Online Grad Degrees from Europe -for Free

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by fairyrealm, Sep 21, 2008.

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  1. fairyrealm

    fairyrealm New Member

    Thank you Warguns for telling us about the program in Sweden. I think this discussion is worthy of its own thread. Please share here any other European Universities that offer online graduate degrees -even to us folks in the U.S.

    Kindly,
    Fairyrealm
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  3. warguns

    warguns Member

    free European courses

    This is a repost to this thread.

    In English you mean and offering degrees? So far as I am aware Sweden is the only country that is FREE and there are only two degree programs.

    All higher education in Sweden is free (well mostly) and the online programs just follow that. There is talk of charging foreigners. I don't know how it will impact the distance programs.

    For non-degree programs in Sweden (free or mostly free)

    http://english.netuniversity.se/

    Germany, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands all have distance universities but, while a few courses many be offered in English, it is not possible to complete a degree without fluency in that language. Also, not free.

    Here's a resource that finds distance courses by language in selected EU countries

    http://www.educontact.eu/

    Most of the courses in English seemed to be from Open University (UK).

    Note that I am by no means an expert on distance education in Europe.
    Edit/Delete Message
     
  4. fairyrealm

    fairyrealm New Member


    Give yourself more credit, Warguns. This is very valuable information. Thank you so much for going the lengths to explain this. Yes, I am looking for programs in English, and Thank You for posting all of this!
     
  5. warguns

    warguns Member

    new distance degrees from Sweden

    There are over 300 distance Swedish university courses in English listed at

    http://english.netuniversity.se/

    that supposedly have no "compulsory meetings". The search engine isn't perfect and some of the courses it lists do require campus attendance.

    However, I did find some new Masters programs that were not there last year, especially at Högskolan Dalarna. It's not clear whether they can be completed without any campus attendance. If interested, one could inquire by email.

    For example: One-Year Master Programme in English with Specialisation in Irish Literature, 60 ECTS-credits

    http://www.du.se/Templates/ProgrammeSyllabusPage.aspx?id=239&epslanguage=EN&programkod=HIRLA

    One-Year Master Programme in Social Anthropology, 60 ECTS-credits

    One-Year Master Programme in English with Specialisation in Linguistics, 60 ECTS-credits

    One-Year Master Programme in English with Specialisation in Literature in English, 60 ECTS-credits
     
  6. mintaru

    mintaru Active Member


    "One-Year Master Programme" is the English translation of the Swedish degree magisterexamen. This degree originally was an undergaduate degree after four years of study. Today, it's a graduate degree since it requires the Swedish degree kandidatexamen (or its equivalent) for addmission. But the kandidatexamen, a Swedish Bachelor's degree, is a three-years degree, so the graduate magisterexamen is still a degree after four years of study. This could be a problem for Americans since the US Bachelor's degree is also a four-years degree. Some universities in the US actually consider the magisterexamen the Swedish Bachelor's degree equivalent, see: http://www.students.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=101480 or http://international.unt.edu/credentials/equivalencies/level/bach, but for others the Swedish equivalent is the kandidatexamen, see: http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/1,1770,23370-1;56719-2;56721-3,00.html, for instance. Within Europe, however, the magisterexamen is virtually always considered a Master's degree.

    There is also the "Two-Years Master Programme" (120 ECTS cerdits). Technically, that's a different degree, called masterexamen in Swedish, but it depends on the respective university department which degree it offers. The masterexamen is more common in engineering and natural sciences, and the magisterexamen is often offered in the humanities.

    By the way, I'm quite sure that Sweden and Finnland are the only countries with free distance education for everyone! But there are other countries in Europe with free higher education. In some states of Germany, for instance, higher education is still free, but that's only true for classical on-campus programs, not for distance education. And it seems that even Sweden and Finland will end free higher education for non-Europeans, see: http://www.thelocal.se/12594/20080623/ and http://chronicle.com/news/article/5002/finland-like-sweden-to-end-free-study-for-some-foreigners :(

    mintaru
     
  7. fairyrealm

    fairyrealm New Member

  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    If you are considering a European degree then you may as well consider a South African degree. They are not free but they are so inexpensive that sometimes peope don't believe it when they've finished doing the currency conversion. The easiest place to start looking is at UNISA.

    http://www.unisa.ac.za/

    warguns - you are right, it is more important.
     
  9. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    They are certainly not free, but I have found that some of the UK programs are some of the most affordable graduate degrees around, even when you take the currency conversion into account.

    University of Leicester, Heriot-Watt and Durham are on my short list for grad degrees once I get my BA.
     
  10. warguns

    warguns Member

    Swedish Social Anthropology Masters entirely online

    Earlier I posted the information below about new online masters degrees at Swedish universities. The information provided online was not entirely clear as to whether some class meetings or other on-campus time was required.

    I emailed the director of the One-Year Master Programme in Social Anthropology, 60 ECTS-credits at Hogskolan Dalarna who assured me that the program is entirely online.

    You may wish to inquire about other programs to see if this is true of them as well. So far as I am aware, these programs are entirely FREE, although this may change for non-Swedes in the future.

     
  11. warguns

    warguns Member

    Thank you for this very helpful information.

    My personal opinion is that is that the magisterexamen, the "One-Year Masters Program" should be treated as the equivenlent of an American Masters degree despite the fact that it is only the fourth year of Swedish university study.

    My reasoning here is that American secondary school standards are so pityfully low that the first (and second) year(s) of American college are really part of secondary education in other advanced industrialized countries. Consequently, although American university study for a BA is four years, only two years of it are university level education.

    Frankly, in reality, at perhaps a quarter of American colleges and universities, students graduate without ever doing any real university-level work.

    Of course such a statement is difficult to prove but, for example, from some California State University campuses almost half the graduates fail the CBEST (California Basic Educational Skills Test). You can view the content of the test at

    http://www.cbest.nesinc.com/CA_testspecs.asp

    It's impossible to believe, but here are some of the skills required:

    Understand and use standard units of length, temperature, weight, and
    capacity in the U.S. measurement system.

    Measure length and perimeter.

    Perform arithmetic operations with basic statistical data related to test scores
    (e.g., averages, ratios, proportions, and percentile scores).

    If you wish to torment yourself with the actual test questions, the official site only runs with Java 1.4 or 2.0 (my computer has Java 6, Update 4) which shows you how pathetic the California Education Department is. You can find sample questions at
    http://www.testprepreview.com/cbest_practice.htm

    Remember, half the graduates of some campuses can't answer questions like:

    Alfred wants to invest $4,000 at 6% simple interest rate for 5 years. How much interest will he receive?

    A. $240
    B. $480
    C. $720
    D. $960
    E. $1,200






     
  12. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    Thanks for this. I agree, the information on the website was unclear.


    Tom
     

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