Hello Everyone, I am new to this forum and hope that I may be able to get a few opinions as to how to deal with a situation I find myself in regarding the possibility of having to earn my degree all over again. About 8 years ago I was attending a local college and taking classes in their evening program while working a full-time job. I came to a point to where my degree program required me to switch to day classes because the courses I needed were not available in the evening program. I began taking classes on my lunch break and everything was going well until the school refused to transfer a significant portion of the credits I had earned because the two programs were on different schedules (quarterly vs 4-1-1). I decided to leave that school and finish my degree online sometime around 2001-2002. I made the mistake of enrolling in Kennedy-Western or Warren National as it was later called. I am sure most of you know that school is no longer around. At the time it was difficult to find an online program that offered the major I was working toward (Computer Science), and by the time I found out about all the controversy with the school, I was nearly done with it anyway. So I completed my work there and got the diploma, knowing all this time that for all intents and purposes it is worthless. It's hard not to feel worthless myself now that I have nothing to show for the hard work I put in. Regardless what anyone says, the courses were not easy. I basically taught myself the material and was tested on it. I have been working for the same company now for 11 years but there is a possibility that I may soon find myself back in the job market and I have no degree to offer prospective employers. So now I must ask myself, should I find a well respected online degree program and get my BS in Computer Science for real this time, or would I be better off attempting to rely on my work experience. There are also times that I think that if I must go back to school, that maybe this time I would like to study something else, but then that would be more like truly starting over. I'm very disheartened by the whole situation and have tried to ignore it over the last 5 years since I 'graduated' from KW, but every now and again it resurfaces and it really hurts now that I may actually need that diploma. If anyone has any words of encouragement of advice, I could use it right about now. Thanks Phil
Hi Phil - Unfortunately your situation is not unique. I'm sure our members will come up with some solid advice for you.
Phil, I would recommend that you move forward and obtain an accredited degree. As you have a considerable amount of wok experience, I would recommend that you have a look at Western Governors University (http://www.wgu.edu). WGU operates on a competency model - meaning that once you complete the competencies required for your degree program, you are awarded a degree. WGU is regionally accredited. Best of luck.
Ideas Hello, Sorry you had that experience. I would read BA in 4 Weeks which will give you some ideas on tests and college choices. I am a graduate of TESC and found the degree to be solid. The current upside to TESC would be to take the FEMA EMI credits ( search for links on this site) and then lay out a plan with your credits that came from the CC. If you are comfortable with posting your RA - CC transcript I know there will be many who will add ideas and options. Hille
Phil, Not sure if you will find this helpful : http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showpost.php?p=303636&postcount=1
I second Western Governors University as a viable any potentially expeditious means of earning a regionally accredited degree. This is the optimal route given you already completed significant coursework towards earning the degree from Kennedy-Western University. I have read of some people completing a bachelor degree in approximately 1 year. Another regionally accredited school with a competency model is DePaul University. DePaul University offers a Bachelor of Arts in Computing and a Bachelor of Arts with an Individualized Focus Area. If a nationally accredited degree will suffice, you might want to look into American Sentinel University and enroll in the 15-credits in 12 months option to reduce tuition fees.
Phil, Here is a suggestion, if you completed a degree at K-W and actually learned something (I am not saying that to be an ass) you could use that knowledge to pass CLEP and DANTES exams to test out of a bachelors degree. I used a lot of knowledge gained at Cal Coast to test out of a regionally accreditied degree. I completed just under 60 credits in about 6 weeks. Hope this helps.
As someone else suggested, http://www.bain4weeks.com/ might be helpful. Maybe you could consider getting an Associate degree which could later be upgraded to a BA? An Associate degree along with all your work experience (and maybe a certification or two, again likely not difficult for you given your experience) would likely help more than just a BA or BSc on its own. Ex, Penn Foster College's inexpensive Associate degree in CIS: http://www.pennfostercollege.edu/computerinfosystems/index.html Or TESC has an AS in Comp Sci: http://www.tesc.edu/2519.php
Phil, I think I was in a situation similar to yours when I decided to go back to school, and first off, I want you to know that no matter how bleak things look, there is always a path back. It may not be easy, and you may not end up where you thought you were going to, but with hard work and determination, you can always get yourself to a pretty good place. Second, stop beating yourself up about falling for KW's scam. A lot of well-intentioned people fall for con games cooked up by criminals, and unfortunately, that's just the way of the world. You can't change the past, so don't dwell on it. Third, if you truly believe that you will be back in the job market very soon, then you should consider earning a degree in Business Administration ASAP, then going back and earning your CS degree later. Why do I suggest this? Because many IT/business programming positions do not require a CS degree per se, but do require the applicant to have a 4 year degree of some sort. You should be able to take your existing credit and transfer it into one of the Big 3, then use exams to quickly finish the degree program. A BS in Business Administration combined with your experience should help you land that next job (note I don't say "dream job" here, just "next job") should you find yourself unemployed in the short term. Once your employment situation is more secure, you can then go and pursue the CS degree, which is going to require courses that you probably won't be able to simply test out of. The path to a Business degree from one of the Big 3 has been well-traveled by the members here, and you should be able to get all the info you need to finish your degree in six months or so, certainly less than a year. I wish you good luck on your journey. I've been where you are, under-credentialed and staring down the barrel at a job loss. In fact, I was out of work for six months before I landed on my feet again. It's uncomfortable, but it spurred me to action, and things turned out really well for me. I hope things turn out just as well for you.
Thanks for the replies everyone, it looks like I have some reading to do, and some contemplating as well.
