I am currently a year into a Masters program at the University of Kansas with a specialization in Software Development. I must have an undiagnosed ADD condition because I find it very hard to sit in a classroom for 3 hours straight and listen to a professor pontificate on the topic du jour. Repeat as necessary for 16 weeks. Yuck. I like DL in that the work can be done independent of the rigid schedule of a classroom. What are your recommendations for a school that offers an MS in Computer Science based on the following criteria? 1. Accredited. RA? 2. No residency requirements. 3. Low cost. Nova is priced way beyond my means. 4. Based in the USA. There are many good international schools, but I want to keep it local. 5. Preference to specializations in data warehousing, DBMS design and artificial intelligence. Thanks, Rick
Try the following places: 1. Lawrie Miller's website (Master's programs) 2. University of Hawaii (MS. in IS/CS) (Under $8000) 3. Indiana State University -- Distance Learning (Under $9000) 4. Jonnie's Distance Learning Web Page -Several CS programs
Thanks Ike! UH looked interesting. I'd be interested in hearing from students or graduates who are going or went through UH's distance learning program. Indiana State University would be a good choice for a CS major who enjoyed digging into the details of electronics. I especially liked Lawrie Miller's website. The categories by price and institution were helpful. Rick
Kansas State has a relatively inexpensive (around $13,000?) Software Engineering distance program if you want to keep it very local. I am currently in the MCS program at University of Illinois. They do have a DBMS focus (3 of the 9 courses can be DBMS related). Unfortunately, they are one of the highest priced options (around $22,000 for the whole program).
The Nova MS in CS is a great program but I did not suggest it because Rick has already declared that Nova is "priced way beyond" his means.
ADD is NOT your problem! Just my observations and opinions, for what ever it my be worth. Throughout my life I've been in alot of classrooms. Only about a third of the instructors were really good at making even the most boring material interesting. Others could put you to sleep talking about sex. One other observation, I've had the priviledge of knowing some very very intelligent people, IQs of 200+. Without exception those folks were all bored when someone was trying to teach something, they always did much much better learning on their own. Good luck and best wishes! Let us know how it works out!!!
Gunsmoke - You are way too kind! Jeff - K-State is a good idea and I did see that initially on Jonnie's distance learning web pages. The plus side is the location and cost. You are right on with a very affordable $13,000. The downside of that program is they are still tying the classes to the regular school year calendar, according to their website. I'd hate to breeze through the text and assignments in two months, then have to wait another 2 months to take the final. Ike, drwetsch - I've known several graduates of Nova and have a high respect for their programs. Perhaps chasing down scholarships to pay for Nova would be the way to go. Student loans are abundant, but the thought of going into debt doesn't sit well with me at this age (42). Many thanks to all for your keen insight and suggestions. Rick
http://www.ntu.edu hello, Have you ever heard of National Technical university ? They offer a very good Mscs programs and one of the few online schools that are regionally accredited and acredited by abet(Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology )the schoool allows you to take classes from well known schools like arizona state, wash u etc and design your own program as for the price for the total program i am not sure but im sure it is not to steep .the exams are protoctoredyou will have find a proctor the first week of class You also have the option to recieve your classes on dvd vcd video cassetes or cd. checkthis out : http://www.ntu.edu/Ac/faq.asp University Partners NTU offers a wide range of academic courses from a working alliance of more than 50 universities -- including 11 of the top 25 graduate engineering programs as listed in U.S. News and World Report. Some institutions participate in many disciplines, while others provide courses only in selected subject matter areas. Many of the universities also produce noncredit courses, tutorials and research teleconferences offered by NTU. NTU contracts with these and other institutions and faculty to develop additional curricula and courses as demand warrants. Member organizations sponsor NTU courses via satellite at one or more sites for their employees or client employees. These down link sites include individual organizations, state-wide networks, interconnected networks, and international distributors. Arizona State University Boston University Carnegie Mellon University (ECE) Clemson University Columbia University Florida Gulf Coast University Georgia Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Iowa State University Kansas State University Lehigh University Michigan Technological University New Jersey Institute of Technology Northeastern University Oklahoma State University Southern Methodist University University of Alabama in Huntsville, The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, The University of Arizona, The University of Arkansas University of California, Berkeley University of Colorado at Boulder University of Delaware University of Florida University of Idaho University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Nebraska-Lincoln University of New Mexico, The University of South Carolina University of Tennessee, The University of Washington Master's Degree Programs Business Administration (MBA) Chemical Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science Electrical Engineering Engineering Management Environmental Systems Management Manufacturing Systems Engineering Materials Science and Engineering Mechanical Engineering Microelectronics and Semiconductor Engineering Software Engineering Special Majors Systems Engineering Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, NTU awards master's degrees in key engineering, technical, and management disciplines. Additionally, NTU provides access to other University Master's degrees. The NTU portfolio of nearly 1,400 graduate-level courses offers a rich mix of theory and applications courses, overviews, and hands-on training. This breadth allows technical professionals to tailor their programs of study to meet the requirements of the project they're working on today - and refresh their skills when future projects warrant. NTU has granted more than 1,800 master's degrees to individuals who have completed their program of study while working as full-time employees. NTU does not award bachelor's or doctoral degrees. Most academic courses offered by NTU are delivered on NTU's instructional television network via satellite to sponsoring organizations located in many parts of the world. There is no resident campus. You don't have to be admitted to NTU degree programs to take an NTU for-credit course. You can enroll in the course to earn academic credit (which can be applied toward a degree later), or audit courses for in-depth technical updates. This flexibility permits organizations to maximize NTU's course content to bring crucial technical education to their professionals. hope this helps!
