Need help choosing a online school!

I tried doing a search but the search function seems clunky at best.

What I am looking for is an online university with no residency requirement due to my inability to go anywhere (family problems).

I would like a Bachelors in either Physcology or an Information Systems type program (haven't really decided). Most importantly though I would like to get the degree 100% online as well as for the school to be legit and at least fairly respected.

I have been strongly considering AIU (http://www.aiuonline.edu/)and Capella (http://www.capella.edu), but I am unsure if they are a scam or if I could even get a job with a degree from either of those schools.

Any info from people attending or who have graduated from those schools would be appreciated. Also, info about other 100% online schools with no residency requirements would be greatly appreciated.

 

American Intercontinental University and Capella University are both good accredited schools. True, I can say from experience that AIU and their sister school CTU do engage in hard-sell tactics which can be quite annoying but I wouldn't judge the value of their academic programs based solely on that. I haven't dealt with Capella yet, but there are those that claim that Capella engages in hard-sell tactics. - Theo.

 

Try Thomas Edison State College (www.tesc.edu). I'm in their Psych program right now and about to graduate - I've never taken a class through them but I'm sure some other members can let you know how good/ bad they are.

Gavin

 

If you aren't sure about legitimacy and so on then I respectfully suggest you read the following Degreeinfo resource article which may serve as a good basis for your research.

http://www.degreeinfo.com/tutorial/index.html

 

I think I have taken NorthCentral (due to high cost) and Capella (I have read alot of bad things about them) off of my list. AIU is looking good since the tuition is less than the B&W university I went to. I had considered Westwood, but because of an article on this lovely site I decided they were probably as close to a mill as you can get without being one. I may be wrong though so no offense to anyone who went there.

All of these tech school type places remind me of an army recruiter. They will tell you anything and everything to get their commission.

So is http://www.tesc.edu/ fully online, as in I can get at least a bachelors there without any residency? I have read the information on that site, it seems like a good choice if it is fully online without any or very little residency.

I am basically just nervous that whatever school I choose is going to go under 5 years from now, and my diploma will be little more than potential toilet paper.

 

Northcentral, Capella, and AIU are all extremely expensive. There are much better options out there. What field are you hoping to get a job in? What other needs are important to you?

 

I suggest you look at these sites also:

BAin4Weeks

123collegedegree

degreeforum

 

I would like a degree in Psychology, but I can't find any decent degrees at online schools with no residency requirements. I am also interested in programming / computer courses. My 3rd degree choice is in graphic design / web design programs (which is my current career but I would like to get a better job even if in the same field).

I am looking at http://www.bakercollegeonline.com now. They are over a 100 dollars cheaper per credit hour than AIU and have programs I am interested in. Does anyone have any information about the quality of this school?

Oh, I talked to a admissions counsilar today for AIU. The guy I talked to didn't act like a salesman or rigorously try to rush me into anything like people at Devry and ITT Tech tried to do to me.

 

AIU is not cheap.. the total cost of AIU's Bachelor of Info. Tech is $29,480 (includes sw & course materials).

First off you need to figure out what you want to pursue... you gave 3 different choices but which do you want?

Once you know what route you want to take, then you can focus on finding the school that's right for you - in terms of course delivery & tuition/course costs.

I enrolled into FHSU(.edu) after doing much research (mostly on this board) and looking at the various institution's sites. Their program suited what I was looking for in a field of study and also fit in financially. ( btw they do offer a Bachelor degree in INT with a focus on web development)

Anyhow - sit down, figure out what you want and then go after it - there are DL programs out there to suit each of your interests, so the choice is yours.

 

Take a look at the DANTES Web site. There are many RA colleges listed with the degrees you are interested in that haven't been mentioned yet.

In case you aren't familiar with the DANTES Web site: it is a military Web site (despite the .com domain) that gives service members information about many legitimate DL schools and programs.

http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/DEDCNav.asp

This is the official DANTES home page:

http://www.dantes.doded.mil/dantes_web/danteshome.asp?Flag=True

 

No program is "decent", everyone is a crook, religious people are evil, military recruiters are liars, and you are afraid your degree will be nothing more than toilet paper.

I guess that depends on what you put into it.

Thank you for sharing your emotions so freely with us.

Every single post of yours so far contains a combative or abusive element.

We are so fortunate to have your insights.

And, no, before you whinge about censorship, no one is trying to censor you.

Have a swell day.

 

Could someone else tell me what I did wrong? I simply asked about peoples experiences with different DL programs. Thanks for making me feel welcome.

 

My dear Murdok:

Tell you what. You take a look at each of your posts. Then go take a look at the thread by Chip which heads this sub-forum. Then review the TOS which you just accepted. Does anything seem amiss to you?

I personally try to welcome newbies to this board, but it's unusual to encounter someone who exudes as much ill will as you do. You went out of your way to dig up an old controversial thread about religion's pros and cons--a thread in which, generally speaking, posters have been able to express strong opinions without abusiveness--and to post to it in a way that seems only to vent your spleen.

Why you post in this way I have no idea. People on this board will do their very best to share the best information possible on DL and to encourage you in any way we can. A little civility from you would go a long way. It really would. Give it--dare I say it?--the old college try.

Regards,

Janko Preotul

 

First, wait and see if any of the schools you mention are still around after 5 years; then apply.

 

I didn't dig up an old thread on purpose. I was just searching for something else and saw one of interest because I like religous history. I stated historial facts to reinforce a response to some historial facts someone else stated. In fact in my post I said I had nothing against religous people at all, I was only concerned with fanatical hate field religous groups such as the KKK. I don't know anyone, even religous people, outside of the extremist community who would disagree with that.

I am sorry if you took me the wrong way, I sincerely appologize if I offended anyone. I do remember one off color remark I made about Jesus not existing (then stated evidence). But ask a Buddhist if he thinks Jesus existed, most likely he won't. I'm sure if your a Christian you don't think the sun god exists. It was merely a misunderstanding, I hope you can accept my appology.

Also, I honestly need info about DL programs. I was in no way saying a degree from any of the schools i mentioned is worthless. I was simply saying that I hope that they aren't and I have no information that they are with the exception of Westwood which I just put a link to another post of this board.

Eh well, I came to this board sincerely needing help and I was attacked. I am actually really depressed now.

 

The first thing you need to do is roll up your sleeves and do some good ol' fashioned research. You've been given some websites to check out and hopefully you will do so. You could do a lot worse than going out and buying yourself a copy of Bears Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Education (or one of the similar texts by other authors). You might even consider talking to a career counselor about the direction of your studies because the fields of Psychology, Computer Science and Graphic Arts are really quite dissimilar and it makes me wonder how certain you are of any of these choices. In any event, while you're waiting for the bookstore to open you can look at the University of Houston and Mercy College websites. Both of these very fine schools offer Bachelors degree programs in Psychology that can be earned entirely through distance learning. Plus, they will both be around in 5 years (and probably in 50 years as well).
Jack

 

Thanks for the information. Yeah, I found this site by seeing information about Bear's research on MSN Money. I have been doing so much research over the past week that I have a headache from stareing at the computer. This forum as been extremely helpful, and kept me from going with my first, second, and third choice due to their costs relative to other DL programs.

You're somewhat correct about me not knowing exactly what I want to do. However, in my case I am equally interested in either of them and I'm going to base my decision on how good of a program I can find for each in a DL situation. I formally had a career in general IT stuff (networking, fixing computers, programming), then I switched jobs to graphic design. I like anything dealing with computer technology so what field I am in is irrelevant to me.

I seem to be making everyone angry here and I have no idea why. I can assure you all it isn't intentional, I guess I am just a totally oblivious jerk :-(.

 

Don't let Uncle Janko the Mad Lutheran Priest of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod scare you away. Heck, when I was a newbie here, he once bragged about being the oldest and meanest man on this discussion list, if I recall correctly. If you choose to stay, I think you'll find that most of the folks on this board are exceedingly helpful and will want to see you succeed.

As to BlueMason's statement that you need to figure out what you want to do, there is certainly room within a 120 sem. hr. (or 180 qtr. hr.) bachelor's program to do at least a double major, if you plan well, though I'm not sure if a triple major could be done with only the minimum number of hours. However, one could do a double major in psych & IT with some web design courses within the IT major.

You need to find yourself copies of: John & Mariah Bear, _Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning_; John Bear, Mariah Bear, and Larry McQueary, _Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning_; and John Bear, Mariah Bear, and Tom Head, _Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead_.

Baker College is a very well-regarded multi-campus private school with something like nine campuses throughout the state of Michigan and an online program. If I were still looking for an MBA program, let me assure you that they would definitely be on my short list.

 

I am leaning toward Baker after a lot of research. I looked at FHSU but another post on here said they require proctored exams. I'm not sure how they go about that so I e-mailed them. I think they use Blackboard which I have used in several classes before and it seems decent.

I have said this before, but what I really want to do is get a MS in physchology. It is hard for me to go out of my comfort zone in computers though after 12 years in the field.

 

Web Design Programs

Baker College www.baker.edu associate's & bachelor's programs
Capella University www.capellauniversity.edu bachelor's & master's programs
Champlain College www.champlain.edu/ccol/index.html associate's & bachelor's programs
City University www.cityu.edu bachelor's & master's programs