CTU vs AIU

Which would you go through to pursue a Information Systems BS?
I really would like to get really technical and not go TOO much into the business aspects.

 

Honestly? Niether. Both are horribly expensive and their only real advantage is faster than normal programs. In exchange for that you miss quite a bit of material and instruction which is not my idea of an equitable trade-off.

 

CTU or AIU = End Goal

Irreligious,

Having attended both schools I would say for a more technical backgroud AIU is better suited for IT work. CTU has a business degree with an IT emphasis that curriculum is more balanced to go either direction.

At the time when I attended school for my bachelors Colorado Technical University had not yet gone online and was still predominantly a brick-and-mortar school. Hindsight being 20/20 I would've probably attended Colorado Technical University instead of American Intercontinental University because my goal was to become a Chief Information Officer (CIO) and my current position at that time was the Chief Technical Officer (CTO).

I do agree with Dave about the price of the curriculum for both schools but I do not agree that I've missed in large portion of the material for my classes. I could understand if a student had limited experience in the IT field or really didn't have some type of IT foundation. That person would miss out on the fundamentals that many of the adult learners already have entering the program.

Whether you enter the program with or without experience you will benefit from the learning process and acquire new skills as time goes on. I would also encourage you to look locally at schools which will be cheaper, depending on your financial state. Good luck and please drop a post when you make a decision, education is never cheap whether time or money.

S/
Vonnell

 

Money is no issue for me since i get 100% tuition from the Air Force..

 

100% ? are you active? - GI bill? If active, I assure you - its not 100%. There is a cap / limit to spending.

-Steve

 

I can top off with my GI BILL.

 

Please be sure before you leap

I use my GI bill and the maximum at this time is $1004.00 they will not accelerate the payments unfortunately. I hope 100% coverage it's true because I will pass this to my military folks. I still have 8k left on my GI bill, which translates to 8 months of full payment. I still used federal loan and out of pocket saving to complete both programs. I wish they would do a bulk upfront payment to the school. Good luck my friend

Vonnell

 

Why just these two? There are many other options that better fit with our TA system and will allow you to save the GI Bill for use towards a quality graduate degree later on. Here is a link to help get you started. http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/InstitutionsBySubjectType.asp?RecID=3

Check with your BESO for more info.

 

Ive been researching and this is the best program i have found for myself. I also get a 10% grant for being military from this school.

 

I'm not sure there is a diff. Not only are they both on the high end tuitionwise at ~ 30K, but they're also both under the same ownership.

 

can you guys tell me of a cheaper BA program in Info Systems? A school that is acced and has an equal or better program?

 

If its going to be 30 k i see myself using up about 4 months of benefits. thats leaves me with 20 more. Then there is also a 10 % grant i will get for being military and from a base on their list.

 

A quick perusal of the "Computer Information Systems" and "Management Information Systems" sections of the index to Bears' Guide, 15th edition, reveals the existence of the following programs. I give you the weblinks with which to check for yourself, but I'm guessing that most, if not all of these will be far less expensive than the AIU/CTU twins.

American College of Computer and Information Sciences www.accis.edu (BG15, 96)
Athabasca University www.athabascau.ca (BG15, 98)
Baker College www.baker.edu (BG15, 99)
Bellevue University www.bellevue.edu/Online/index.html (BG15, 99)
Caldwell College www.caldwell.edu/adult-ed (BG15, 156)
University of Calicut http://collegeskerala.com/calicut (BG15, 177)
Capella University www.capellauniversity.edu (BG15, 156)
Central Missouri State University www.cmsu.edu/extcamp (BG15, 102)
Central Queensland University www.dtls.cqu.edu.au (BG15, 103)
Champlain College www.champlain.edu/ccol/index.html (BG15, 103)
Charles Sturt University www.csu.edu.au (BG15, 104)
Charter Oak State College www.cosc.edu (BG15, 104)
City University www.cityu.edu (BG15,105)
Columbia Union College www.cuc.edu/ntp/ext_degree.html (BG15, 106)
Excelsior College www.excelsiorcollege.edu (BG15, 110)
Grantham College of Engineering www.grantham.edu (BG15, 114)
Kaplan College www.kaplancollege.com (BG15, 118)
University of London www.lon.ac.uk (BG15, 138)
Mary Baldwin College www.mbc.edu/adp (BG15, 162)
University of Maryland www.umuc.edu/gen/virtuniv.html (BG15, 140)
University of Massachusetts Lowell http://continuinged.uml.edu/online/default.htm (BG15, 140)
University of Memphis www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/campus/Memphis (BG15, 141)
Monash University www.monash.edu.au/offcampus (BG15, 122)
Murdoch University http://wwwonline.murdoch.edu.au (BG15, 123)
New Jersey Institute of Technology http://cpe.njit.edu (BG15, 124)
Nova Southeastern University www.nova.edu (BG15, 165)
Old Dominion University www.odu.edu/home/distance.html (BG15, 125)
Open University and Open College www.ola.bc.ca (BG15, 126)
Open University (England) www.open.ac.uk (BG15, 126)
Oscail National Distance Education Centre (Ireland) www.dcu.ie/oscail/index.html (BG15, 127)
Park College www.park.edu/dist/index.html (BG15, 167)
University of Phoenix http://online.uophx.edu (BG15, 143)
Queens University www.queensu.ca/pts (BG15, 128)
Regis University www.regis.edu/regis.asp?sctn=onl (BG15, 129)
Rochester Institute of Technology http://distancelearning.rit.edu (BG15, 129)
Saint Mary of the Woods College www.smwc.edu (BG15, 170)
University of South Africa www.unisa.ac.za (BG15, 144)
Southern Cross University www.scu.edu.au (BG15, 172)
Southern New Hampshire University www.snhu.edu/Prospective_Student/distance_ed.html (BG15, 130)
Strayer University www.strayer.edu/online/frtr.htm (BG15, 132)
University of Sunderland www.sunderland.ac.uk/international (BG15, 180)
Technikon of South Africa www.tsa.ac.za (BG15, 132)
Thomas Edison State College www.tesc.edu (BG15, 133)
Touro University International www.touro.edu (BG14, 134)
Upper Iowa University www.uiu.edu (BG15, 149)
University of Victoria www.distance.uvic.ca (BG15,147)
Washington State University http://distance.wsu.edu (BG15, 150)

 

I have to second previous comments. Just about any accredited program would be surperior to the AIU/CTU progams. In an older thread we went through the hours required for accrediation and AIU was about 30% short of the minimum number required. If you wanted a really rigorous program I would look at Regis University out of Colorado. Honestly there are so many programs out there that anybody giving you advise would need to know a lot more about you, your background, and your needs to give any specific recommendations.

 

Hey Ted,

Thanks for including the links in your postings. They make it very convenient for me (and I'm sure for many other people) when I feel like checking some place out right away as I'm going over the responses.

Arch

 

I am two years in the Air force, i work in the IT sector. I work from 7:30 to 4:30 and will not be able to access school work during those times. I have 26 IT credits (19 network admin creds, 4, unix admin creds, and 3 information management creds). I can get school fully paid and now just need to find the right program for a CIS degree. Which is the BEST out there? is that enough info?

 

I dont know if all CIS degree concentrate alot on programming but im not interested in programming too much,im horrible at math. Ive seen some of the coursework around but i am looking for more network oriented stuff.

 

what do you mean by that?

 

No. "Best" means different things to different people ie rigorous, fun, easy, lots of math, little math, cheap, etc. What I meant was someone would need to talk with you for a few hours or perhaps know you for a few weeks/months. There are ton of IT programs out there. You are talking about invest over 1 year and $10k. I would do SERIOUS research until you know the specifc features and differences between all the programs before making a decision.

 

You should look at the Fort Hays State University program then.