... Is where I will be attending school, beginning Sept. 26th! I have finally decided to take the plunge. My advisor estimates that it will take me about three years to complete the online BA in Psychology. That's a bit longer than I wanted to take, but all things considered I'm very excited. The school is fairly liberal in allowing CLEP/DANTES exams (45 semester hours), so I will most likely test out of several Gen. Ed. courses. My goal is to complete my B.S. before I turn 35 (I turn 33 next month). We'll see. Courses are 4 weeks long, and each course will run around $1000. http://www.nu.edu - Tom P.S. For anyone who's employer offers tuition reimbursement, based on grades, National Univ. offers a tuition deferment plan. Essentially, you can defer payment for up to 45 days after the semester ends (and presumably you receive a reimbursement check from your employer). Other schools offer this service too (e.g. Franklin U.). This type of service is such a big deal for me, considering that I have a baby on the way next month and $$$ is a bit tight.
Thanks. I'm a bit nervous (and excited) about the 4 week courses. According to National U., their courses are "intensive". I would imagine this to be true considering the length of time given for each course! - Tom
Que? Que? What do you mean "4 week courses?" I am sorry for my ignornace , but do you mean you can enroll in an accredited college and complete the ENTIRE course in four weeks? I have never taken a course that is shorter than four nor longer than six months. Anyone?
Re: Que? National has been offering the 1-course-per-calendar-month format since the 1970's. Nothing new there. Each NU classroom-based course meets for either 48 hours (undergrad) or 40 hours (graduate) during that calendar month. In other words, classes meet for the same number of contact hours as those on a traditional schedule. Taking 12 courses in a calendar year would earn one the equivalent of 36 semester hours. This is the same as taking 15 s.h. per semester, plus 6 s.h. in summer at a traditional school. In either case, the number of courses in the period of time is the same--taking one at a time instead of several at once. Many schools now offer a compressed format, including Webster University (11-week terms when I taught there), UoP (5- or 6-week courses), and many others. Some (including me) would argue that the educative efficacy of taking (and concentrating on) one course at a time makes more sense than juggling several. (And thus, juggling several mid-terms, finals, and papers, each due at the same time.) The downside is the calendar time given to absorb and synthesize (or just to "get it"). In such a format, you can't screw around for a few weeks until "it" sinks in--there's no time. But you have only that course to concentrate on, so "getting it" happens more quickly. The bottom line is, whether you agree or not, the model is neither new nor revolutionary.
Re: Que? Bullet, As Rich mentioned below, yes this is exactly the case. National (and other accredited schools) offer this compressed course format. I'm not sure how many other schools offer 4 week courses, but the idea is the same - You take one course at a time, in a short time period and move on to the next course. A few courses at National (mainly Senior Projects) are offered for 8 weeks. - Tom
Re: Re: Que? Que tal Doctor? Actually neither in agreement or dis-agreement, I am still in the shocked phase of the thought process..........
Re: Re: Re: Que? My mistake. I didn't mean "you" as in you. I should have said "one." I didn't mean to offend, nor to attribute a particular affect or response to you. Again, sorry.
I did one of my teaching credentials at National and really liked the format. I couldn't imagine a better schedule for a working adult who wants a residential program. The nice thing is that if work is in crunch time during a particular month, it's quite easy to skip that month of school. When I went there, the schedule was something along the lines of 5:30 - 10:00 two nights a week, plus one Saturday (or something like that). Tom Nixon
My SOCMAR home school (Chaminade University of Honolulu) does something similar. They have four 10 week semesters and in between each regular semester they have a three week semester. The nice thing about this schedule for military personnel is that it's much easier to work around deployments. Many times we go to the field for three to four weeks at a time. At a regular school, with 10-16 week semesters, you miss a lot of class (and boy is it rough catching up ). But with a four week, one class per semester set up, if you're going "to the field", you just don't take any classes that month. I will say that what I observed in Hawaii was that for people to be successful at the three week semesters, they'd basically do nothing but work and study. Many Marines would even take three weeks leave and do nothing but school during these mini-semesters. S/F, Ryan IV
I know that Abilene Christian University has one week intensive courses. These are usually in January and May (where they are affectionately called "Maymesters"). Full 3 hours of credit in one week of attendance. Of course, there is some pre-reading that takes place and a final project that is sent in later, but as far as class time it is all in one week. I am sure there are other institutions that do this as well. clint
