ACCIS vs Grantham vs Strayer

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by ndukaa1, Jan 26, 2006.

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  1. ndukaa1

    ndukaa1 New Member

    I am just wondering if anyone can give me the best advise about these colleges.
    Grantham, ACCIS and strayer

    I would also like to know if anyone could tell me if distance/online education is respected in the workforce.

    I am planning on taking a degree in CS/IS/Software engineerin

    Any form of advise will be really appreciated

    Thanks
     
  2. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    All I can say is that American College of Computer and Information Sciences www.accis.edu , Grantham College www.grantham.edu , and Strayer University www.strayer.edu all three have legitimate accredfitation. Thus, ( ATTENTION MODS (!!!) ) this thread likely belongs in the regular Distance Learning Discussions Forum or in the IT forum, perhaps both, if the mods could move it. It would get more attention there. Also, you seem a bit new, if I'm not mistaken, but DesElms has a rule about when asking info on specific schools, the thread-starter should provide weblinks for said schools, which I have undertaken to do for you. Good luck!
     
  3. aic712

    aic712 Member

    I don't know much about ACCIS, but I have heard good things about Grantham. They are both Nationally accredited, I am sure others will provide more details.

    Strayer is a regionally accredited private school based in Washington DC. I have been working for them for the past few months and believe they offer a quality product and have quite a bit of respect in the Northern VA/DC/MD area. They use E-college for online, which is actually pretty cool and very user-friendly as long as you stick with the "Asynchronous" format for classes.

    The degrees strayer offers are databases (oracle, etc), internetworking (cisco), computer networking, and computer information systems (heavy programming, software engineering).

    We ARE NOT cheap, if NA accreditation is not an issue for you, there are cheaper options out there. Strayer courses run about $1285 per course (they don't charge per hour), and are 4.5 quarter hours (3 semester units) a piece. The courses meet in quarters (11 weeks) and there are 5 week mini-sessions for online courses at the 100 level only.

    As Rich Douglas said in another post: Just as good as any other Regionally accredited, relatively unkown (outside of the east coast) school. We have several students who get their Bachelor's from us and go on to GMU, GWU, Georgetown, and American U's grad schools as well, which is where the Middle States accreditation comes in handy.

    Good luck in your search!

    Sorry for posting on this thread Ted, but I figured that they would move the whole thread if need be :)
     
  4. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Yes, yes, of course, the part about moving the thread was for the moderators' consumption. I have PMed DesElms.
     
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I am just wondering if anyone can give me the best advise about these colleges. Grantham, ACCIS and strayer

    Of those three, I'd say Strayer. I would also keep looking, though, as you can probably find something less expensive that's just as useful, such as Amberton University or Fort Hays State University.

    I would also like to know if anyone could tell me if distance/online education is respected in the workforce.

    That depends on where in the workforce. You're asking about IT, though, so it's probably better received than it would be in other fields.

    -=Steve=-
     
  6. ndukaa1

    ndukaa1 New Member

    thank you for the replies.
    I am sorry about not following the rules i didnt know the rules.

    By the way i have already done some of my college education on campus in canada and moved to the US and just was pondering the online vs oncampus and my field.
     
  7. FC2008

    FC2008 New Member

    Does anyone here thank that Grantham is even worth the price? Arent they one of the most expensive DETC schools?
     
  8. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    That's okay, you didn't know, but hang around, and maybe you'll learn from us.
     
  9. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    How many credit hours have you completed in Canada and at what school? You will need to have the courses from Canada evaluated if you want to transfer them to a US school. The more details you provide the more accurately advice can be offered.
     
  10. ndukaa1

    ndukaa1 New Member

    i completed one year od college credits towards a diploma in IT and then went to university for 2 more years towards a college degree.

    I believe i have at least 70 credits

    Thanks for a response.
     
  11. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    A list of information technology degrees available by distance learning is living on this thread:

    http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19454 .

    A couple of other good resources are: John Bear, Mariah Bear, and Tom Head, _Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead_ and John Bear, Mariah Bear, and Larry McQueary, _Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning_.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 5, 2006
  12. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    The details regarding accrediting are that there are basically two types of institutional accrediting: regional accreditation (RA) and national accreditation (NA). Basically, any accrediting agency, in order to be considered legitimate, should be recognized by (or seeking recognition from) the U. S. Department of Education (USDOE) and/or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The American College of Computer and Information Sciences and Grantham College of Engineering are both accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) and Strayer University is accredited by the Middle States Association (MSA). Both DETC and MSA are properly recognized accreditation agencies. RA is often considered the "gold standard" of accreditation. While NA is perfectly legitimate, it appears that, sometimes, there are some utility issues with NA degrees insofar as getting employment and/or graduate school admissions. Part of the reason for the difference in perception regarding NA as opposed to RA may be historical in nature: most NA began by accrediting short-term vocational training before getting into accrediting longer-term, more academic programs. Another reason for the difference in perception might be mere ignorance: many human resource officials say "regional accreditation" when they mean "legitimate accreditation." And I suppose some of the problem might be mere snobbishness on the part of RA schools and their admissions officers.
     
  13. ndukaa1

    ndukaa1 New Member

    Thanks for the extra information Ted. You shed some more light on what i had been kind of trying to figure out.
    Any more information would still be cool to have.
    Thanks once again
     
  14. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    John Bear, an august Senior Member Emeritus at this site with 4000+ postings, has, since 1974, been author/co-author of _Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning_ for the first 15 editions. Now that John is retired from the Bears' Guide project, Bears' Guide lives on through his daughter Mariah Bear (co-author of the 13th, 14th, and 15th editions) and a new co-author, who just put out the 16th edition as of January 2006. Bears' Guide has excellent chapters on Accreditation and School Licensing Laws. One of Dr. Bear's old graduate students, Dr. Rich Douglas, is also an august Senior Member Emeritus of this board (6000+ posts) and he has established himself as the expert in matters of non-traditional education, accreditation issues, and human resources. Dr. John Bear and Dr. Rich Douglas have de-materialized here and re-materialized over at www.degreediscussion.com .
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 5, 2006

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