Help regarding the reputation of specific online programs

Hello all, I'm new to posting on this forum although I have read many posts over the last few weeks as I work toward finding a program to complete my undergraduate degree online. For a little background information, I have completed over 60 semester units (basically encompassing all of the general education required by most schools and a few extra classes in various subjects) in person at a 4-year state university in my hometown while still living at home.

Due to health-related issues, I left high school at 16 and am now 22. My undergraduate work to date was not completed in 2 straight years but was completed more or less part-time over the past 6 years with breaks at the beginning to focus on my health and more recent breaks due to the economy and the necessity of having a full time job. I'm now at a point both financially and health-wise that I feel ready to complete my undergraduate degree (full-time), but even though I'm young I am definitely at a point in my life where I would not appreciate the "college experience" that some people have tried to push me towards and I would prefer the online learning experience.

I have done quite a bit of research and worked to narrow down the myriad options available. For the most part, the schools on my list are non-profit, regionally accredited, and, with the exception of four or five of them, are brick and mortar schools that also offer degrees online. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful mentor in the IT field who gives me input on the curriculum of each program but I was hoping to find some help here figuring out which of the schools on my list have better reputations, which have reputations that would cause an HR person to throw my resume straight into the shredder, and which schools with great reputations I may have overlooked.

I'm hoping you can look at the list below and let me know which of these programs just do not belong with the others or if I should add any programs to my research. I'm still not quite sure about the exact major I'm looking for, just generally programs in the area of CIS or IT or even MIS as opposed to straight up computer science and programming. Also, at this point, cost isn't as important to me as reputation and once I narrow them down I will then focus on the cost. Thank you for taking the time to read this post and offering any advice or expertise, it is greatly appreciated.

Champlain College
Charter Oak State College
City University of Seattle
Dakota State University
Drexel University
Excelsior College
Florida Institute of Technology
Northeastern University
Oregon Institute of Technology
Penn State
Regis University
Saint Leo University
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Southern New Hampshire University
Thomas Edison State College
University of Maryland - University College
University of Massachusetts
University of Memphis
Utica College
Western Governors University

 

Accord to your list, I would choose:
Penn State
Drexel University
University of Massachusetts (Which Campus?)
Northeastern University
Oregon Institute of Technology
University of Memphis
Florida Institute of Technology
Regis University

I also recommend you to choose school that closer to where you live to avoid any criticism for distance learning. Perhaps, avoiding any solely distance learning school is a must, but as long as regional accreditation.

 

I wonder why you single out DSU. I noticed you did not rank them very highly when I asked about them on another thread. From what I have read on this forum from past threads, some eminently qualified candidates with super high GPA's (3.9) and impressive backgrounds attempted to apply for their doctoral program and were not accepted. They seem pretty competitive to me, even if perhaps not as well known. From what I have read on this forum and on their web site the program seems rigorous. I can speak from my own experiences in applying to them and several other schools. The questions and such that were asked of me from DSU were the most in depth; they required the most letters of recommendations (3) as well as a GRE score.

Sorry to call you out on this, but as I am presently considering which acceptance I want to take, and as they are high on my list, I can't help but do so.

 

I have had similar thoughts and concerns and I think they are valid even today. I would pare down your list to schools that have brick and mortar foundations, the older the institution the better. A University type of institution would be best.

Online education is a bizzaro world. The most expensive programs are not the best, the schools on your list that I really like and have considered myself are the University of Massachusetts and Regis. I like the cost of education and the general reputation of UMASS. I like Regis for the accelerated course format and the their ABET accredited programs. A majority of the schools listed have tuition rates that are around $500 a credit hour. An undergrad distance program has to be really special to be worth that rate TO ME.

With that said, I would never hide the fact that you acquired your degree via distance, it will not be difficult to find that you had achieved your education goals via distance. Attaining your degree via distance shows strength of character and great discipline, relish in that fact and be proud of your accomplishments wherever you attain your distance education.

 

Nobody is singling out DSU.

1. Comparing Masters programs to Doctoral programs is not proper. The fact that eminently qualified candidates don't get into the Doctoral program has absolutely nothing to do with the undergraduate or masters-level programs. At all.

Why: Because there might be 2 or 3 doctoral spots for 100 applicants whereas there might be room for 1000 new masters students a year out of 1000 applicants if all were qualified to attend their programs of choice. Masters programs scale well to distance where Doctoral programs still need to have one on one contact with a dissertation chair and committee.

2. Part of any distance learner's criteria if they are not considering an academic career is "can I get into a program?". Many don't have the time in their schedules to apply to multiple schools, wait, network with admissions, wait, and then go to school.

Why: Because to a person that works full-time that wants to get educated, doesn't want to wait to get educated. They want to spend the time they have and get some return that they can immediately apply to the workplace or use to make the next career move.

So to recap.

1. DSU is an excellent school and I hope to attend it. It's got a great reputation in academia for what it is.
2. There are other excellent schools that are easier to deal with and have just as much if not more name recognition to employers.
3. So the number of people who attend DSU here is not as high as say Capitol or UMass or Penn State or some other school.

And
4. People talk about and recommend what they know. They do not recommend what they don't know. You'll be hard pressed to find conversation about Harvard College on this site as well.

To be completely fair, because I want to go to DSU, I've essentially turned down two other schools that had earlier deadlines for responses to enter doctoral programs that I was wait listed and later admitted to. If I am not accepted to DSU, I will be angsty

IT

 

So, I got home today and got the standard 2 mm thick envelope that tells me that I was not good enough for the doctoral cut at DSU this year.

C'est la vie.

My good wishes to all those who did make it.

IT

 

I'm sorry that it didn't work out IT.

As to our op's original question I'd just offer a few words of caution. It's an old expresion: A happy customer will tell one person but an unhappy customer will tell ten.

There are many disgruntled (failed) students who will be more than happy to trash a school simply because they flunked out (they usually leave that part out).

 

IT, I am sorry to hear this, but the bright side is that there is a better program out there waiting for you to apply.

 

Sorry to hear about the doctoral program, IT. I thought about applying to it, but now I am glad I didn't, as I am sure I would have probably not been accepted. It seems like from reading past posts from years prior on the subject that there is only a very limited number of people they can take in.