On-Line Colleges

[Killah Ray]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever been to one. The reason I'm asking is since I work at Wal-Mart, they have some kind of partnership with American Public University (or something similar) so I was looking into it...

Was mainly looking at getting a B.A. in Management...so any info would be appreciated...

[rprince18]

i hear there bullshit

[Kash Flagg]

I don't think people would take you seriously. It's like being an ITT grad (no offense to any ITT grads/students)...people don't take those types of places the least bit seriously.

[James McCloud IS John Godot]

If you're doing it for the learning, they're ok. If you're doing it for the qualifications... erm, not so much. It's possible to find a good one and use it as a stepping stone to something slightly better but it is absolutely no substitute for the real deal.

[Killah Ray]

Jun 22, 2011 17:24:55 GMT -5 Kash Flagg said:

I don't think people would take you seriously. It's like being an ITT grad (no offense to any ITT grads/students)...people don't take those types of places the least bit seriously.

I was looking more to apply it in house (i.e. Wal-Mart) mainly...and I couldn't imagine they would advertise a college in the break rooms like they do and not accept it...

[FUNK_US/BRODUS]

Campus life was kind of dull.

[The Booty Disciple]

Many, many accredited universities have online degrees and outreach programs. Hell, I worked for the University of Wyoming Outreach School for three years, and those degrees are just as well accepted as if you were an on-campus student instead of a distance student.

However, American Public Universities is a for-profit school, and for-profit colleges have a bad reputation that, by and large, is earned. To start, take a look at the first few returns on a Google search for "for profit colleges. Not looking all that great, is it? I just read through the first two articles, and they seem to be pretty right on.

For a more humorous but just as accurate view, take a look at Cracked's article

That's not to say it's not worth looking into, but keep in mind, these institutions are out to make money, not provide a virtuous ideology of higher education that puts the students' successes at the forefront of their approach.

[The Line]

I was just having a similar conversation with a friend just yesterday on a similar topic (ours' was more about art institutes and the such), and just how employers view them the same way many students do, as a cheaper, easier alternative to a physical college or university. That's not a statement on the quality of education, but from everything I've read and heard, an employer is almost always going to hire a graduate of a physical university over an online college graduate(if all their other qualifications are the same/cancel each other out).


I'd do some research on the qualifications on who applies for the job(s) you are looking at. If many of the applicants that are hired are in-house and did the online course, then great. If, however, they're just hyping the college but still largely only hiring people with Bachelor's from physical universities, then yeah, stay the hell away.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Only attend accredited universities. ONLY ATTEND ACCREDITED UNIVERSITIES!

My wife works as an academic adviser at a major university, and you won't believe how many people are utterly heartbroken at the fact that their credits won't transfer.

I can't speak to how that works in house at Wal-Mart though. If that is the narrow application you are looking for do your research first.

[Red Impact]

Jun 23, 2011 8:18:06 GMT -5 YAKMAN is ICHIBAN said:

Only attend accredited universities. ONLY ATTEND ACCREDITED UNIVERSITIES!

My wife works as an academic adviser at a major university, and you won't believe how many people are utterly heartbroken at the fact that their credits won't transfer.

I can't speak to how that works in house at Wal-Mart though. If that is the narrow application you are looking for do your research first.

Caveat, only attend REGIONALLY accredited universities. Those colleges are accredited, but they're nationally accredited, which is pretty much a joke. Somehow, regional accreditation is the real one.

[angryfan]

I've done the online thing for my associate's and bachelor's, and the whole "it's all a joke, they just print your diploma for a fee" really is a slap in the face. Here's what a "term" for me consists of.

I take two classes at once, 10 week terms. For each class, I wind up doing at minimum 2 tests, 5 quizes (one every other week) and 4 to 5 research projects/papers that are a minimum of 2500 words. Plain and simple, there's a TON of work involved.

When I went to "traditional" college when I was 19, a typical semester was 4 classes, with a midterm, final, and a ton of lectures. Maybe a quiz every now and again, but they were rare. In my experience, it's easier to half-ass your way through that system then the online one.

Having said that, I have to echo the "be very mindful of acreditations that was mentioned earlier. It's the first thing I checked out before I started.

[Turd Ferguson]

I was flirting with the idea recently, but that Cracked article actually turned me off to it.

"tighten up the graphics on level 8," has also become a meme amongst my friends.

[The Line]

Jun 23, 2011 8:55:26 GMT -5 angryfan said:

I've done the online thing for my associate's and bachelor's, and the whole "it's all a joke, they just print your diploma for a fee" really is a slap in the face. Here's what a "term" for me consists of.

I take two classes at once, 10 week terms. For each class, I wind up doing at minimum 2 tests, 5 quizes (one every other week) and 4 to 5 research projects/papers that are a minimum of 2500 words. Plain and simple, there's a TON of work involved.

When I went to "traditional" college when I was 19, a typical semester was 4 classes, with a midterm, final, and a ton of lectures. Maybe a quiz every now and again, but they were rare. In my experience, it's easier to half-ass your way through that system then the online one.

Having said that, I have to echo the "be very mindful of acreditations that was mentioned earlier. It's the first thing I checked out before I started.

I don't think people were talking about the amount of work that goes into getting a degree at one of those places, but rather the fact that you can get a much more respected from a real institution that'll work better for you, and it'll probably be cheaper(right now, I'm at Wash. St. doing summer session, the most expensive of the three semesters, and I'm paying $430/credit hour. Most of those online schools and the ITT-types charge well over $475/hr)

And about the classes being easy at a real college, first of all, most of the time they have Frosh/Soph classes be easier, because they don't want students to fail out/not meet the GPA requirements to certify. Believe me, once you get passed 200-level classes, they can become quite tough.

[britishbulldog]

I do almost all my class work online. However, I am a firm believer in only doing online school with a college that has a physical campus. That way you know they are accredited and the degree will carry more weight with future employers.

[angryfan]

Jun 23, 2011 11:28:32 GMT -5 The Line said:

Jun 23, 2011 8:55:26 GMT -5 angryfan said:

I've done the online thing for my associate's and bachelor's, and the whole "it's all a joke, they just print your diploma for a fee" really is a slap in the face. Here's what a "term" for me consists of.

I take two classes at once, 10 week terms. For each class, I wind up doing at minimum 2 tests, 5 quizes (one every other week) and 4 to 5 research projects/papers that are a minimum of 2500 words. Plain and simple, there's a TON of work involved.

When I went to "traditional" college when I was 19, a typical semester was 4 classes, with a midterm, final, and a ton of lectures. Maybe a quiz every now and again, but they were rare. In my experience, it's easier to half-ass your way through that system then the online one.

Having said that, I have to echo the "be very mindful of acreditations that was mentioned earlier. It's the first thing I checked out before I started.

I don't think people were talking about the amount of work that goes into getting a degree at one of those places, but rather the fact that you can get a much more respected from a real institution that'll work better for you, and it'll probably be cheaper(right now, I'm at Wash. St. doing summer session, the most expensive of the three semesters, and I'm paying $430/credit hour. Most of those online schools and the ITT-types charge well over $475/hr)

And about the classes being easy at a real college, first of all, most of the time they have Frosh/Soph classes be easier, because they don't want students to fail out/not meet the GPA requirements to certify. Believe me, once you get passed 200-level classes, they can become quite tough.

Absolutly agree that the higher level courses are far more difficult. I was simply saying that even in some of the 200 level stuff I've taken (both online and in a traditional school) I found that the classroom time was far more lecture and notes and far less "go research, write, and show me what you've learned".

As to cost, yeah the "for profits" have the rep of being more expensive, and I'm willing to bet in many cases they are. However, I noticed something when looking at grad schools. I'm at something like $350 per credit hour, whereas the Univeristy of Cincinnati is $445 per, and that's in state "discount". I'm sure part of that is that grad schools are far more expensive, but still, it did catch my attention.

Jun 23, 2011 11:31:57 GMT -5 britishbulldog said:

I do almost all my class work online. However, I am a firm believer in only doing online school with a college that has a physical campus. That way you know they are accredited and the degree will carry more weight with future employers.

Same, my "local campus" is two towns over, and I can stop in any time I want or need to for academic advising or whatnot. With my schedule, it's admittedly not that much, but knowing I have the option is definitely comforting.

[The Line]

Jun 23, 2011 11:42:04 GMT -5 angryfan said:

Jun 23, 2011 11:28:32 GMT -5 The Line said:

I don't think people were talking about the amount of work that goes into getting a degree at one of those places, but rather the fact that you can get a much more respected from a real institution that'll work better for you, and it'll probably be cheaper(right now, I'm at Wash. St. doing summer session, the most expensive of the three semesters, and I'm paying $430/credit hour. Most of those online schools and the ITT-types charge well over $475/hr)

And about the classes being easy at a real college, first of all, most of the time they have Frosh/Soph classes be easier, because they don't want students to fail out/not meet the GPA requirements to certify. Believe me, once you get passed 200-level classes, they can become quite tough.

Absolutly agree that the higher level courses are far more difficult. I was simply saying that even in some of the 200 level stuff I've taken (both online and in a traditional school) I found that the classroom time was far more lecture and notes and far less "go research, write, and show me what you've learned".

That depends on a variety of factors(The school, the instructor, the program). And I'm talking above 200 level(300-500). 100 and 200 are still mostly freshman classes. But even so, one of my most intense classes was Geology 105, one of the 8 or so intro-level science classes for non-science/math majors. So it's a crap shoot, sometimes.

As to cost, yeah the "for profits" have the rep of being more expensive, and I'm willing to bet in many cases they are. However, I noticed something when looking at grad schools. I'm at something like $350 per credit hour, whereas the Univeristy of Cincinnati is $445 per, and that's in state "discount". I'm sure part of that is that grad schools are far more expensive, but still, it did catch my attention.

That is because the taxpayers of your state(in your case, Ohio), end up fronting a decent chunk of every in-state resident's tuition(plus a bunch of other stuff is funded by these means, as well), regardless of the student's income level, on the condition that the school always has at or above a certain level of in-state residents enrolled. To entice more in-state residents, it's cheaper. You'd be hard-pressed to find a real school that doesn't do that.

[Red Impact]

I have to say that there is a difference between "a school that offers courses online" and "an online college." They really shouldn't be mistaken. A lot of traditional schools do offer online courses for students, and they're pretty much the same thing as traditional courses, except you don't meet in a classroom with an instructor.

Also, as for ease of school, you know how the second semester of my Freshman year went? 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. doing work. I was an architecture major, I had a class that was 16 hours a week in class and was completely impossible to get by without putting in double that time in the studio. Some degrees do have it easier than others, and some require a crap ton of work pretty much from the get go just to get by. You can't really apply a broad brush to what the "college experience" is like.

[The Booty Disciple]

Keep in mind, folks, you can get full degrees from strictly/online and distance programs anymore. The Outreach School was the fastest growing segment of the University of Wyoming for a number of reasons, and there were a number of students who never were required to step foot into Laramie for a bachelor's degree. Now, post-bachelor's will likely be a different story for various reasons, but the option is definitely out there.

The caveat here is that again, for-profit colleges operate on a different wavelength than your traditional college/university setting which has entered into an agreement with other institutions to maintain a certain benchmark of quality of education. That's what accreditation is. Some are reputable and do indeed give you the information and tools to succeed (there's a number of culinary schools that give you great training and have wonderful placement programs, for example), but more often than not, even if the education is "good," so to speak, it's entirely too specific and won't be nearly as versatile as a degree from more traditionally accredited institutions.

[Alex Shelley]

Jun 23, 2011 19:32:04 GMT -5 The Booty Disciple said:

Keep in mind, folks, you can get full degrees from strictly/online and distance programs anymore. The Outreach School was the fastest growing segment of the University of Wyoming for a number of reasons, and there were a number of students who never were required to step foot into Laramie for a bachelor's degree. Now, post-bachelor's will likely be a different story for various reasons, but the option is definitely out there.

The caveat here is that again, for-profit colleges operate on a different wavelength than your traditional college/university setting which has entered into an agreement with other institutions to maintain a certain benchmark of quality of education. That's what accreditation is. Some are reputable and do indeed give you the information and tools to succeed (there's a number of culinary schools that give you great training and have wonderful placement programs, for example), but more often than not, even if the education is "good," so to speak, it's entirely too specific and won't be nearly as versatile as a degree from more traditionally accredited institutions.

I actually have some questions about the Wyoming program. Can I do that while also being enrolled in another school? I've been considering Wyoming for at least the start of my grad school program (which is still several years in the future) because they have a nice paleontology program (and some other reasons likemybestfriendlivinginlaramie). It would be nice to be able to take some online courses from there, especially undergrad paleontology courses if any of them are offered online. I figure a full-fledged science degree being done online would be impossible, but maybe they have some classes available If not, there's also some other types of classes from there I'd be interested in taking, just to kind of get my foot in the door at the school.

[The Booty Disciple]

To my knowledge, Outreach does not currently offer paleontology in either undergrad or grad level. You'd have to check with the College of Arts & Sciences about course requirements, and see if some of the requirements could be fulfilled via Outreach. The groovy part? You'll already be accepted at the university and have an active transcript when you hit town, and I believe there's different tuition rules for Outreach students than traditional out-of-state students, so you may wind up saving some cash.

I could be wrong, though. I haven't been with Outreach since February when I went to work with TEM in media management. Whenever I get back to Laramie, though, I'm probably going to try and resume my position with Outreach.