I am currently applying at CUNY for their Communication and Culture BA, but now I am very interested in New School University's bachelors where I could tailor it to media studies. This is the closest degree to my career that I have found. Has anyone here used their online program? I am very confused about the cost. In the tuition section it says courses are around $1000 a credit (YIPES!!!), but the course descriptions list amounts like $595. http://www.newschool.edu/online/ I am going to drive myself crazy trying to find the right school for me and staying there. I have been with my same job for 16 years, but I am so fickle about schools. lol.
New School University actually changed it's name in 2005 and is now just known as The New School. The program you are looking at is $1,124 per credit. The school has developed a solid reputation in a relatively short amount of time, though I'm not if it would be worth the huge cost differential versus tuition at a CUNY school.
The cost is definitely a huge drawback for me. But its good points are that I can get prior learning from my current job. I was unable to do that with other programs. Television production did not apply elsewhere. And I would have to get some sort of loan because I will get taxed to death with my tuition reimbursement. Plus it is a lot of money to front.
If I am reading your options correctly it does not make sense to prefer a loan (plus interest) to using taxable tuition reimbursement. If you use your own money it is probably after tax money anyway. And don't forget there are tax benefits for education expenses.
I have a friend who did most of his degree at New School, about half of which was done online. He had no problems with the online classes and in some ways said he preferred the written comments/statements for discussion online vs. discussing in class. He had some uneven experiences with professors who taught online; some seemed to really enjoy it, others it seemed like a chore to them, but that is probably the case at almost any school.
Thanks everyone. I am working on my application. But the thought of the tuition does make me want to vomit. I would use the tuition reimbursement as well as the loan, if I can. A semester would cost me almost $10,000. Getting a paycheck with a $10,000 reimbursement in it plus my salary would hurt big time with the taxes. I would get the first $5500 back free and clear, after that it would become taxable income for the rest of the year. New School has a deferred payment plan for tuition reimbursement so I would not have to front all of the money, but I would still have to pay a large chunk of money once the non-taxable goes away. I am not sure how this all comes into play when it comes to tax time. I will definitely be speaking to a financial adviser this week to figure out my options.
Academy of Art University My University (Academy of Art) has a bunch of different programs related to media, from Multimedia Communications to ANimation and VFX. All of them can be taken online or on campus (same price) and the tuition is cheaper than the New School. The Academy of Art does not have a good reputation among traditional colleges (because is for profit and geared towards commercial art and media, not fine art) BUT it has a good reputation in the commercial field (it was considered the second best 3D animation school in the world recently). All the teacher are professionals in the field and that makes a huge difference. I had classes with teachers from Lucasfilm, Zoetrope, Pixar, etc... You should take a look: www.academyart.edu Having said that, I think this online program at Cuny is fantastic. School with very good reputation, B&M and very cheap program. You could also try SUNY - Empire State School www.esc.edu. SUNY has a very good reputation in general and at the Empire State College you can design your own degree program.
I agree about CUNY, if I cannot stomach the tuition at The New School, I think I will go there. One thing that is really drawing me to The New School is their courses about documentaries. I'd love to be able to edit a documentary, but the editing I do at work now is factory work, perhaps the workshops they have could help me build up a demo reel. Since I live close to NYC, I could take some of the courses in person, work permitting. I will check out the Academy of Art. I believe my friend's sister goes there for web design.
I'm interested in documentaries too - actually I'm already enrolled in the Documentary class for my Spring 2010 semester.
I knew that last I looked, Academy of Art was not regionally accredited, which would have been a pretty serious concern at least in my opinion, but i decided to take a look at their site just to double check. The site's statement on accreditation is vague and seems to imply they hope to get it in the future, so I checked CHEA, and apparently it is presently accredited by WASC. That's great news for anyone who's attended or is considering attending Academy of Art. Now... if somebody would just tell them to update their accreditation statement on their site. As written, it looks like carefully crafted millspeak, rather than a clear statement such as "We are pleased to announce that WASC has granted full accreditation to Academy of Art University."
Hikaru, Weren't you looking into CUNY? I think a post with you asking about it came up when I was researching the school. I believe you said you were applying. Did you decide to go to the Academy of Art over them?
I was already in the Academy at the time. But I wanted a second bachelors degree in Communication, Media or something related (because my BA is in History, even though I have about 6 years of experience with 3d/animation/TV, etc...) so I looked around for some cheap (and good) Communication or Media BA. Cuny was one of my first choices. But I realized that here in the USA, unlike my country (where the field of your BA is really important) there is no need to get a second BA. People just look at your last and higher degree - and I'm already finishing and MFA in Motion Pictures & TV, so I don't really need a second BA. That's why I didn't apply. But I still think the program is awesome in terms of price and reputation of the school.
I think their statement is pretty clear: "Majors Accreditation WASC Accreditation The Academy of Art University is proud to announce that it has been granted regional accreditation by the Senior Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one of the six regional associations that accredit public and private colleges and schools in the United States. " They got RA accreditation in 2007 - actually that's one of the reasons I've ended enrolling in the Academy. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.
So I think I have come up with a compromise, if I am allowed to do this. I will go to CUNY and get my degree there. But I may also take a few media classes at The New School if I can transfer the credits. This way I do not have to vomit thinking about the high cost of my education.
