Hi All, First off, this is a great message board, glad I found it! I am 22 and only completed a few courses in college. I cannot take on campus courses, so I am considering doing courses and/possible getting a degree from an online accredited university. Here are some questions I have: 1. How much value do online degrees hold? If it matters from degree to degree... then how about these: a. Accounting? b. Graphic Design? 2. If my situation changes and further down the line, I am able to attend a regular college, can I then transfer these online courses to that college/university? 3. I would prefer to take an online courses/degree from a brick and mortar school, as the recruiters will be more aware of their name. What do you think about this? I would appreciate it if I can get your opinions/ answers on these questions. Thanks Kawi
"How much value do online degrees hold?" Well, the B&M's that offer DL generally make no distinction between their on & off campus degree programs. You should be able to transfer those credits, but to simply say "Can I transfer these credits?" is rather generic because the curriculum for a degree in say, graphic design, at one school may be different than another so all, some, or no credits may transfer. It also boils down to the level of accreditation the institution you choose holds. Regional accreditation is considered the "gold standard" and regionally accredited institutions have the best chances at transferring credits to both RA and nationally accredited (NA) institutions. Nationally accredited schools have traditionally been "career schools" which is still true to an extent, but that is changing rather rapidly IMHO. Search this forum because there have been many discussions on the utility of online/DL degrees as well RA vs NA schools. Here's a pretty decent information link from the USDLA: http://www.usdla.org/html/aboutUs/researchInfo.htm Best of luck!
Kawi, Some prior planning is in order. You can choose a DL school of interest and inquire of the school how their credits have transferred to various other schools. Or you can choose a DL school of interest and inquire here as to how its credits have transferred. If anyone here has experience with the chosen school then you'll have your answer. Or choose a school you aspire to transfer your DL credits to and ask here which DL schools have had their credits so transfer. Accounting should be a special case if you are speaking of an accounting degree leading to a CPA, CMA or like. In that case the licensing may be a consideration more important than which schools are attended.
Kawi, If I recall correctly, it was the oft-cited Sosidan & Sharp study that said that, in the business world, accredited distance learning degrees have good acceptability. Graphic design would be a good example of a program that by its very nature lends itself to online learning. I believe that many employers think that getting a DL degree shows the ability to work independently. While it is certainly not undoable, it can be a difficult sell to try to get a full-time tenure-track professorship at a bricks and mortar residential school with an online doctorate. This is mostly due to the fact that most department chairs tend to be old geezers for whom distance learning doctorates were not an option. Transferability of courses will depend on their accreditation. There are three types of accreditation: national, professional, regional. The national accrediting agency for distance learning is the Distance Education and Training Council. Professional accrediting agencies include the likes of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The six regionals include: the Middle States Association (DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, PR, VI); the New England Association (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT); the North Central Association (AZ, AR, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, NM, ND, OH, OK, SD, WV, WI, WY); the Northwest Association (AK, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA); the Southern Association (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA); and the Western Association (CA, HI, GU, American Samoa, Trust Territory of the Pacific). Oftentimes it can be difficult to transfer DETC credit to RA schools. This might be due to the fact that originally DETC accredited primarily vocational programs before they got into accrediting academic programs, but maybe this prejudice against DETC will eventually change. So, if you plan on starting at a DETC school and then transferring to an RA school, you might call the RA schools of your choice and ask re the acceptability of DETC credits.
