A college with lots of online course/major options?

I'm trying to get a degree that involves Journalism and Criminal Justice (or, even better, Criminology). In my ignorance, I was sold on TESC, not realizing that they offer a very small fraction of their majors online. I was planning on majoring in Liberal Studies and emphasizing Journalism and Criminal Justice until I realized their online options are limited. I realized very quickly that that was not an option: they offer ONE online journalism course. They do have a Criminal Justice program, but since I'm not entirely sure whether I want to have my career in Journalism or Juvy, I wanted to do both.

Long story short, none of the Big Three have what I'm looking for. Excelsior comes by far the closest with their Crim. Justice courses and Research/Writing courses, which I could hopefully combine for their Liberal Arts major.

But that's my last resort. Does anyone know of a college that has more online majors than the Big Three that will accept 60 hours of CLEP credits? Oh and it has to be affordable. Comparable to the Big Three.

 

Hi PG - You might want to take a peak at this program from UMass. It's a Bachelors degree program in Journalism with individualized concentration.

http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/Online-Degree-Bachelor-Journalism.cfm

 

OK, I take back comparable to the Big Three. It needs to be less than $200 a credit hour. That does look like a great program, though, if only I could afford it.

 

OK, I never check costs but Peru State tends to be consistently among the least expensive schools.

http://www.peru.edu/distanceeducation/onlineprograms.htm

 

Before leaping into another school that might or might not meet your specific academic goals, you might consider putting your planned 60 credit hours of CLEPs towards a AA or AS degree enroute to a BA or BS degree. Since you are undecided about a career (criminal justice versus criminology versus journalism) take the time to think about it.

Here are some schools offering degrees in journalism. Perhaps earning an undergraduate degree in liberal arts from the Big Three with a graduate degree in journalism from another school is another option if cost is a critical factor. Penn Foster College offers an associate degree in criminal justice and a bachelor degree in criminal justice, and many of their courses are ACE approved.

 

Why not go for the Excelsior BSLS - you can include up to 60 units professional credits or arts & sciences. You could include CJ courses that you pick up at other colleges around the US such as these:
http://www.wnmu.edu/VirtualCampus/index.html
http://www.amu.apus.edu/academic/programs/bachelors
These two schools also have CJ degrees at reasonable tuition costs.

My Excelsior BSLS has around 60 units of engineering credits and my last employer company never questioned it (I'm an engineer). The certificate does not include the LS designation so I just put down BS on my resume. Also it was accepted by two universities for entrance into their masters programs.

 

I just calculated Excelsior's costs and it would be way too much. I need to stay under $15k. I'll check out the other options listed, but I have a feeling most of them are going to be too much, also. I think I'll just have to stick with TESC and change my major to Liberal Studies in Criminal Justice and Psychology, unless one of these other ones works out.

So what about colleges with good online Criminal Justice or Criminology programs? I'd prefer a BA, but a BS would be ok.

Thanks guys!

 

Our Fearless Mod Bruce Almighty Is A Cop.

One of the moderators, Bruce Tait, is a Boston cop and criminology prof with an MCJ. His sig line has weblinks to two lists of distance learning criminology/criminal justice degrees - one for regionally accredited schools and one for nationally accredited schools. The lists themselves are broken down into undergraduate programs and graduate programs. Go there, start clicking on links, and there you'll be able to the websites of various criminolgy/criminal justice programs and find tuition info.

EDIT 1: Including the words Criminology/Criminal Justice in your thread title would have generated more assistance.

EDIT 2: Just sent off a Visitor Message to Bruce. Also, CNowick, friendorfoe, and jagmct1 (and probably a few others here ... sorry if I forgot anybody) are cops too.

 

If a nationally-accredited program will work for you, take a look at Andrew Jackson University. They have a BA in Communications program, and I'm sure you could take some CJ courses as your electives (AJU also has a Criminal Justice program). If you sign up under their sponsored tuition program, the cost is less than $500 per semester. Just make sure a NA program would meet your current and future educational/professional needs.

 

Fort Hays?

Ponygirl, you might want to look at Fort Hays State university's BA or BS in Justice Studies. its $168/hr and entirely on-line.

http://www.fhsu.edu/virtualcollege/degrees/bachelors/justice/index.htm

Also, there is this resource on other Criminal Justice programs that might be useful: http://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-buy-lists/best-buy-online-bachelor-justice-studies

(In the interest of fulldisclosure, i am an Alum of FHSU and teach there as an adjunct, but not in their Crim Justice program)

Mike