Is it better to go cheap then it is quality?

I notice a lot of people going for a cheap degree (i.e. troy universities BSCS or testing out) as opposed to trying to get a high quality education.

I am wondering.. is it just better to get a degree as fast and cheap as possible? Why aren't people concerned about the quality of their education? Isn't this type of behaviour going to put distance learning in a bad light with employers?

 

Because this choice makes better sence in their specific circumstances. Duh!

You have "cheaper" and "prestige" B&M colleges either, so I can not see how this can "put a DL in bad light". Besides, do you have evidence that Troy students do not get "quality education"?

 

Less expensive does not mean less quality. As far as employers, most just require that you have the required degree, or in many cases, any degree at all that is from an accredited school.

William

 

In the case of Troy.. yes I do believe they get a less quality education. It is called a BSCS but even the administration at troy has told me that it is simply a programming degree. They don't get into the internal workings of a computer at all. This does not fit the ACMs own guidelines for computer science.

But I am not just speaking about troy. When I look at some B&M schools online program and then look at their same onsite program I can see major difference. It often looks as if the online program has been dumbed down. Yet they are far cheaper then more robust programs.

I am not saying every degree is this way, however many people don't seem to care at all. They just want that piece of paper. My fear here is that online education will suffer because of it.

 

Dumbed down? You have experienced this firsthand, and not from what you infer from a course catalog? I did my undergrad degree as a mix of resident courses and online courses (same university) and found the course difficulty roughly the same, but I found the online courses more difficult in terms of time spent on the material and time management. As I have stated on this forum before, education is a personal matter--you have to pursue the path that serves you best, whether for personal enrichment or professional development.

William

 

I find your premise flawed. There are many high-quality schools which are not expensive. There are even a couple that are free.

As for your second part, "fast" and "cheap" are not necessarily related to each other. You can, for example, get a fast degree from American InterContinental University that is far from cheap. Look at UOP for another example.

I think that you can want a fast degree, you can want a cheap degree, and still be concerned about the quality of your education.



Tom Nixon

 

Not everyone that earns a DL degree is looking for fast and cheap.

1) If you are looking for cheap, DL is definitely not the way to go (at least as far as RA DL programs go)
2) Many DL programs are neither faster nor easier than their BM counterparts

Most of the classes that you can test out of are general education classes required for a bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, there is no way to test out of major related courses, which is where the meat of any undergraduate program is anyways. And when you get to the graduate level, all but maybe a couple of your classes are major related courses.

As for cost, you need to evaluate how important having a degree is to you. Will it get you that job or promotion or is it just icing on the cake. If it will land you a job or a promotion, then look at it as an investment. Are you a risk taker or are you risk adverse? How much money do you feel comfortable with spending on an education that may or may not pay off in the end? If earning a degree is just icing on the cake, then just make sure your employer will recognize the degree when you are finished.

Quality is always an issue. Since there is no single quality standard, everyone has to decide for themselves as to what makes a quality program. If you look through many of the posts in this forum you will see many factors that should be considered. Conversely, if you look through many of the posts on this forum for “the” answer, you will go crazy!

 

I agree with Mr. Nixon. Low cost does not always mean lack of or poor quality. Neither, however, does exorbitant tuition always mean high quality.

Many of the schools accredited by TRACS provide high quality theological education for very reasonable tuition.

South African Theological Seminary is another example of a school providing high quality theological education for reasonable fees.

Of course for some it's sometimes a matter of paying less to get an education even though the quality may not be top notch simply because that's all they can afford.

 

Public Universities are usually the cheapest programs around and you won't find one that isn't of reasonable quality.

 

Okay.. I concede. I hadn't thought it through well enough and you are right cheap does not always equal low quality.

Part of my original thought was.. if I have two programs, one is way cheaper then the other, but the overall courses in the program seem to favor the more expensive one then why would you choose cheap.

Again using Troy as an Example, what they call a computer science degree vs what Florida State calls a computer science degree are completely different. Troy is far cheaper and has very little actual CS work(only 36 hours) in their CS major and they include very little math, very little theory. Where as Florida is exactly the opposite.

However at 1/4 of the price so many opt to go to Troy for that reason.

And this is partly where my thought stems from.

 

Computer Science degrees

I have been in computers since before there was even an IBM compatible PC, in fact before there was even an IBM PC! I can build a computer from scratch, program in a half dozen languages and I am currently a network administrator operating in both the Novell and Windows environments. Anyone who thinks the inner workings of a PC is a viable subject for a BSCS is looking for a cheap degree. That is something almost any kid coming out of high school knows. Before you come on here and discuss anything about computers get some experience. Both as a computer professional and as a student. I would bet you are not a programmer. It is a skill far beyond that of a hard drive replacer (a hardware guy).

Inner workings of a PC, give me a break!!!!!...

 

Maybe you misunderstand what I am talking about when I say inner workings.. I am not talking about hardware, board replacements or any of that stuff.

I am talking about how data is stored, I am talking about how memory is allocated, I am talking bout the theory behind how a computer translates, I am talking about the inner workings of an operating system etc. Not talking about a pc tech here.

 

Do you know that?

As a computer professional, I could care less if my employees know that. My major beef is they spend so much time learning that kind of crap and can't program. Programming is the meat of the computing profession. That is what they need to learn. I am sick of teaching people how to program after they come out of college. I give a crap if they know the difference between a bit and a byte....

 

So what your saying is you don't care about theory, you don't care about foundational courses you just want people who can hash out code?

How would any education benefit that? I learned both C and C++ from books. Are you saying that the theory would do me no good in the long run?

Maybe I am looking at the wrong things then.

 

Ok Xarick,

CS degree is not about Fix/Break Maintenance on a PC nor PC theory. If you are looking for that area then you need to look towards degrees like Information technology or other technical focus degrees. Most CS degrees have courses like Networking, Computer Architecture, Operating System and lots programming courses in the degree plan. And also Troy State is far from being a water down degree, it is the same as other degree plans, they require you to take science and math classes, just not as many. Also a degree will not teach you everything you need to know regarding computers from any univeristy, college, or DL degree. That is what technical books/guides, the library and online references are out there for, so learn how to use them and you would already know what ram is and how it works and so on. And as far as quality, it is what you make of it, only you can make the extra effort to go out and learn stuff you don't know about by picking up a book and reading it on your own and you will not have that problem and will get the most out of any education you choice whether online or oncampus.

 

Re: Do you know that?

If you are hiring computer scientists believing they are taught to be software engineers then that is your first mistake. That would be like hiring a physicist to design consumer electronics. Not that a physicist wouldn't understand all the electronics required, in fact they may understand it better than the electrical engineer; however, the engineer is trained to apply this knowledge to produce practical solutions.

In the general, Computer Science is *not* the study of programming nor is it primarily concerned with software development. It is more concerned with the study of the theory and mathematics behind the structures of computing. Of course computer scientists often use computer languages to investigate these theories; however, like the physicist example above, they are generally not overly concerned with the practical application of these theories. Of course, there are many categories within Computer Science, and the category called Software Engineering is concerned with the practice of building software, but let me repeat this again -- in general Computer Science is not a programming degree!

Now that I've said that, I am a professional software engineer having worked in my profession for over 20 years. While I love the study of Computer Science, I agree with you that higher education has not kept up with the needs of industry by training software engineers (as opposed to computer scientists). On the other hand, I do find it odd that you seem to disdain the study of computer structures and architecture as any software engineer worth their salt can put that knowledge to good use in producing software that meets resource and performance requirements.

 

Look up computer engineering

Computer Science is the study of science behind the computer and since software is what solves the problem on the computer it can also be the study of programming. Information systems more focused on the study of software and applications. Management information systems is the study of the system that manages the information for a business. Software engineering is more focused on software to solve a problem or operate a system, they get heavily involved in robotics etc. So lets put this to sleep once and for all. The software application is an element of a computer system. Without it you have a piece of technology sitting on the table doing nothing. It is therefore part of the science which makes a computer operate so programming is part of a computer science degree.

As far as C++ who the heck uses that anyway? Way under 10% of the computer programming arena that's who but is very commonly taught in schools because it is easy to do without a mainframe. It is what my wife learned and she will probably never use it again.

Theory is fine but it doesn't get applications on the floor for people to use. CS graduates in America today are unable to perform in the work force. They come out of school "techies" instead computer professionals that are able to support the company's mission. So many of them think that the IT section is the focus of the organization and forget they are only a tool to accomplish that mission. They focus on the whiz-bang and the latest technical innovation and forget the final user is usually a non-tech clerk or salesman on the floor. It is one reason IT spending is so high. I would bet 25% to 50% of IT spending is wasted spending for techno that will never get used. It is also why an MSIT is not the recommended degree to becoming a CIO. The MBA is because it is hoped that puts the business before the technology like it is supposed to be. Until schools in this country get things right companies will be forced to spend 10's of thousands of dollars retraining their new employees or worse, shipping things overseas.

 

The field of Computing is wide.

Programming is only one specialization.
Diversed Groups of CS professionals from the industry are represented in the accreditation boards that also participate in shaping educational programs in the universities.

Any respectful CS program must have computer architecture
covered deeply.

Look at Electronics.
Telecommunication.
Digital circuits and Signal Processing
Industrial
Medical
Radar
Commercial - TV Audio
etc
A person with degree in electronics can't be specialist in all
by just earning a BSEE or BSET degrees.

The same goes for Computer Science.
Specialization should and will follow by life long learning.

 

I will use the Bachelor of Science in Business/Management (my degree) as an example:


Just to add about UOP, the absolute "fastest" you can earn an undergraduate degree is by completing course waivers for 24 credit hours of transcripted, equivalent, and regionally accredited coursework taken within the last 10 years, that process alone can take 6 months to a year. This would then leave you with 30 credits to complete, taking at 5 weeks a course=50 weeks. I would say about 3-5% of the students I have are able to take that route, most take at least 2 1/2-3 years to finish.

This is also taking in account you have completed all 66 credits of the lower division/General Education requirements:

Comm arts 6 credits
Interdisciplinary 15 credits
Math 6 credits
Science 6 credits (physical bio/science & tech)
Social Science-6 credits
Electives 18 credits
Liberal arts-3 credits
Integrating (capstone course, cannot be waived) 3 credits
Intro course (3 credits, cannot be waived)

Yes, Mr. Nixon is correct, it is not cheap, and the speed the degree can be completed is not representative of dumbed-down educational quality. Coming from traditional academia, I learned an awful lot more in the non-traditional format because I was forced to apply myself in the 5 weeks I had for each class, rather than 15 weeks for my other undergrad where I could easily coast in the first 5-6 weeks (as most 18 year olds do), and still pull off an A or a B. I graduated cum laude from Longwood U a couple years ago, and only worked half as hard as I have at UOP for the grades I've gotten here. And, since I am sure you are all asking why I am getting a second bachelor's rather than a master's well, I am 25 (as of last month), and UOP has a 3 years full-time, post high-school work requirement, and I did not meet it when I started working here. So I figured, why not just complete a BS in business, and get used to the format before going on to grad school, I am glad I did. Now I am experienced with the program, and working in teams, and feel much more confident about entering GWU's graduate business program than I would have with only my English degree.

Another example:

Shenandoah University (here in VA) has a campus out in Leesburg where you can complete a bachelor's in 18-24 months of intensive study, they are a non-profit, well-respected state school, and they utilize the same format and some of the same syllabi as UOP, Capella, AIU, and other "accelerated learning" adult-centered institutions.