First off, thanks for this great forum and information! I've been spending many hours trying to learn about DL possibilities for my situation and this forum has helped significantly. Here's my situation: I came within 30 credits of a Physics degree (so I have around 90 credits already) almost ten years ago but didn't finish it. I can't find any way to complete it via distance learning, so I've decided to pursue a different course. I have 6 years of professional software design/development experience. So I think I should almost be able to just walk in and have someone give me a degree. I would like to pursue an MSCS degree, but first have to get a BS degree that will take me there. My employer has an education reimbursement program, but it's capped at $5250/year and I probably can't afford to pay out much/anything above that. I prefer self-paced study, though it seems those are rather hard to find. Obviously I want an RA degree--and preferrably something that people aren't too likely to scoff at (I've looked at Excelsior/tesc/cosc and similar ones and I'm a little concerned--is my concern justified?). I do need something that is completely remote (no physical attending of classes at a campus). So... I have the CS experience (though little coursework) and most if not all the GE and supporting classes with extra (some engineering classes too). Any ideas on a fast cheap avenue for me to get the BS finished and get into a good MSCS program? Probably a college that will take a lot of work experience into account and doesn't require any/much coursework with them. Regis University looked very interesting but they require a minimum of 30 credits of actual coursework with them to graduate which is more than I need I think. Sorry for the long post and thank you!
Other than Charter Oak, Thomas Edison and Excelsior almost all Colleges and University require approximately 30 hours of courses at their institution. If the MS CS you want into will accept a CIS degree for admission, Excelsior would be a great choice. Otherwise I would look at Regis, Touro University International, Troy State, Fort Hays State, Nova South Eastern, etc. Good luck.
Thanks for the info. So all those universities you mention require at least 30 credit hours taken with them? And that means actual coursework--if they'll count portfolio assessment or whatever, that's different. Of the ones you suggested (or others), which is the least expensive but still will let me challenge courses (by tests, portfolio assessment, contract learning, work experience, etc.)? Touro won't take work experience--so I would have to go through most if not their whole CS program which would be a nuisance and waste of money. So the only choices as far as getting one quick and cheap are those three then? So now I have to try to find the right MSCS program and find out whether they'll accept me with a degree from one of those.
You may just want to complete a bachelor's degree as quickly and inexpensively as possible using your existing credits as efficiently as you can (maybe a BA in Physics?), and then go on for your MS. For example, I'm enrolled in the online MSCS program at Capitol College, and you could probably get through it just fine if you have a strong programming background (good knowledge of data structures, etc.) and have had a discrete math course (or can pick up the material on your own). As far as I know they aren't enforcing any specific prerequisites for admission (though that could change), so as long as you can make it through the courses you would be okay. Honestly, a bachelor's degree in any hard science combined with an MSCS would probably look fine on a resume.
Hi Just a heads up that many MS CS programs require either a BS CS and/or specific courses. Capitol College may be an exception and a good choice for people in this situation. I believe it is important to look at the MS program that you want to enroll in and see what their requirements are. Good luck.
Thanks for the response. Basically I am trying to do exactly what you suggest (being guided by your (Gary Rient's) posts on other threads saying the same thing): complete my bachelor's degree ASAP so I can move on to a masters. Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere to complete my physics requirement, and so I've kind of given up on that hoping that maybe the computer science route would be easier considering my work experience. If you know where I can easily finish my physics, I'm all ears! I've been looking hard. I'm looking at Capitol online's offerings: http://www.capitol-college.edu/academics/dl/index.html and I don't see an MSCS anywhere--where is information on that program? Thanks!
Use the link on this page. The MSCS program just launched in the Fall - that other page must not have been updated. It's basically 4 required courses, 4 electives, and 2 courses that encompass the master's project, for a total of 30 credits. It's totally possible that they will start enforcing prerequisites for admission once the program gets rolling, so I don't know if I would count on it being that way for long. It's also possible that they checked my records for prerequisites and just never told me about it. I do know that they have some specific prerequisites for the new MSEE program. You might have a hard time with some of the material in CS 504 though if you haven't taken a formal discrete math course. I didn't have any trouble at all with the course, but I'd also recently completed the discrete math correspondence course from SWT (which I recommend for people who need discrete math and feel they can handle doing it self-paced). Some people did seem to struggle with it (CS 504), even though I think that the instructor was very good at explaining things. Really, any bachelor's degree along with the specified prereqs should get you into most programs. You might want to check out the BA and MS programs in Information and Computer Sciences from the University of Hawaii. They are inexpensive and the programs look good, plus people aren't likely to say "I've never heard of that school." You'd still need to take 30 credits from them for a bachelor's, but at the same time you'd be picking up the prereqs for the graduate program. Picking up the fastest bachelor's possible (which I'm betting you could do in a month or so) and then starting on something like Capitol's MSCS program would probably be your fastest route, especially since you could probably take your first courses at Capitol starting in March. It wouldn't be the cheapest way to go, but it would cost less than a lot of options out there (your budget should cover almost all of it if you take 2 years). If you're limited to $5250 per year you might want to space things out a little anyway. Then again, you could probably take as many courses as you could handle from Hawaii and still stay within that yearly budget, since they are so inexpensive. There are many other options out there, of course, I'm just using these two as examples. There are some really good schools offering online MSCS programs (USC, Illinois, RPI, etc.), but most of those would be out of your price range unless you took 3-5 years to complete the degree, and you would also probably need to take some undergraduate background courses. If you were to look at some MS programs in CIS or IT then you'd have more options without needing to take prereqs, but it sounds as though cost would still probably be your big limiting factor. There are also some good foreign programs, if your employer will approve them. I don't know what physics courses you've already taken, so I can't really offer any advice about whether you'd be able to finish a physics major online. Have you looked at TESC's requirement's for the BA in Physics? If you don't mind not completing a major, you could still pick up a liberal arts degree without one, which should make it pretty easy to finish something up. You should also look at Excelsior and COSC, since those 3 schools will probably offer you most flexibility in finishing a degree. I don't know where you're located, but you also may want to check with any local schools. For example, I know that Purdue has a policy allowing students to test out of any undergraduate course that the school offers, but they don't go out of their way to let students know about it (I didn't know about it until long after I'd left). Let me know if I can be of any help!
I took a look at Capitol's program--it looks very interesting. I take it you recommend the program? Any reason to go with a different one instead? Thanks for the UH tip, but I'd prefer an MSCS program. For the Capitol program: $354/credit * 30 credits = $10620 + misc fees for the masters. Not bad. And you're right, I might have to take a couple prereqs first there to get in but a couple extra classes is better than 30 more credits required for a BS. Adding all the expenses for the BS degree, so would take at least three years unless I want to put out some money for it, but I think that's the best I'm going to get. So far as I could find, about $400/credit for graduate work is pretty standard. I haven't found anywhere much cheaper. I called TESC this morning. I would still have to take the physics courses somewhere else so it doesn't solve anything for me as I haven't found anywhere to take them through distance learning. That's good to know about testing out of any class at a local institution. I'll keep that in mind. I just talked to Excelsior. Their BSCIS degree can be completed completely through tests which makes it very interesting. The big problem is that according to this: http://www1.excelsior.edu/itweb/degrequire.htm 21 credits must be from 3 sets of what I would see as worthless certifications (to me anyway). I'll contact them and see if they can work with any other certification exams that would be more useful for me. Thanks!
jshellman, I think you misinterpreted the CIS Electives, it states: "Includes" Microsoft®, CompTIA®, and/or Novell® . . . which means you can also use them for electives as well as other standard courses/exams for the electives. They (certifications) are not required for the degree. But you may want to consider taking a few of those exams for quick credits like I did (including 4 upper-level credits for some Microsoft exams I took). Take a look at this: http://www1.excelsior.edu/itweb/certsite.htm I'm 15 credits from finishing this degree. Let me know if you have any questions. Mike
Is there any information on other exams/certs/etc. that they'll accept for that requirement? I haven't taken any exams/certifications, but it wouldn't be hard for me to get them, so long as they're in my area of expertise (Java/database/web development/etc). I've sent them an email asking them that--maybe I'll call at lunch and talk to them about it. Thanks!
I do recommend the program, so long as it meets your needs and circumstances. In my opinion, the biggest strike against it is that very few people have heard of the school. Ideally, I think that I would prefer the programs from Illinois, USC, and RPI, in that order, due to the recognition factor (both the school name and program ranking). However, these programs are more expensive and admission may not be easy. There are quite a few more programs from easily recognizable schools (such as Colorado State, etc.) that also sound interesting. I'd suggest spending some time to do an exhaustive search of your options. Good starting points are Jonnie's DL page and the free DL Grad School Tenchology guide. Only you can decide which option is best for you. I chose Capitol because of the cost, flexibility (I liked the idea of taking NS and IA courses as electives), and minimal number of required courses (which impacts the both the cost and the time to completion). I also liked being able to immediately register for 6 credits, before my application was fully processed, which allowed me to get started right away. I've taken 7 courses so far, and overall I've been very happy. I must say that I wasn't very happy with one of my courses - I felt that it was too easy to get an A, and the course was composed mostly of group projects, rather than the professor teaching the material. This may just be my personal preference though, and I've been happy with the rest of the courses. Also, the staff is very responsive, even caring, and I've never had the feeling that I was just a number in the system. I would consider the UH program as effectively being an MSCS program. The courses and prerequisites look like those of an MSCS program, and the "Information and Computer Sciences" major is what this school offers as it's master's level Computer Science major. For example, if understand correctly, a person enrolled in the PhD in CS program has the option to exit early with an MS in ICS. I'm not sure that you could beat the "bang for the buck" offered by the UH program. When I was looking at programs they weren't offering as many courses each semester as they are now, so it would have taken 2-3 years minimum for completion, but this seems to have changed. They also do have a pretty strict list of prerequisites. Yes, it's very cost effective compared to most of the other options out there. When I signed up for my first courses it was $333/credit, but unfortunately they raised it after that term. It still compares well though. I agree with Mike - I don't think that any certification exams are required for the degree, they are just listing the area that credit from those certifications falls under. Something that may work well for you is the GRE subject exam in CS. If I understand correctly, a high score on this exam would net you 30 credits(?) from Excelsior, including credit for all of the core required courses. I'm not positive about the details, but it would be worth checking into. Bear in mind that traditional CS material focusses a lot on things like compiler and operating system design, discrete math and theory of computation, etc. Much of this is probably not the sort of thing that you would pick up from on the job training. In my mind, job experience usually relates more to CIS or IT than it does to CS. The converse is also probably true (CIS and IT courses/programs can probably be more directly applied to most jobs). Good luck, and let me know if I can be of any more help! Also, let us know what you decide to do and how goes for you. My Multithreaded, Distributed, and Parallel Programming course starts tonight - I better get back to reading the first two chapters so that I can get finished before class starts.
There's a list somewhere on Excelsior's site - I remember seeing it at one time. If you dig around enough you should be able to find it. I don't remember exactly where it was, but you might start by trying a search within the related catalogs.
When I looked at the program the ICCP exams seemed rather distant and not a set I wanted to tackle. On the otherhand, I can see where EC needed more than just MS and Novell tests to flesh out the CIS degree. From what I had heard the ICCP exams are pretty out of date and not necessarily relevant to the field. The other option is to subsitute classes from another source or local college. That would likely extend the time frame. In any event good luck with whatever your choice.
My biggest concern at this point is that I have to fork over $945 and wait up to 2 months just to find out how exactly I can get a degree from them. They weren't as helpful/specifc as I would have liked on the phone when I called them today. They did say the CIS electives could be satisfied by various means--DL or local courses, etc. I'm just hoping I can get credit for exams--it seems silly that I can't get some credit directly (test/assessment) for 6 years of java/web development! Are there other colleges that I could do the assessment at and then transfer that to Excelsior? Thanks for the help everyone!
Theoretically true, but the CS GRE is very difficult if you don't have an academic computer science background. To get the maximum number of credits, you need 80th percentile which requires someone to be pretty bright and have a working knowledge of discrete math, common algorithms, algorithm analysis, classic data structures, and compiler theory (languages and grammars in particular). A little computer architecture and operating systems knowledge is useful, but not as critical. There's no question that this is a test that is firmly geared towards undergraduate CS majors and not programming practitioners.
If you comb through the archives here and at Google.com /Alt.education.distance you can cobble a pretty accurate list of the tests needed. You definately can get credit for MS, and Novell tests. No credit for Cisco tests and ICCP tests are mandatory unless you are willing to take classes. It would be pretty hard to use assesment and/or portfolio credits too extensively. Again good luck.
Actually, I would much prefer a BSCS but I don't believe one exists that doesn't require a minimum residency. I'm trying to avoid that so I can get working on an MSCS sooner. Yes, but I have no desire whatsoever to waste my time on those tests. Not that they aren't useful for some people--they're just meaningless for me. I'd much rather spend time on "discrete math, common algorithms, algorithm analysis, classic data structures, and compiler theory (languages and grammars in particular). " What do you mean by "distant"?
I can totally relate. I went with TESC's BA degree (CS and Psychology majors) for the same reasons. I took a semester of courses to finish off the CS major, but in retrospect I wish that I'd just grabbed the Psych major (I would only have needed 3 CLEP exams for it) and then went straight on to grad school. I figured that an MSCS would look kind of strange without an undergrad major in CS, but now I'm thinking that it probably wouldn't make much difference, and even if I'd still needed to take a few prerequisite courses I'd probably still already be done with a master's program by now. Then again, Capitol's MSCS program wasn't officially launched until Fall, 2002 (though I actually started in June), so maybe it worked out for the better anyway. You might just want to see if there's a degree available (in any subject) that you could grab just by taking some CLEP/DANTES/TECEP/ECE exams though. I'm sure that there is something there. I agree with you. Unless you already have those certifications, were planning to get them anyway, and/or can take them with no preparation (which seems unlikely for just about any vendor certification), they seem an incredibly inefficient way to acquire credit. Honestly, you're probably looking at a minimum of a month of study for each of them (if you're already at least somewhat familiar with the subject), and they're only worth 1-2 credits each (if I remember correctly). It seems like it would be quicker to just take some CS courses.
I noticed this from the ICCP website: New Examinations Under Development: JAVA Web Development HTML, XML http://www.iccp.org/iccpnew/outlines.html These could be a possible 9-12 credits you could use. They don't say when they will become available. I am trying to avoid taking ICCP exams. I'm taking this course for the Database Concepts core exam, which looks better than the ICCP Data Resource Mgmt exam: http://www.tesc.edu/catalog/tecep.php?CourseCode=CIS-311 at Thomas Edison State College. It looks a lot easier than the ICCP exam.
