Hi all, I hold 2 Bachelor's degrees- Economics and BA in Science, Mathematics and Technology (Information Systems). I've been working for about 14 years as Data Analyst and teach evening classes at the local community college (GED Mathematics and Computers for the Career Education unit, so no Masters needed). I would like to go into full time teaching at a community college- I live in NY but am thinking of move south. Looking into WGU/Patten and Amberton as the most economical options. I'm leaning towards Amberton, as I am afraid of the self pace structure of WGU and Patten (in other words I know myself too well ) Planning to take 4 VESI classes and transfer them into Amberton. My question is about your opinion, am I miscalculating something when ti comes to possibility to teach with an Amberton degree? Or WGU/Patten of you think I should go that way. Thanks in advance.
Not sure about the others, but I looked into Amberton and it's not programmatically accredited. That might limit your teaching options.
One thing about Amberton, their credits have been accepted at UMass towards the MBA program. Have personal experience with that. I'm familiar with WGU, having done curriculum development for them, and they are a legitimate university (of course) but their reputation in academia is not high. On the whole, I'd look towards other programs with more panache in academia if you want to teach FT.
There are really two considerations: what your school will accept and what other schools will accept. At your school, look around and tell us what you see. I'm one of the few at my CC without a degree from a SUNY school or a respected NYC/NYS based private school (i.e. Fordham, Hofstra, Syracuse etc). My degree from UMT was enough to get me in the door as an adjunct. Would it get me a job as a FT professor? Maybe. A lot of it has to do with availability. I teach HR. They want people with HR experience teaching HR. A full time job at the CC would pay roughly half of what I make as an HR professional. So, I'm willing to bet that they aren't attracting top shelf talent with top tier degrees. But, still, UMT is a long way off of most SUNY schools. Could I go full-time? Possibly. Would I go full-time without a degree from a more respectable school? I can't say. I would call it "unlikely," however. You know the hiring culture of your school best. I've seen CCs where Capella doctorates are well represented in the faculty listings. I've seen others where you'd assume the CC only hires graduates of 1-3 schools. If you want to have a decent shot at any job at any school then, as FT suggests, go with a degree that offers you the best name for your money. Drexel and Benedictine are two solid online MBAs. Syracuse even has an online MBA these days. And Syracuse is a solid bet if you're anywhere in New York (state or city). If you're living in New Mexico I'd imagine it loses some of its influence. To teach at a CC you don't need top shelf. But a degree from a solid school is going to probably be your best bet.
I have attended WGU in the past, it is very affordable and you can go at your own pace. I am currently attending Amberton and so far everyone has been attentive and the price is a real steal (750 usd per graduate course). The downside is 0 financial aid, so if you cannot pay out of pocket then WGU. Patten is quite expensive and also does not offer financial aid. With your background I would suggest finding an economics or math degree at the graduate level. I can say that those two areas are hard to find in terms of both adjuncts and full time faculty, at least in the area where I currently live.
Finance is harder to find than economics. Since you clearly have a head for the math that Finance requires, consider that first if it's a discipline that interests you.
Thank you all for the thorough responses! I obviously have a lot to think about and a lot to research...Thanks again for giving me your time.
Patten is $359 a month (with the often advertised discount) for a regionally accredited MBA. I don't think there is a cheaper RA option. There are many "stories" floating around out there about people finishing it in less than a year...
Patten, WGU and Capella FlexPath are all either very expensive or very cheap. It just depends upon how quickly you work. If you knock out one course a month at Patten, then you're effectively paying $359 for a 3 credit graduate course. That's insanely cheap. The problem is that most people don't work at that pace. If you can work at that pace you might save some money. Otherwise you'll probably just watch in horror as your credit card gets billed into oblivion.
