Question About Online Degrees and Schools

Me | 02/16/50 | Tennessee_Bob

[Tennessee_Bob]

Ok - I've been presented with an opportunity of sorts - to return to school to complete a bachelor's degree. With my work schedule the way it is, the best way is probably going to be through the online degree programs being offered. I'm looking at Tusculum here in East Tennessee, but some folks have told me I should consider the University of Phoenix.

Any fellow Freepers have any experience with the University of Phoenix or any other online degree programs that they'd care to share? Any kind of tips or clues you'd care to offer would be more than welcome.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Thanks in advance :) Oh - and yes, I'm logged in, I don't have a sister for the moose to bite, and I'm pretty sure my beeber is stuned (but who can tell these days?)

[martin_fierro]

Here's some advice that I once got, and that I thought made a lot of sense:

Approach the issue from the other side: Ask around at places where you'd ultimately like to work, "From what schools do you most hire graduates?" and then try to ge into THOSE schools.

Maybe this Tusculum is a fine school. Maybe it isn't. See what those actually doing the hiring think about it first.

[RushCrush]

What field are you interested in?

[1john2 3and4]

Say this; I'm logged in, I don't have a sister for the moose to bite, and I'm pretty sure my beeber is stuned (but who can tell these days?) to all potential employers.

The one that says; "You owe me a keyboard" is the one you want to work for.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Shooting for information systems - I can already do the majority of the work, I just need the paper that says that I can.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Don't waste your time or money with any online degree unless it's from a school which also offers regular degrees and has a regular campus. Some schools offer just some courses online, while requiring that some or most be taken in a regular classroom, and that might be a way to make pursuing a degree fit your schedule better (for example, I know the Univ. of Pennsylvania offers Calculus online, though the final exam has to be taken in person). I really think you're better off taking a *long* time to finish a degree from a regular school, than getting a questionable degree from an online-only school sooner.

[LibFreeOrDie]

Here's one database you can search to see if an institution is accredited:

http://www.chea.org/institutions/search.cfm

You can search by name of institution, or by state, or by accrediting organization.