Lowest Cost RA Graduate degrees?

Ok I think it is safe to say COSC/TESC/Excelsior College offer the lowest cost RA Bachelor's degreees. In another thread Bill pointed out Amberton's very low cost MBA. What other RA graduate programs are amoung the lowest cost? Many thanks for your help.

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Best Regards,
Dave Hayden

 

When I cruised through the Fort Hays State University "Virtual Campus" web site recently I remember thinking that at $142 per credit hour their Masters programs must be among the most affordable. Does this seem true?
Jack

 

In this thread is a list that da Bear compiled of low-cost undergraduate programs: http://www.degreeinfo.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000027.html

Keep in mind that the US state university and college entries probably show costs for in-state students and the costs have crept up. But it is a good starting point. As a generalization (I'm guessing), schools with low-cost undergraduate programs also have low-cost graduate programs.

One can take the first two years at an in-state community college (perhaps by DL) generally at low cost.

 

In terms of graduate programs, a couple caught my attention and prove to be inexpensive relative to many DL only RA institutions.

Liberty University's DL graduate programs (except for psychology) costs $215 per credit. This is true even for the Ed.D.

University of Nebraska, Lincoln charges at total of $202 for non-resident tuition and fees for their M.Ed. and their Ed.D.

I started researching costs earlier today after the initial post. I was actually surprised to find them at this price.



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David F

 

Fort Hays does have among the lowest graduate tuition I've seen for an RA school. Their Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) program, with numerous concentrations available (English, Criminal Justice, History, & more), is, I think, one of the hidden jewels of DL offerings.


Bruce

 

This is a great price... I didn't realize you could find such prices out there. Maybe Mr. Highsmith has one up on me.

Anyway, I'm hoping more posters will add information about lower cost graduate programs. That would really help steer quite a few people towards RA schools.



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David F

 

I like Fort Hays State a lot. But my own CSUDH-HUX is still only $140/unit. $140 x 30 units = $4,200 for an RA MA.

 

Another source for comparison purposes is: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/elearning/directory/gradonline.htm
This includes out of state fees for the selected programs.

Note also that the per-credit-hour must be multiplied by the the program's required hours to get the overall cost of the degree. Masters level proggrams can vary from the 30 credit-hour to 45 credit hours. The norm seems to be somewhere between 30 to 36 credit-hours. In addition, some programs have per-requisite requirements which will also raise the total price of the degree.

Best of luck----Jim

 

Another public university in Kansas, Emporia State University, offers online MS degrees in instructional design/technology and health/physical education for about $135/credit. This rate is the same regardless of residency. The Kansas Board of Regents obviously does an excellent job of holding down costs in its DL graduate programs.

In the field of education at least, there are a number of well-known state schools offering online master's degrees at in-state rates (around $200/credit), including the U of Missouri-Columbia (educational technology, social studies, g&t), Indiana U-Bloomington (literacy ed), U of Wyoming (ed technology), U of Idaho (various disciplines), and Cal State-Hayward (online teaching & learning).

The previously mentioned $202/hour for courses in education leadership through the U of Nebraska-Lincoln represents the out-of-state cost! Fees for Nebraska students in this program are actually much lower. East Carolina University has a similar fee structure for its online (non ALA-accredited) MLS degree. Even the George Washington University, a highly regarded private institution, offers courses in its online ETL program at less than $300/credit.

Certainly, there are other online programs (most from lesser-regarded schools) that may charge substantially more. But given the quality and cost of the available programs I have uncovered, at least in the discipline of education, the argument that DL is milked as a cash cow for greedy universities really doesn't seem to hold much water. My guess is that institutions such as these, which have been ahead of the curve in offering quality DL programs at reasonable rates, will emerge as leaders in the ongoing paradigm shift in higher education.
Jeff

 

SMSU offers a MS (business) online for $101 to $115 per credit. 36 credits for the MS. Total cost (including other fees) $4140
www.smsu.edu/msas/costs.htm

Lee

 

According to http://advance.unl.edu/lincoln/general/tuition.html, tuition tates for 2001-2002 at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln are $345.75 per credit for non-resident graduate students taking DL courses (not $202).

 

It's been $145 per unit for the last couple of years, and likely to creep up as the state budget crisis tightens. (Yes I know what the website says--we haven't had any luck getting it changed.) Still, I'm told this is very competitive for an RA master's program.

 

Rinri,

I checked your link to the $345 tuition at University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The link didn't work. I went back and checked again and the amount I quoted is correct. Here is the link:
http://edadone.unl.edu/distributed.nsf/pages/courses



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David F

 

Should have been http://advance.unl.edu/lincoln/general/tuition.html

 

Defii: Yes, your reference seems absolutely correct for M.Ed, as stated. But then what about the general tuition info (incl. DL) on the UNL Continuing Ed page at: http://advance.unl.edu/lincoln/general/tuition.html

 

>$4k Masters

Clever DL graduate students may combine programs to reduce cost and obtain a specialized graduate degree.

Example:
FHSU MLS allows 15 transfer credits; students will discuss plan with advisor.

$3645 Masters. Transfer 15 credits from SMSU (see previous post) to FHSU for an Administration MLS.

$3705-$3930 Masters. Transfer 15 credits from GSU to FHSU for specialized MLS in addiction, psychology, intercultural, etc. www.govst.edu/users/gsudx/

Other programs may be combined for a specialized, inexpensive, useable graduate degree.

Lee

 

I don't have specific tuition figures available, but Empire State College is a State University of New York school that offers DL MBA, MA (Liberal Studies), and MA (Labor & Policy; Business & Policy, Social Policy) programs. I completed their Labor MA program and was quite pleased with it.

 

This is quite intriging to me, as I have been looking for a masters in some sort of field of psychology for some time now, an affordable one to boot. But, you mention psychology, and Ft.Hayes doesn't indicated they have such a program up and running yet. Do you have some good inside information? Thanks!

 

The Fort Hays Virtual College website lists a Master's program in Counseling, but it's unclear what the residency requirements might be.

Any reputable Psych/Counseling program is going to involve residency, practicums, and/or internships, so make sure you can satisfy the requirements before you enroll.

Some other possibilities you might check out:

Vermont College of TUI&I: http://www.tui.edu/vermontcollege/programs.html

Goddard College: http://www.goddard.edu/academic/pych_counseling.html


Bruce

 

Bruce,

This question keeps coming up, I know...but given such a degree with a concentration in, say, communications, what limitations would you expect teaching at a college level?

David