Bachelor's in Computer Science via Distance Education

Hi everybody
Could anybody recommend the best way to go about getting a Bachelor's degree in
Computer Science through distance education?
I would like to hear from anybody out there who has taken C.S via DE and actually gotten a job? Also, my wife wants to know if Brevard Community College is a reputable school or not and if a degree obtain there would be worthwhile?

Thanks

Ketil

 

Ketil:

Although you have come to the right place, the answer to your first question would simply be too complex and voluminous to post here. Several esteemed members of this forum have written some the best books on the subject such as:

Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning
by John Bear Ph.D., Mariah Bear M.A.

Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead
by Mariah P. Bear, Tom Head

Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning
by John Bear Ph.D., Mariah Bear M.A.


My advice is to purchase them and consider them a good investment in your education. Afterwards, if you were to pose a more specific question, I’m sure you’ll find many willing to help.

Concerning your wife’s question, Brevard Community College is indeed a reputable school, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award the Associate in Arts degree, and the Associate in Science degree. A degree obtained there would be worthwhile, therefore, if you are pursuing an associate’s degree. They do, however, have articulation agreements with other four-year Florida colleges and universities, including the University of Central Florida, which has a campus collocated with one of their own.

Brevard County has the added prestige of being home to many high-tech and aerospace industries in addition to NASA and Kennedy Space Center (not to mention Major Nelson and Jeannie). BCC implemented its Virtual Campus in 1995. Not only is it possible to complete your associate’s degree entirely online, they also allow credit by examination and experiential learning. Tuition is not as inexpensive as some other communities colleges at $138.00/credit hour, however the cost is the same for both Florida residents and out-of-state students.


Gus Sainz

 

The community college you refer to is well recognized in Florida. I attend Polk Community College's Internet Technology course and it seems to be doing well so far.

As for DL degrees, you might want to check out American College of Computer & Information Sciences. They are DETC approved and cut no slack in their courses. Their catalog explains it all. You can visit them online at www.accis.edu or call 1-800-729-2427.

 

I have all three, and they are excellent. I would direct you to the second if you need to learn more about what it means to work in IT. Also, that book has more information about non-distance programs. The first (which was co-written with Larry McQueary) has in-depth information on a great number of distance IT programs. And, of course, the third would give you solid grounding in the concepts of distance learning. Good luck.

Rich Douglas, who didn't want to leave Larry out.

 

I would be very careful with ACCIS. They have a less than wonderful reputation which includes sham accreditation and not being allowed to instruct students in the state they are located. There is limited evidence they have cleaned up there act. They may at some point become a good choice but in my book that is a minimum of several years off. If you have additional questions please post them and I am sure you will get additional responses. Best of luck.



------------------
Best Regards,
Dave Hayden

 

You know, it's amazing how a brush fire turns into a 5-alarm blaze around here. There's nothing to indicate that ACCIS has a "a less than wonderful reputation" outside this discussion group. While the facts (bad accreditation, not being properly licensed in Alabama--both in the past) are true, they are also history. It may very well be good advice to stay away from them, but it might not. ACCIS is properly accredited with DETC, properly licensed with Alabama, and by most accounts seems to offer a good education. I suppose if you polled 100 employers at random, you'd be lucky to find even one who's heard of ACCIS' reputation, good or othewise.

I'm not defending their actions, but, rather, trying to keep a little perspective.

Rich Douglas

 

New Jersey Institute of Technology is good choice if cost is not a factor. It is a topnotch regional college. Its URL is http://www.njit.edu/DL/

You may also take a look at City University's B.S. degree in Computer Systems at http://www.cityu.edu

Ike Okonkwo

 

The suggestion as I understood it was that you might want to wait a few years to be sure that ACCIS doesn't make a turn for the worse before going to school there. I agree with this, especially considering that they have DETC accreditation rather than RA, I think it is very wise advice.

Rich, I strongly disagree with your assertion that being careful in choosing one's "alma mater" is being an alarmist or over reacting. It can be very sad and hard on the alumni when a school goes belly-up. I consider it wise to error on the side of safety. The way I look at it is that it's analogous to playing Russian Roulette. Why take the chance even if it is a small chance? There's a whole world of safer and probably better choices out there.

 

I didn't say that. What I'm disappointed in is the "all-or-nothing" superficial analyses that take place without any real insight into the school in question. Yes, there seem to be many better choices than ACCIS. There are also many better choices than Capella, Walden, Union, Fielding, on and on and on. But that doesn't make any of them necessarily a bad choice; it depends. ACCIS may be a very good choice for some people, and much of the evidence (DETC accreditation, good curriculum, long history) points to that. While the WAUC accreditation and the dust-up with Alabama officials are true, they probably won't affect graduates of ACCIS. As for going "belly up," ACCIS has operated for about 10 years now.

It's just too simple to say "why go for this school when there are so many others?" or something to that effect. For many people, ACCIS may be just what suits them. They're properly accredited, and that the rest of the world couldn't care less about the WAUC issue. Again, I'm not defending what they did. I'm just saying that it's not as big a deal as it is made to be here.

Rich Douglas

 

In my opinion gross dishonesty is a cause for concern. Whether dealing with an individual or an organization. I think it is entirely reasonable to feel that dealing with dishonest schools that have mislead their customers in the past can be dangerous.

I'm pleased that you keep mentioning that you're not trying to defend their dishonest actions. Maybe my standards of honesty are unreasonable? To me claiming bogus accreditation is as dishonest as those guys that were selling tapeworm eggs as a diet pill. Perhaps it might help me put this into your perspective if you could give me some other examples where a school that wasn't a diploma mill claimed bogus accreditation?

I hope that it doesn't really bother you too much if people aren't willing to sweep it under the rug. Tell you what Rich, if you would like to let me know specifically how I've blown this out of proportion then maybe I'll be able to do better next time.

P.S. Don't let Sheila know about that tapeworm scam.

 

Funny how you argue against things I didn't say. I never said to "sweep it under the rug." In fact, I think I made it clear that their actions were troubling, but not as condemning as you make them out to be. And things change. Good schools fall apart while other, not-so-good schools get better.

American Graduate University, now DETC accredited, once held accreditation from an unrecognized agency.

California Coast University once did, too. While not accredited, the notion that CCU is a diploma mill is held by almost no one.

Andrew Jackson University did, too, and it is now accredited.

Washington School of Law is currently accredited by an unrecognized agency.

Columbia Southern University held unrecognized accreditation up until its accreditation by DETC.

Pacific States University, Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, Cook's Institute of Electronics Engineering, and several others are currently accredited by the unrecognized NASPNSC. None of these schools should be considered diploma mills.

Over the past 22 years that I've been doing work in this field, a lot of things have changed. Columbia Pacific University, for example, was a promising alternative to traditional universities. Now look at it. Walden University was unaccredited (as were Union, Fielding, Sarasota, TESC, Phoenix, Saybrook, and many other stalwarts). Schools come and go; so do accreditors. A little grounding in this field's history would go a long way toward one's understanding of the complexities and subtleties.

None of this changes the idea that what ACCIS did regarding its WAUC accreditation was wrong. And it should give one pause. But might it not also be that ACCIS can offer a good education and marketable credential to its students? Of course it can. That's the intriguing nature of this field; both the good and the bad can be true.

Rich Douglas

P.S. One can shout at at the top of one's lungs, indignant as hell, and almost no one is listening. People have been talking and writing about "less-than-wonderful" schools for more than a century. The illegal ones sometimes get shut down. The bad-but-legal schools carry on as long as their business models hold up.

P.P.S. Much hay has been made over the co-ownership of Northcentral University and SCUPS. But almost nothing has been said about the co-ownership of ACCIS and the dreadfully mediocre Chadwick University. To me, that situation is more alarming--and current--than the sins of the past.

 

Hi Rich

I am more than somewhat puzzeled by your response. ACCIS's past history would be very troubling if I were looking at their school as a possible choice. The idea that one would NOT consider a school's relatively recent past seems ludicrest. On top of that their current accreditation while legitimate is second rate. Could ACCIS be a good choice if you ignore everything they have done in the past? Possibly, but until they prove themselves for sometime who cares? Maybe I am being overly cautious but with a person's reputation and literally thousands of dollars on the line it seems prudent to me. Thanks for your replies and ideas.



------------------
Best Regards,
Dave Hayden

 

I never suggested or said one should ignore a school's past activities. But things change over time. The other poster asked for examples of other schools that weren't diploma mills but had claimed what he called "bogus" accreditation. So I gave some.

I'm not to one extreme or the other on this issue. I neither suggest one should ignore a school's past, nor do I suggest that because a school did some less-than-wonderful things in the past it is somehow condemned to the scrap heap. The truth and the facts are somewhere inbetween. To each his/her own.

Rich Douglas

 

Rich, what I said was "I hope that it doesn't really bother you too much if people aren't willing to sweep it under the rug." It appears to me that it bothers you that these past transgressions on the part of ACCIS are brought up. I never said what you apparently thought I had said.

I sincerely appreciate the listing of other schools that have participated in the same practise of misleading their customers. To tell the truth though I think that it has just lowered my opinion of these other schools rather than raising my opinion of ACCIS.

Regarding your P.P.S. I was thinking about that same point just the other day and I agree completely. I believe it is a valid reason to be concerned about both MIGS and ACCIS. It's probably best to inform potential students of this fact as well.

BTW Rich, I was being serious when I suggested that you could let me know how I (or the more general we) have blown this out of proportion. Perhaps I can accomodate your desire that I not blow it out of proportion if you just explained more specifically how it has been blown out of proportion in the past.

Thanks again for the list of schools that have claimed bogus accreditation.

 

I'm not bothered by people bringing up the ACCIS/WAUC issue. It's been brought up dozens of times without comment from me. What I find difficult to swallow is the all-or-nothing attitude when it comes to discussing this or any other school. It is superficial to reject ACCIS only because of the WAUC issue. And this board specializes in the superficial. How many people here have really done their homework on schools, or are they just parroting what they've heard?

I feel like we agree on this issue far more than disagree. I feel particularly strongly that bad moves like the ones we've discussed can be hard to live down. This may be an issue for MIGS, for example. Except almost no one I've talked to outside this little circle has even heard of MIGS! Bad rep? How about no rep at all?

Finally, I feel like we're each repeating ourselves. And I certainly don't want to submit comment after comment about something you did or did not say; we'll certainly drift away from the real issue here.


Rich Douglas

 

This is a good opportunity for ACCIS to demonstrate where it was,is and will be going with their vision.

 

Looking through this list with Bear's Guide (13th)it looks like the list consists of schools with either state approval or accreditation by unrecognized but legitimate accreditors. What I was interested in was advertising accreditation from a bogus accreditor like WAUC. My thought was that if this was more common than I thought then maybe my standard of required honesty was too high.

Thanks again,
Bill Huffman

 

http://www.accis.edu/index2.html
ACCIS has a new chat are where you can go and ask a question.

Warning though, at this moment, the text is small and there is no auto scroll. Not a good feeling to see that coming from a Computer science school.

 

why to point ACCIS

hi !
i have six yrs of experience in IT. i choose ACCIS due to the fact that they provide very good courses.
i checked capilla also.. couldnt find something interesting except RA.
has anyone before criticising ACCIS actually checked the material they teach.. believe me its challenging ..

And is anybody RA guy out there.. i challenge him to have tech discuss with me...
what more.. one of good institutions in india.. agreed to accpet it for Phd program..
this program proved very useful for me

 

"That means if i take this dgree and ask for admission in Phd in india.. i should definitely get it.. "

Wow, so in India they will accept foreign degrees that are not accepted in the country they are from?! Can you get that in writing? What Indian University is that? I would like to confirm this.