an employer to respect your education then avoid places like University of Phoenix. I did my Masters online through Boston University, and later on took a certificate program through University of Phoenix. The difference between the schools was night and day. Boston University blew Univ. of Phoenix out of the water. Everything from the caliber of the faculty/staff to the academic standards was a complete night and day difference.

US News and World report and The Princeton Review do annual school rankings in alot of different categories. Good luck in whatever you decide.

^^^He basically stated everything perfectly. In education, you get what you pay for and why someone would want to go to a school like University of Phoenix, Waldon, or Devry is beyond me. First, they are overpriced for what they provide, even compared to regular schools. And second, even if you want a "check in the box", you don't know where you'll be in 5,10, or 20 years and your degree could have a bearing on that. Want to move to the private sector? Degree ACTUALLY has a bearing there. If you apply to a new agency and that for-profit college shuts down, then your SOL or they are gonna have to dig deep to find if your degree is legit. Want to teach at a college or go into academia after retiring? Goodluck with one of those degrees, as they are not respected in academia past their own campuses. I have my masters through Penn State's online program and the caliber of the faculty is second to none IMO. The layout is also very nice and the courses are no walk in the park. Some, like the MBA program, actually make you attend a cohort at the college for a few weeks and some require an internship. I've done a course through Arizona State online as well and its pretty good as well.

Please check out these colleges before considering going to a place like University of Phoenix or Walden. You'll save money and save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run. Why people still attend for-profit colleges when you have cheaper, better, and PROVEN colleges with online degrees is beyond me.

*Just google online programs with the names of these places.

Penn State
Boston University
Arizona State University
George Washington University
University of Southern California (expensive though)
University of Florida
Florida State University
Colorado State University
University of North Carolina
University of Maryland
University of Texas or Texas State (can't remember, but one of them has online)
University of Illinois: Champagne
Colombia University

Check here for more.
http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education

[Roninjin]

If you have to do online degrees, ensure that your schools is ether regionally accredited or national accredited. Regionally accredited meets the standard and credits obtain are typically transferable to brick and mortar institutions.

[sa_applicant]

Yes I agree. Against the advice of my military education officers, I wasted 3 months of my GI Bill on ITT Tech. Luckily, I got out quickly to a deployment. Theses schools target military and other working adults, since they hope you'll find their online program convenient. They also hope that you won't be "smart enough" or want to make the time to attend a traditional state university. Many regular schools have online programs, or offer some of their brick & mortar classes online.

[TacMed6]

Yes I agree. Against the advice of my military education officers, I wasted 3 months of my GI Bill on ITT Tech. Luckily, I got out quickly to a deployment. Theses schools target military and other working adults, since they hope you'll find their online program convenient. They also hope that you won't be "smart enough" or want to make the time to attend a traditional state university. Many regular schools have online programs, or offer some of their brick & mortar classes online.

Unfortunately, I also attended ITT Tech. Avoid them like the plague!!!!

[TacMed6]

^^^He basically stated everything perfectly. In education, you get what you pay for and why someone would want to go to a school like University of Phoenix, Waldon, or Devry is beyond me. First, they are overpriced for what they provide, even compared to regular schools. And second, even if you want a "check in the box", you don't know where you'll be in 5,10, or 20 years and your degree could have a bearing on that. Want to move to the private sector? Degree ACTUALLY has a bearing there. If you apply to a new agency and that for-profit college shuts down, then your SOL or they are gonna have to dig deep to find if your degree is legit. Want to teach at a college or go into academia after retiring? Goodluck with one of those degrees, as they are not respected in academia past their own campuses. I have my masters through Penn State's online program and the caliber of the faculty is second to none IMO. The layout is also very nice and the courses are no walk in the park. Some, like the MBA program, actually make you attend a cohort at the college for a few weeks and some require an internship. I've done a course through Arizona State online as well and its pretty good as well.

Please check out these colleges before considering going to a place like University of Phoenix or Walden. You'll save money and save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run. Why people still attend for-profit colleges when you have cheaper, better, and PROVEN colleges with online degrees is beyond me.

*Just google online programs with the names of these places.

Penn State
Boston University
Arizona State University
George Washington University
University of Southern California (expensive though)
University of Florida
Florida State University
Colorado State University
University of North Carolina
University of Maryland
University of Texas or Texas State (can't remember, but one of them has online)
University of Illinois: Champagne
Colombia University

Check here for more.
http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education

I was going to reply to Cyber_Saint's post, but USMCPOG did a really good job following up with his points and I agree with all of the info he posted. I would like to add 2 things though. The first is that my FBI applicant recruiter flat out told me that accreditation does matter to them. So if that is where you would ultimately like to work, I would pay attention and select an accredited institution over the university of phoenix, waldon, etc... . It is worth noting that they are the only agency to specifically tell me that, most others didnt seem to mind very much, as others have indicated. The second point is that I have taken both online classes and in person classes for my Master's degree (and bachelors) that I am currently working on. If you are looking for the convenience aspect, then you cant beat online courses. In terms of the workload, in my experience the online courses that I took (at a smaller university) had a noticeably higher workload, sometimes 2-3x as much, versus my in person courses at the University of Michigan. Although given a lower workload, in person courses provided me a higher quality of education in some areas, and costed a lot less. Good Luck!

[USMCPOG]

I was going to reply to Cyber_Saint's post, but USMCPOG did a really good job following up with his points and I agree with all of the info he posted. I would like to add 2 things though. The first is that my FBI applicant recruiter flat out told me that accreditation does matter to them. So if that is where you would ultimately like to work, I would pay attention and select an accredited institution over the university of phoenix, waldon, etc... . It is worth noting that they are the only agency to specifically tell me that, most others didnt seem to mind very much, as others have indicated. The second point is that I have taken both online classes and in person classes for my Master's degree (and bachelors) that I am currently working on. If you are looking for the convenience aspect, then you cant beat online courses. In terms of the workload, in my experience the online courses that I took (at a smaller university) had a noticeably higher workload, sometimes 2-3x as much, versus my in person courses at the University of Michigan. Although given a lower workload, in person courses provided me a higher quality of education in some areas, and costed a lot less. Good Luck!

Agreed. It also depends on your courses and degree. I'm sure the online IT/CS/engineering courses are going to be much harder than the MPAs/MBAs/CJ/liberal arts degrees. The MBAs apparently are no joke now either. With my MPA degree, some courses were easier than others while others involved a lot of reading and writing. Some had 30+ minute long lectures while a few had barely any at all and relied upon just you to do the work. I remember one class taught by a former colonel and director of homeland security in a state and he literally just wanted us to read his outline, then write 2 page briefing papers about US Codes and Statutes following his format EXACTLY . Others I had to do three 8 page papers or a final 10-15 page paper.

Most online courses will require you to do a weekly response to a topic and respond to a couple other students in the thread. They also generally require more writing and papers than multiple choice tests, which is where you really put in your work. Online courses also favor "self-starters", so you have to keep up on your work and ensure you're reading the material. Most people actually like their chosen masters program compared to undergrad though, so that helps. I know I've personally learned a lot from mine. I wouldn't suggest anymore than 2-3 courses if you're working full time either. Hope all that helps.