Hello everyone. I've been lurking around here for a few weeks now, reading the posts and gathering information. I still find myself a bit lost, though. I have an Associates degree in Computer Information Systems which I earned online through a local Community College. I want a Bachelors Degree, but just don't know the best way of going about it. My first problem is that I'm not sure I want a BS in CIS. From what I can tell the job market that would be open to me is tech support for some ISP or local company with their own software. That's not exactly what I want to do for the next 20 years. A lot of job postings require a "Computer Science (or equivelant technical) degree" What I don't know is whether HR people consider a CIS degree "equivelant" to a CS degree as far as the technical aspects go. I don't want to waste my time getting the rest of my credits only to find out that a CIS degree isn't going to get me anywhere. The next problem I have is the whole choose a college game. It's wearing me out. I don't think I want a general degree with a specialty in whatever area. I think I'd rather have my diploma state a Bachelors Degree in XXXXX. I just feel that employers who ask for the specific degree won't want someone coming in and saying: "Oh, but I have a close-enough degree." Am I wrong in this? The last (major) problem I have is that I really want to learn something. I'm not in the same boat as a lot of you who already have the knowledge, but just need a piece of paper. If that were the case I'd be all for the CLEP tests for credits. The fact is that I don't know a lot of what would be required for a Bachelors, and I don't think just studying it for the test would be the same as actually going through the course and learning the material. That said, are the 6 week courses offered by some of the DL colleges just refresher courses for those who mostly know the material, or do they really start at basics and teach you what you need to know? The last college I went to had full semesters and I liked that, but it did seem a bit drawn out for some courses. I would be using my GI Bill for payment. My experience is working with computers and working with broadcast radio (HF, VHF) but I don't have as much maintenance experience as I would like. Ultimately I'd like to be in a position of designing radio/computer networks, though I realize my CIS degree would do little for that goal. I'd really be happy doing anything technical that would allow me to advance through a company. Anyone know of a place to check the average income of someone with this degree vs that one, average number of jobs open in the sector, etc? Anybody been through this turmoil before and care to lend some advice, or at least let me know what you did and how it turned out? Any HR reps care to shed some light on how these degrees are looked at? Any field technician supervisors want to just give me a job and save me the trouble? Heh, thought I'd ask.
Have you looked at the U.S. Department of Labor's web site? It contains a lot of the sort of information you are looking for. Based on my own (limited) experience, I think you might want to explore a B.S.E.T. in Computer and Electrical Engineering Technology. Regrettably, there are no ABET pure D/L programs out there.
Well, I'm kind of ignorant when it comes to computer things. But you might check out IT & Computer-Related Discussions to find out whether you want your degree to say "Computer Science" or "Computer Information Systems." ( I'm pretty disgusted with myself for being a computer-illiterate double MBA with two computer consultant brothers!) Anyhow, you might want to go to www.salary.com to find info on the economic potential of your future computer degree.
I think Excelsior´s Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology is accredited by ABET. That could be a good choice.
It is, indeed, but the lab courses (and there are a LOT of lab courses in a BSET) must be transferred in from accredited resident programs.
I've already posted lists of Computer Information Systems and Management Information Systems degrees at the following threads: http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20342 http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20262 DISTANCE LEARNING COMPUTER SCIENCE DEGREES ASSOCIATE'S: Charter Oak State College www.cosc.edu (BG15, 104) Education Direct www.educationdirect.com (BG15, 110) Grantham College of Engineering www.grantham.edu (BG15, 114) Thomas Edison State College www.tesc.edu (BG15, 133) BACHELOR'S: Acadia University http://conted.acadiau.ca/distance/index.html (BG15, 153) American College of Computer & Information Sciences www.accis.edu (BG15, 96) University of Calicut http://collegeskerala.com/calicut (BG15, 177) California National University for Advanced Studies www.cnuas.edu (BG15, 100) California State University Chico www.rce.csuchico.edu (BG15, 101) Charter Oak State College www.cosc.edu (BG15, 104) Christopher Newport University www.cnuonline.cnu.edu (BG15, 105) Crown College www.crowncollege.edu (BG15, 107) Florida State University http://online.fsu.edu (BG15, 112) Grantham College of Engineering www.grantham.edu (BG15, 114) Kettering University www.kettering.edu (BG15, 118) Madurai Kamaraj University www.mkuniversity.org (BG15, 120) Mary Baldwin College www.mbc.edu/adp (BG15, 162) Mercy College www.mercy.edu/merlin/index.html (BG15, 121) Murdoch University www.murdoch.edu.au (BG15, 123) University of New England www.une.edu.au (BG15, 141) Old Dominion University www.odu.edu (BG15, 125) Open University (Israel) www.openu.ac.il (BG15, 127) University of Saskatchewan www.extension.usask.ca (BG15, 144) University of South Africa www.unisa.ac.za (BG15, 144) Thomas Edison State College www.tesc.edu (BG15, 133) Union Institute & University www.tui.edu (BG15, 175) MASTER'S: American College of Computer & Information Sciences www.accis.edu (BG15, 96) University of Bradford www.brad.ac.uk (BG15, 176) University of Calicut http://collegeskerala.com/calicut (BG15, 177) California National University for Advanced Studies www.cnuas.edu (BG15, 100) California State University Chico www.rce.csuchico.edu (BG15, 101) University of Colorado Boulder www.colorado.edu/CATECS (BG15, 136) Colorado State University www.learn.colostate.edu (BG15, 106) Columbia University www.cvn.columbia.edu (BG15, 106) Columbus State University www.csuonline.edu (BG15, 107) Edith Cowan University www.ecu.edu.au (BG15, 109) Franklin University www.alliance.franklin.edu (BG15, 112) University of Idaho www.uidaho.edu/evo (BG15, 137) University of Illinois Urbana Champaign www.ivc.illinois.edu (BG15, 138) Maharishi University of Management www.mum.edu (BG15, 162) University of Massachusetts Amherst www.ecs.umass.edu/vip (BG15, 140) University of Melbourne www.unimelb.edu.au (BG15, 140) Mississippi State University www.distance.msstate.edu (BG15, 163) National Technological University www.ntu.edu (BG15, 124), now part of Walden University www.waldenu.edu University of New England www.une.edu.au (BG15, 141) Nova Southeastern University www.nova.edu (BG15, 165) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute www.rsvp.rpi.edu (BG15, 129) University of South Africa www.unisa.ac.za (BG15, 144) South Bank University www.lbsu.ac.uk (BG15, 172) University of Southern California www.usc.edu (BG15, 145) Southern Methodist University http://www2.smu.edu/distance (BG15, 173) Stanford University http://scpd.stanford.edu (BG15, 131) University of Teesside www.tees.ac.uk (BG15, 181) University of Texas System www.telecampus.utsystem.edu (BG15, 147) DOCTORAL: University of Bradford www.brad.ac.uk (BG15, 176) Columbia University www.cvn.columbia.edu (BG15, 106) University of Melbourne www.unimelb.edu.au (BG15, 140) University of New England www.une.edu.au (BG15, 141) Nova Southeastern University www.nova.edu (BG15, 165) University of South Africa www.unisa.ac.za (BG15, 144) South Bank University www.lbsu.ac.uk (BG15, 172) University of Teesside www.tees.ac.uk (BG15, 181)
I work in the IT field as a database analyst. The people I work with have a mix of mathematics, electrical and computer engineering, management information services, systems analysis, and geology degrees. Oh, and we have a couple computer science majors as well. What you may infer from that is the field in which one works may not necessarily be printed on the diploma (however, it might take a few extra years to move into field X with degree Y). With regard to what the degree has printed on it, that is important for your first job and/or first couple of years of employment in most technical fields. At that stage, a 'tagged' degree (e.g., Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering) will probably open doors more quickly than a Bachelor with a concentration or area of study. After that, if you've acquired marketable experience in a sought-after skill, the degree often becomes a subtle (although still important) bullet point on your resume. HR departments don't generally mechanically disregard experienced applicants on the basis of a degree imprecisely matched to a job. 'Learning something along the way.' Well, you want it all! You should probably complete your core requirements via coursework. That is where you need to shop for the right curriculum and school and apply yourself along the way. There's no reason, though, that you can't CLEP the generalities (humanities, social sciences, etc). Other than a decent command of spoken and written English, these subjects will not impact your network design job. There are exam synopses, study guides, used textbooks and audio discs which you can study at odd times. I CLEPped 6 hours myself after having read a $1 used textbook. Good luck and keep us informed on your progress.
