I am trying to determine which DL school I should enroll in. Currently I am not attending any school, but did in the past (97-00) Started at a small community college in Michigan, transfered to a private university in Tennessee. My major was CS then I changed to Computer Systems Administration. I had 52 credits remaining before I completed my CSA degree. I am looking for a DL school that is accredited and does not cost too much and will accept the majority of my transfers and maybe even some life experience credits ( I currently work as a software developer for a small manufacturing company, 3 years). DL Schools I've seen online already are: Univeristy of Pheonix ACCIS Anybody have any advice? Thanks
I would say University of Phoenix is a better pick than ACCIS just because of the accreditation issue. There a many options you will have to choose from. I am not sure what the IT schools are but I know someone else will post them. If acceptance of credits is a major issue, you might want to look at Charter Oak State College , Thomas Edison State College , or Excelsior . good luck
Take a gander at the UMass Lowell online IT program. I'm a very satisfied student who is close to graduating. I've taken IT coursework through two other online IT related schools, neither of which holds a candle in contrast. UML was very generous with transfer credit and there is a fairly wide range of online IT courses available. The tuition is about $250 per credit which is not inexpensive but less than many. There is no additional fee for out-of-state students. UML is an RA state university. I have found the admin folk and the faculty to be very student-centered. David
Perhaps you should consider taking the degree by examinination route? There are plenty of schools for that and I am sure they can do some portfolio assessment for you for life experience credits, etc but you must take some exams(dantes/clep) to get your degree. Schools like COSC, TESC, and Excelsior come to mind and you can find a lot of threads about these schools on this forum. They are all legitimate and regionally accredited schools by the way. ACCIS is only DETC accredited and so it is unlikely than many workplaces accept a degree from there and graduate schools might not accept degrees from DETC schools either. UOP has been blasted pretty badly on this forum and it is pretty expensive. I personally was in a similar situation, I had some credits from previous schools and pretty decent work experience. I didn't take the degree by examination route because I wanted to it more "traditionally". I entered TUI (Touro University International), an RA school. I am studying for the CS degree there and I should complete my degree early next year. That means I was for about 20 months. By comparison you could complete a degree in CIS (Computer information systems degree) from TESC/Excelsior in a matter of weeks. Anyways you should really shop around because there are really many ways to do this. Good luck!
Thank you Randell1234, David Williams and digit for your advice. Discussing what you have said and what I have discovered online with my wife we have come to a couple of conclusions: 1) I don't ever plan on getting anything beyond a MS for CS or CIS. Right now in the immediate future, the MS degree is far off (years). So the DETC accreditation would not be an issue. 2) I do not plan on leaving my current employer once I have finished the degree. In fact, my employers have even stated that, when I finish, I will get a substantial pay raise. I don't feel they will care what type of accreditation as long as its recognized by the US Department of Education. Combine that with my work experience ( 2 years IS tech A+ certified, 3 years systems engineer at my current employer) I feel very comfortable with a DETC degree. Looking at ACCIS, the price is very right, and fits into our small family budget. The DETC does not worry me as I have no immediate plans to go out and try to get an MS at another school, and even if I did, I could go through ACCIS to get it. Any thoughts? Thanks again.
If ACCIS would fit your needs, than go for it. Some many say that you might want to plan early for ALL possible options and an RA degree will give you that flexibility. If you feel comfortable will ACCIS; good for you.
Hi Lytho, I am not one of those that blast anything and everything that is not RA and there are a lot of these types of people on this forum but they do make some good points, on occasion. One of them is that a DETC degree might not be accepted in the future in case you need to change jobs or apply for an MS degree. If that is not an issue for you then go for what makes you comfortable. I do believe however that if cost is a big issue for you that you should consider the BA in 4 weeks route. http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks/. That is a site maintained by one degreeinfo.com member and it is basically a tutorial on how to get a fully accredited BA in 4 weeks. This information on the site does also apply for the BS CIS degree at Excelsior college. That degree can be earned through credits(70+ that you have), portfolio assessment, exams. I guess you would need something like 30 credits after getting your previous credits and portfolio assessed. You could finish a fully accredited CIS degre in a matter of weeks. The benefits of that are that you can apply your already earned knowledge and experience towards your degree and also your previously earned credits! This route would be much cheaper and quicker than the ACCIS route. You should at least call somebody at Excelsior for some information about the best course of action. Good luck!
It might make sense to ask whether or not this is the case, rather than speculating. If you are counting on a pay increase, it is probably best to have your bases covered. Since you are have a lot of credits, I would suggest that you consider the Excelsior BSCIS option. Depending on how another program will accept your transfer credits, it is sometimes possible to earn an Excelsior BSCIS *and* a Master's (in either CS or CIS) faster and more cheaply than a more traditional bachelor's. This is particularly true if you are good at taking tests.
Here is a list from another thread by Dave Hayden that saved me a lot of research time. Thanks Dave! I decided to go to Fort Hays rather than ACCIS after reading this post: +++++++++++++++++++++++++ I am also providing a list of RA programs that I believe are superior to ACCIS for most but not all students. Troy State Uninversity CS RA, State program, accepts CLEP and DANTES, low cost, true Computer Science major http://www.tsufl.edu/distancelearni...r%20Science.htm Univ. of Mass. Lowell IT RA, State program, accepts CLEP and DANTES, low cost (dl program charges in-state rates for out of state students), great reputation, feedback from students is it is a great program http://cybered.uml.edu/cy_BSonline.htm Univ. of Maryland IS Management, CIS, and Computer Studies RA, State program, accepts CLEP and DANTES, medium cost (out of state students pay much higher tuition), great reputation Ft Hays State University General Studies with a concentration in Computer Networking and Telecommunications RA, State program, may accept CLEP and DANTES, low cost, faculty seems to have a good contacts in the industry which could easy lead to a nice job, program can include cisco training http://web.fhsu.edu/universitycatal...ecommunications Excelsior College CIS RA, accepts all CLEP and DANTES, lowest cost, very good reputation, requires the most self discipline and is best for those with industry experience and certifications http://www.excelsior.edu/tec_home.htm Regis University Computer Networking RA, Jesuit program, designed in conjunction with Sun (the makers of Java programing lang. and Solaris OS), Higher cost but if you have tuition reimbursement not an issue, great reputation and excellent program University of Washington Computing and Software Systems RA, State program of the highest calibur, medium cost, programming focus, school has an excellent reputation http://www.outreach.washington.edu/...am/overview.asp University of London Non-RA but a GAAP school of the highest reputation, haven't had time to thoroughly check out program Also of interest but further down the list for me NJIT City University Park University Franklin University Limstone College Western Governors University Strayer University Rogers State University Bakers College Jones International University Again this is not an exhaustive list but the lowest cost ones that have captured my interest the most. All are RA with good to great reputations with the exception of U of London. I keep thinking about writing a detailed web page to show all the choices but at present it will have to wait. I would include a DETC school but only if it had an exceptional reputation. I hope this is of help. Remember whatever choice you make you will be living with for decades. I hope these posts are helpful to some of the readers. __________________ Best Regards, Dave Hayden ++++++++++++++++++ Thanks again, Dave. -Eric
Thanks again for all your advice. After looking through the list provided, I became most interested in Troy State because its RA, and only $5 a credit hour than ACCIS. I plan on calling them this afternoon. Thanks again for all your help.
Also consider where you may be working with a DETC degree. There are some companies that require an RA degree in which case, if checked, the DETC accreditation may not open the door for you. John
"Univ. of Maryland IS Management, CIS, and Computer Studies RA, State program, accepts CLEP and DANTES, medium cost (out of state students pay much higher tuition), great reputation " Actually UMD does not offer such a program. In fact they offer few if amy CLEP courses or DL courses: www.umd.edu
I'm not sure about "CLEP courses," but they offer many distance learning courses through their UMUC campus. Please see: UMUC Online Programs In particular, they offer a bachelor's degree in CIS. Please see: UMUC CIS Program as well as a major in Computer Studies. Please see: UMUC Computer Studies Program They also offer graduate programs and certificates online. Tom Nixon
I'm not sure that any school actually offers "CLEP courses," but according to their website UMD will grant up to 34 credits for CLEP exams. Would you call this, "few if amy(sic)?" It's not hard to figure out (despite the lack of a link, and the reference to a great reputation) that the post was referring to UMUC, rather than UMD. You clearly knew this already. If you're going to continue doing periodic searches for "maryland," you might want to go ahead and politely point out to people that UMUC, rather than UMD, is the instititution that handles the bulk of the distance programs within the University System of Maryland, rather than implying that the programs in question do not exist. Your unqualified statement really is a disservice to people who might actually be looking for something like the UMUC programs, but do not understand the distinction between UMUC and UMD. Maybe you should just make a simple "UMUC is not UMD" web page and post a link to it when you feel the urge.
Gary, Note I am not denigrating UMUC--it is a fine school in its own right. It just isn't the same school as UMD. To represent UMUC and UMD as the same degree granting school is the real disservice. UMD only means one school-The University of Maryland-College Park. It is not the same school as UMUC. Yet, UMD is the school that was represented in the post. By the way UMD does actually offer a select few DL degrees. This just isn't one of them and I wanted to make that clear. That was the main purpose of the post: All UMD Distance Learning Degrees as of 2003: • Master of Life Sciences • Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology • Professional Master of Engineering Fire Protection Option
My point was that, to someone who does not understand the distinction between UMD and UMUC, your post would appear to claim that the programs in question do not actually exist. Why not just post something to this effect: "I would like to clarify that these programs are offered by UMUC, not UMD. UMUC is part of the same system, but is not the same institution as THE University of Maryland." Better yet, you could even insert the relevant links to the programs. I understand that you were trying to make a point, I just feel that you could have chosen a more constructive way to do it. BTW, the post did not say "UMD," it said "Univ. of Maryland." Since this is what the "UM" in "UMUC" stands for, I really don't think that it was intentionally misleading. I'll even go out on a limb and state that you were probably the only person who saw UMUC being represented as UMD. Anyone who actually looked into the programs would soon discover the distinction between UMD and UMUC. However, I do understand your desire to make the distinction clear.
I was not sure initially if the degree mentioned was a UMD degree. I checked and reported back. "BTW, the post did not say "UMD," it said "Univ. of Maryland." Since this is what the "UM" in "UMUC" stands for, I really don't think that it was intentionally misleading." Gary, Your points are all good. However, I did not claim it was intentionally misleading, merely misleading. The University of Maryland means something specific. UMUC means something different. The poster didn't mention UMUC and you'd be surprised how many people make this unintentional mistake. Again my only point is to correct an (unintentional) mistatement. Nothing wrong with that, especially if it helps someone make a more informed decision. That was the spirit in which it was delivered. Best.
