Just found your board. Looks like a lot of good info here. I have just ordered Bears' book and eagerly await its arrival. Thought I throw out a question and hopefully get some feedback on some recommended programs. I am looking to get a BA in business online. First some background: Adult, with ~20 years of work experience in the manufacturing management arena at all levels of management. Currently a business owner, which keeps me very busy. Over the last 1.5 years I've been taking classes at the local community college for a transfer degree and then going on to the university for the degree. Paying my own way. I've grown completely frustrated with this approach as it is very wasteful, and will simply take to long to complete at the rate I'm going. The classes I need are offered hit and miss at this college, couple this with the fact that I need a flexible schedule because of my business, and the whole thing is an exercise in frustration. In the classes I've taken, two have been online, and they have worked very well. I am extremely self discipline and very good at time management (you have to be when you are in business). The two classes used the blackboard interface. The most efficient of the two classes was the one where most all of the assignments were posted on the board well ahead of time. This is what I need, as my available school work time tends to come in chunks and not on a daily basis. I was able to work ahead when I had the time and scale back when I didn't, but because I could work ahead occasionally I had all assignments done well on time. This class used a discussion board which we had to post to every week. The second ol course was similar except there was much more group work. Those of you who have done group work know that the quality of the groups can vary dramatically. In my case I prefer to organize the responsibilities and define the work early on so I can fit the work into my schedule. Unfortunately the others in the groups like to wait until the last minute to complete the assignment. This usually doesn't work for me as I may very well not have the time to allocate at the last minute. So, I need a program that is not heavily dependant on others to be successful. I fully understand the amount of work an OL course entails. My experience is the OL course has approximately 2X the work of its equivalent in class course. But regardless, I absolutely need the flexibility of the Online courses, if I hope to have this degree before I die. So, with that info, can anyone recommend a legit Online business BA program or two that I can start looking at? Thanks Wayne
One program that I have been very impressed with is the BA in Business Administration via Washington State University. The degree can be completed 100% online. The school is regionally accredited and also has AACSB accredition for it's business program. http://distance.wsu.edu/ Cy
This is another good place to look for information on various programs... http://collegedegrees.tripod.com/ Cy
Thanks for the links Cy. The WSU program looks interesting, particularly since I live in WA. However, they require an AA degree, which I don't have. I have a handful of classes at another WA community college that may, or may not apply. The WSU program is hooked up with two community colleges that offer some OL classes towards the AA... but then that's the same old story that I'm in now. Sometimes the cc class you need is available and sometimes it is not... makes it very hard to map out this whole degree thing. What I was hoping is there would be some more progressive colleges that would offer the entire BA program at one school, so I didn't have to mess around with enrolling in the cc and then wsu for the degree. It would be nice if some of these online colleges would offer an all-in one comprehensive program for degrees, with an established start time and a agreed upon end time. This assumes you would do the work of course, but at the end of X time you would get the degree. I don't have a problem working for it, but I dislike the disjointed, piece meal, inefficient structure of most of our college systems. Kind of ironic that they are supposed to be teaching us about business. I personally think there is a market for something like this out there. I think you would attract a fair number of adults who want to return to college for a degree, but want an efficient, timely program of study. I'll take a look at your second link, maybe there is a program in there like I described. Thanks again Wayne
did you check out Touro University ? They have Business programs upto Ph.D and all courses are offered online. The fees is reasonable and the course material comes on CDs so no need to buy books.
Business degrees via distance learning are plentiful. A Petersons search of business school returns 143 Bachelor programs available from a distance (go to www.lifelonglearning.com). If speed is the issue, any of the Big Three might likely suit your needs best: www.excelsior.edu www.tesc.edu www.cosc.edu Also, you might want to check out www.bain4weeks.com.
The BSBA degree from Thomas Edison State College is what I'm going for now. I just completed my first quarter and so far I'm impressed. I think I studied more for my 2 courses (macroeconomics and business law) than I ever studied for any of my on campus classes. The finals weren't to shabby either. The one bad thing I can say about TESC is that their blackboard website had a significant amount of downtime during the quarter. I say significant because although I only remember a few nights when I couldn't get in, those nights tended to be the nights when I really needed to get in (for information on assignments or to actually "hand" them in). Aside from the web downtime though I was really impressed. Finals and Midterms (no midterms in online classes) have to be taken at a proctored site by the way.
Thanks for the info everyone. I've got some reading to do this weekend... lloyddobbler, I don't mind going "offline" for the occasional exam.... assuming it's not in a different state or something. How much "group work" is used in your program? Thanks Wayne
Wazoo Wayne, I think WSU is more flexible than they appear at first blush. I looked into their Social Science BA before and I'm pretty sure they will take 60 college credits OR an associates degree, and that those 60 credits can be a combination of class credit and CLEPS. Item 15 in their academic regulations: "CREDIT BY EXAMINATIONS. Subject to standards established in consultation with academic departments concerned, credit may be granted to entering or enrolled undergraduate students via various means including external examinations, institutional examinations, and approved military service schools. Credits by examination shall yield no grade points. Such credits may partially fulfill General Education Requirements for graduation. External examinations will include but not be limited to: Advanced Placement (AP) Program examinations of the College Entrance Examinations Board; general and subject College Level Examination Program (CLEP); and the Washington Pre-College Test Program (WPCT)." Also, they give upper-level credit for the management and marketing cleps.
Thankfully there was no group work in my 2 classes I took last quarter/semester. I've heard some bad things about group-work or more specifically the problem with deadbeat group members (as you alluded to) not doing their part. Hopefully the next 8 classes I need for my degree will also stay away from group work. I prefer to do what I've done for the 100 credits I have so far, work alone. That way, if I fail, I only have myself to blame.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I have spent a fair amount of time trying to wade through the wsu site with regards to their program and entrance requirements. Part of the issue is I only have ~ 33 credits of lower level stuff. Things like English 101 & 102, math up to college algebra (business and life sciences), intro to college, multicultural education etc. I will be taking math 167 (calculus for business) online from the local community college in the winter quarter, unless I find some other program... Then I came across this little blurb on the wsu site in their latest distance degree program newsletter. page 2 of this link, http://www.distance.wsu.edu/pubs/newsletter/n03-3_1-11.pdf It states that starting fall 2004 wsu ddp will NO LONGER OFFER a general business major. They will offer a major in operations management or some such thing... so much for that idea. So, I will shift my focus and start researching Charter Oak. Excelsior and Thomas Edison. With regards to the clep tests and such that I see mentioned on here, are these tests done online as well? Thanks Wayne
Clep and GRE tests can usually be taken at a local college's testing center, and you get your grades back immediately. Dantes tests can be taken at a local college or local military base...sometimes finding a local college is hard for these. Excelsior exams are taken at testing centers...if you're in a big city, there should be a local place, if not, you may have to drive a couple hours. Thomas Edison Exams can be proctored by any College or Library, with their agreement, you just have to order the tests to be sent there. And I'm not too sure about Charter Oaks College tests. CLEP testing sites - www.collegeboard.com DANTES testing sites - www.getcollegecredit.com Excelsior Testing Sites - www.prometric.com
Indiana State University has a complete online BA degree. Out of state students welcome. Reasonable tuition. Distance ISU website: http://www.indstate.edu/distance/menu/prospective.html
