upper level courses or Certificates--environmental studies

Hi there,

Recently discovered this site and tried to visit old threads to answer my questions, but couldn't quite find what I was looking for.

So here goes....

I have a bachelor's degree already, and am interested in getting a master's degree eventually, though in an entirely different subject. Also, I'm living abroad and do not speak the local language well enough to study at a local university, so I'll need some kind of distance program. I've been looking into the University of London's External Program--specifically their Diploma's for Graduates and their Post Graduate Certificates as a way to segue into the new field of study for my master's, but the problem is that these programs only start in November. And I'd like to start now!

First, what I'm looking for, ideally, is to take a few mid- or upper-level undergraduate courses in the areas of ecology, sustainability, agriculture, development, horticulture, environmental sciences, etc, over the next several months, and then next fall start one of U of London's programs.

Second, it would need to be classes that are not semester-based, but could be started anytime, or at least more often (at this point I'd have to wait until the summer session in June for all semester-based courses, and then the course offerings are much less usually anyway).

Third, it can't be too expensive! Up to about $200 per credit hour I could probably manage for a few classes. Less would be better.

I have seen the Career Diploma in Conservation on the Penn Foster website, and it sounds interesting (if not precisely what I'm looking for, as far as subject matter). I'm just not sure what a career diploma is... Could anyone clear that up for me?

Thanks for your help! This is a really useful website, so keep up the good work.

 

Really?? Nothing at all?

I was all excited when I read about the programs on the ACS (Australian Corr. School) website, because they have all kinds of things in Horticulture/Agriculture and so on. Then, after some very brief researching, I discovered that they're somehow connected to the less-than-legitimate-sounding Warnborough College, and the two comments on this board that I was able to find about them weren't all that great. Not to mention that their "accreditor" is unrecognized... So that was disappointing.

However, I can't find any actual reviews of ACS anywhere, by people who have actually taken the classes. I know that you don't get college credit for the courses, but they sound so interesting, and in subjects that places like Penn Foster, etc., don't offer.... Does anyone have any idea how it's viewed in Australia? Does anyone know anyone who's actually taken one of their courses?

 

I think San Deigo State University offers an Environmental Studies Online Certificate at $197 a credit hour. It doesn't say how many credits it is, but the link provides a contact person.

http://www.ces.sdsu.edu/environmentalstudies.html

 

CSUB has this bachelors degree - perhaps some of the courses will meet your needs. I'm thinking of taking their hydrologic course.
http://www.csub.edu/erm/
also a PG certtificate
http://www.csub.edu/erm/certificate.html

 

Hi nester - LSU has some courses in Environmental Studies (although I couldn't pull them up)

http://www.is.lsu.edu/courselist.asp?nid=102&Level=CO&Online=0

and UMass has a certificate program in Sustainability Stuff

http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/Online-Certificate-Sustainability-Studies.cfm

 

...and so does Oregon State: http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/online-degrees/graduate/sustainability/schedule.htm

This one is a graduate certificate, though, and may be a little too expensive.

 

University of Idaho's department of Natural Resources has online programs and certificates.
http://www.cnrhome.uidaho.edu/mnr

University of Florida has a Masters in Environmental Science.
http://www.distancelearning.ufl.edu/program.aspx?p=18

University of Nebraska - Kearney has a masters in Biology
http://www.unk.edu/academics/ecampus.aspx?id=6209

It would help if you explained what your background is and what you hope to do. There are lots of avenues into conservation fields. They range from serious science to the use of social science tools to solve environmental problems.