Need Advice on Distance Masters

Hi,

My husband has a dilemma...he has a bachelors degree in Electronic Engineering from ITT Technical Institute. From what I understand, ITT is nationally accredited but not regionally accredited. He works for the federal government and has decided to pursue his masters degree. His agency has an arrangement with John Hopkins University where they have a small campus for grad students at the agency's site. This seemed convenient so he applied. John Hopkins originally accepted him but then sent another letter repealing the acceptance saying that ITT was not accredited. He appealed and John Hopkins replied back that the school must be regionally accredited to qualify. I checked out University of Maryland's program and they had a Telecommuncations Management masters that he was very interested in. I went to the application information page and it said the bachelors degree had to come from a college that was regionally accredited. Well, it seems ITT does not fit this criteria. So here is what I am looking for:

1. A 100% (or close) distance masters program in Engineering or Telecommuncations

2. Acceptance of the ITT degree

3. A school that has a reconizable name. It doesn't have to be an ivy league school or anything like that...but a name that will be recognized by most

If anyone has any suggestions, I would be most appreciative!

Nadine

 

The list of schools offering EE Masters degrees has about two dozen names on it. I'm afraid that I don't know the admissions criteria of each of them. You said that ITT was nationally accredited. Does that mean DETC accreditation? If so, then you might start by perusing the list of DETC accredited schools for EE Masters programs. They will (I guess) accept the ITT credits and degree. It's here:
http://www.detc.org
Good luck,
Jack

 

Jack,

Thanks for the information. ITT holds accreditation from ACICS. While John Hopkins didn't say specfically why ACICS was not acceptable, they kind of compared ITT to being a beauty school...which was annoying. See their response below:

Nadine

 

They are expensive options but, AIU (www.aiuonline.edu) and Colorado Tech (www.ctuonline.edu) are both regionally accredited and will accept nationally accredited degrees for entry into masters programs.

You might also check with University of Phoenix online (http://www.phoenix.edu/).

It has been my experience that, while expensive, the for profit schools are much more accepting of credits from nationally accredited institutions.

 

The University of Phoenix will accept a degree from a nationally accredited school for admission into its graduate programs.

 

I love that statement "the schools tend to be for-profit and not degree granting" That is a load of you know what...

Capella
Phoenix
Devry
ECPI
AIU
Strayer

All for profit, and all regionally accredited... (most have been for some time, and some by the same association as hopkins)

Either way,

UOP does not have an engineering related master's (aside from computer engineering courses in the MIS degree).

I would say do a search on this board, there are plenty of good schools that will accept nationally accredited credits/degrees.

 

I want to thank those who have responded...unfortunately University of Phoenix, AIU & Colorado Tech do not appear to offer an Engineering or Telecommunications graduate degree which is what he is looking for. I've been doing research on the web and have come up with the following list of universities that offer engineering graduate programs via distance learning, and do not explicitly state on their admissions page that the bachelors degree must come from a regionally accredited school:

Colorado State University
University of Mass
Texas Tech
North Carolina State University
Georgia Tech
Florida Institute of Technology

Whether these programs will accept the ITT degree remains to be seen...and if anyone here knows if they do or not, I would love to know.

Nadine

 

I had this same problem, and unaccredited degree from Ambassador College, and a DETC Degree from Grantham College of Engineering.

UoP MBA program rejected me because of the DETC accreditation. (Ironically, now I am qualified to teach at UoP...that will teach'em)

I went on to do the Heriot-Watt program--Bachelors doesn't matter anyway...and then on to a regionally accredited PhD with Capella.

A friend of mine, and fellow Ambassador Grad, did an MBA through a State school, but prior to applying, did all the busines pre-requisite courses.

My suggestion: You may be able to negotiate with a school by taking a bank of pre-requisite courses.

Bottom line: If there's a will, there's a way...

 

Another strategy, before you give up on the list of schools you would like to attend, is to get ITT involved on your behalf. It is in their interest to have their degrees accepted as widely as possible. I don’t have first hand knowledge of ITT, but the DETC School I attend has publicly made the offer to help out in these types of situations for graduates of their programs.

Also, when negotiating with the schools, try and work your way up to a decision maker, often the front lines in these offices are ‘simply following orders’.

This, coupled with some prerequisites, and a good negation stance, may prove fruitful.

Good Luck!

 

Hmmm....

Actually I think the majority of RA schools are for profit. I am not sure it is in any way important, but no reason to be inaccurate.

 

Are the 'Big 3' RA DL programs for profit?

 

No the big 3 are not for profit.

How long ago did you apply to UOP's MBA program? That may have been why the rejected the DETC degree, I am not sure how long the practice of accepting nationally accredited degrees has been in place.

I can tell you that now they definately do as there are plenty of ITT, Grantham, Aspen, Stratford and other graduates of nationally accredited schools in our master's programs.

Myles

 

Two are state-run and one was. The answer should be self-evident, and easily researched if not.

 

http://www.eece.maine.edu/online/index.html

University of Maine offers online MS programs in electrical engineering and computer science to students with a BS or the equivalent. Apparently, there is a proficiency exam as a prerequisite for non-BS applicants. No mention of nationally accredited vs. regionally accredited with regard to the BS.

 

ITT has an alumni association. They might be able to give your husband some guidance. You can find them here:

http://alumni.itt-tech.edu/about/

I hope that helps.