Who knows where someone could take 18 units of graduate work, completely online, without applying to a master's or doctoral program? Many schools have a maximum number of credits you can earn without officially applying and it is generally less than 18. I have a friend who would like to get the units, but doesn't want to go through the trouble of getting accepted into a grad program. Any ideas? Tom Nixon
A lot of schools that I've looked into allow a student to take 12 graduate credits before requiring them to matriculate into a program. Tell your friend to take 9-12 credits from one university and then take the remaining credits from another university. The Dantes web site would be a good place to start to find RA universities that offer DL courses and degrees. http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/DEDCNav.asp Okay…I must ask. Why would your friend only want to take 18 graduate credits but not earn a degree? With 12 to 18 more graduate credits, your friend could earn a master’s degree.
18 units is the standard number of graduate units required to be able to teach courses at the college level (in areas where you don't have the master's degree). She already has a grad degree, but wants to widen her teaching areas. Tom Nixon
You can also look into graduate certificate programs. They are usually about 15-18 credits that don't require formal admission to a university. There are a ton of them out there, but I found AMU to have the most variety in one place.
Your friend may be interested in some of the DL graduate certificates that Florida Institute of Technology offers. Florida Institute of Technology offers DL graduate certificate in the following: Business Management Contract Management eBusiness Human Resources Management Information Systems Management Logistics Materiel Acquisition Management Program Management Quality Management Systems Management Transportation Management http://segs.fit.edu/academics/certificates/
Couldn't she just apply to a grad program, take her 18 hours, and then drop out? Happens all the time (but not necessarily on purpose!)
Yes, but note the part above about not officially applying. I've already suggested your scenario and that may be the way to go. She was hoping to just drop in, whip through the courses, and be out and on to other endeavours. Tom Nixon
Her preference actually is a graduate certificate, but I have yet to see one in her academic areas that isn't too narrowly focused. She's interested in English as a first choice and Communications as a second choice, but not any of the minor areas within those fields. Tom Nixon
While many programs have a "12 hours and you have to be accepted" policy -- many don't require that "be admitted" mean as a degree seeking graduate student. Your friend should speak with the programs that she is interested in about being admitted as a non-degree seeking student. Her rationalle would be seen as valid by many if not most programs. Financial aid is a real problem for anyone in a non-degree seeking status. She could also register as a degree seeking student at one of the DL MLA programs and then do coursework at many schools as a "visiting student" without being accepted into their program. Once she has the hours she wants, she can withdraw from the MLA program.... Just a couple thoughts.
Good morning! I remembered a graduate certificate program in communication at East Carolina University (see http://core.ecu.edu/engl/tpc/tekkom/tpc.htm on the web) that can be done online. [This certificate may be applied to the MA in English at ECU. I realize your friend is likely not interested in the MA program, but I thought I would mention it in case other readers were interested.] However, I saw on the ECU website that even the certificate requires an application, so perhaps this won't work for your friend. Unfortunately, most of the graduate certificates that I have seen do require an application. Good luck in your search. Regards, J. Ayers
Does your friend live in California? Is it really necessary that the courses be completely online? The CSU system has its 'Open University' program that allows members of the community to take both undergraduate and graduate classes (that they meet the prerequisites for) on a space-available basis, for credit, without applying to the university. Just show up for the first class meeting, ask the professor to sign the open university form if there are empty seats, pay the fee, and you are in. There are limits to how many units taken through open university can be applied to any CSU degree program that a student subsequently enrolls in, but I've been told that there's no limit to how many units can be taken without a degree objective. Don't know how that applies to DL courses, though.
No. Yes. She lives in Washington, so my first advice was to look at state schools there. No luck. Tom Nixon
Hi Tom, Ask you friend to look at the distance learning program at the University of West Alabama http://www.uwa.edu they allowed me to do 18 hours in psychology with just a simple application -- no testing or transcripts or anything. I know they have D/L English courses.
Hi Tom, La Sierra University has a certificate program in Educational Technology that may be of interest to your friend. http://lsuonline.org/distance/edtech/certificate.html Tony
