Anyone know about this program?? My husband is in the Army and just started with the E Army U program. This is the school they have advised he go through for a computer degree. They start him out with a certificate which then gets applied towards the associates on up towards the bachelors. Any info on it??? I was under the impression Rio Salado was a community college so wondering how they can award BS degree?? Any info at all appreciated.
Hello Armywife, I took one IT course at Rio Salado a couple of years ago. While it wasn't very rigorous the instructional materials were clear and the instructor was responsive. At the time Rio was strictly a community college; perhaps it has some sort of transfer arrangement with one of the Arizona state universities. I am two courses short of the BS in IT via distance learning at UMass Lowell. UML offers the AS along the way along with a number of certificate programs. UML courses are more rigorous but then I believe I learned more. The instructors have all been knowledgeable and very supportive. Whenever hassles came up, which were few, the administration proved to be very student-centered. I would strongly encourage your husband to consider this program. Feel free to post any questions that I might be able to help with. David
I am not sure how E Army U works, however, I do know Rio Salado is fairly cheap. Perhaps, your husband is being advised to take his required low levels courses at a cheap college (Rio Salado) and when he had all his prereqs for the BS degree, he would apply to the BS program at a university. E Army U, I guess, is similar to SOCNAV and SOCMAR agreements for the Navy and Corps. You select a homebase school with the program of your choice and take classes at other schools to satisfy the requirements (residency is exempt). Once you qualify for the degree you get a diploma from your homebase school that you selected in the beginning. Best Regards, Bill
earmyu armywife, Schools participating in the earmyu program must be accredited and have an articulation agreement that binds them to accept all classes from other schools in the earmyu program - at least in theory. Any classes your husband is taking (good for him!) at Rio should be transferable to a 4-year school.
Re: earmyu However, being transferrable to a school is not the same as being applicable to a particular degree program. It can especially be a problem when trying to transfer courses from an AAS degree in a technical subject area. So, if he pursues an associate's degree with the intention of transferring the courses toward a bachelor's degree, he should check to see if there is an articulation agreement between that particular associate's program and the bachelor's program that he plans to transfer into. If there is not a specific articulation agreement between the programs then he should check that the courses required for the associate's degree look as though they should apply toward the bachelor's degree and then try to verify it with an advisor from the bachelor's program. Rather than starting with an associate's degree, he might want to consider taking as many CLEP and DANTES exams as he could apply toward a bachelor's program, and then completing the remaining 1-2 years (which should mostly be for his major requirements) through coursework. Since he's in the military the exams would be free, and in my opinion it's a much quicker and easier way to earn credit (as opposed to taking courses for the entire degree). I wish that someone had pointed me toward those exams before I started college...
I have some experience with Rio. 1). I took some IT courses at a local Ikon Solutions / New Horizon in Overland, KS. 5 hours a night for 4 weeks. Part of the deal was I could challenge the Rio Salado MidTerm and Final exam and receive 6 hours for the 2 courses. The training was good, I passed the exams easily. 2). When I enrolled at COSC I needed an advanced (beyond freshman level) writing course. My advisor reccomended I look into Rio Salado. I enrolled for their online 202 course. I didn't receive a password, nor even a date/time for when the course was to start. My books came late, and when they did come, they were the wrong ones. The instructor got really upset because of "my" issues, and recommended I drop. I did, but never received the tuition back, even though my COSC advisor went to bat for me on that. So my Rio opinion is mixed. Your husband will be taking courses through the Society of Colleges for the Armed Forces (SOCAF). Probably through his base AED. Am I right? The instructors in those programs are usually excellent. He will be able to apply his relative Army training to the program. My honest opinion, his Associate Degree from Rio Salado will serve him well. It is a great opportunity.
Gary, I don't think transferability would be of issue for armywife's husband. Like Bakz said, he is probably under a SOC agreement with a certain home base school. Schools that are in the SOC program have courses that are "generic" through out the whole system. If he takes umm, Business 101, and it is a course in the SOC program, it will have a code that will jyve with other universities with SOC programs. Best Regards, Bill
Wow, this reinforces my belief that there IS a lot of good-bad-and-ugly in distance learning. Even among RA schools. I didn’t encounter any hassles with Rio but I did while I was a UMUC student. I encountered more hassle than I cared to deal with in the BS CIS program and I dropped out with the notion that if I, a 50+ year-old PhD, received the mushroom treatment it must really be a challenge for the typical student who doesn’t possess my options. I wound up transferring to UML which was a terrific decision. The instruction has been good, the Mickey Mouse (military personnel may think of this as the CS) factor minimal, and the administration has been extremely amenable to those few hassles I encountered.
