New to distance learning and feeling lost ...

Hey all,

I found this site through the Bear's Guide to Distance Learning, and I'm interested in going back to get my degree; Here's my basic situation:

I'm 21 (about to turn 22), and I've been employed full time as a software engineer for embedded ARM development work, as well as working to port and maintain the Ubuntu Linux distribution on ARM SoCs, plus many years of volunteering to assist in both Debian and Ubuntu developer (as well as loads of other contributions across the open source software world).

I originally attended Rochester Institution of Technology for 2 1/2 to 3 years a few years ago, earning an unknown number of credits (I've ordered a transcript), but they are scattered all over the place as I found classrooms extremely boring, and, frankly, a waste of time (actually, I consider a significant part of my education like this, but I digress). During this same period of time, I was an active volunteer firefighter, earning a firefighting 1 certification, and remained interior until early this year.

I've been reading how a lot of colleges accept CELP, work and life experience, and that with sufficient experience, it should be possible to complete a degree relatively quickly. I realize that there is no magic bullet to getting said degree but I feel a bit overwhelmed trying to sort everything out to go get my BS/BA and it seems that a lot of colleges aren't really focused at quickly granted degrees based off just transfer credit + life experience + work experience, with the exception of Excelsior College. I was wondering if there were any other good ones to look at, or if I'm going around this the entire way; I do not have an immediate need for the degree, but I rather have it for a multitude of reasons, and I rather not have to spend 4-6 years of my life to get something that I don't believe is worth that much effort (I have a rather dim view of traditional learning unfortunately).

Anyway, to boil this all down, what are some good schools to start looking at, how long (roughly) can expect to be working towards a degree, how much will it cost, and if there is any general advice you can give me.

I should note that I have to travel a *lot* for my job and can be in almost any part of the world at any given time, sometimes with no advance notice, which means I need to be able to have flexible course and examination hours (a tall order I realize, but there has to be something out there that can help me :-/).


Thanks in advance

 

Hi - Our old friend Lawrie Miller has a site that may be of interest to you:

Lawrie Miller's BA in 4 Weeks. Online degrees by distance learning. BA degree and graduate degees - Accelerated Master Degrees by Distance Learning.

 

I fully admit that this may be due to bad personal experience, but I see way too many people who are geniuses flunk out, and then people who are dumb as rocks getting all sorts of degrees. I'm just thankful my current employer doesn't really factor degrees into their hiring or salary process. I do admit that being able to have schools to teach new information and new skillsets is highly important.

I'll start reviewing these links and posting questions

 

Actually, flexibility is not a tall order at all. That's what distance learning is all about. Good schools? Many people on this board have recommended TESC Thomas Edison State College as a great place to go rather inexpensively. The school I go to NCU Accredited Online Degrees at Northcentral University is, in my opinion, a good choice. I love it and it's really rigorous.

WARNING: I would be very careful of schools that offer to give you college credit for life experience. That's one of the earmarks of the many fake schools that infect the web. We here call them "diploma mills". I'm not saying that every single school that offers credit like that is fake, because I just don't know. I'm sure someone here knows more about that. But I do know it's a definite warning flag. I suggest that any school you consider, you post it to this BB for evaluation and these fine people will let you know if it's a fake.

 

Credit for life experience is not allowed by legitimate schools. But credit for prior or experiential learning is. All the regional accreditation agencies define and allow credit for prior learning.

Here is the WASC requirement:

Credit for Experiential Learning
It is the position of the Commission that the academy has a significant role beyond that of certifying what
a student has learned elsewhere. It is within the academy that a student typically earns academic
degrees.
Credit for prior experiential learning is offered only under the conditions enumerated below. This policy is
not designed to apply to such practices as CLEP, advanced placement, or ACE evaluated military credit.
Questions about this policy should be referred to Commission staff.
1. Credit for prior experiential learning is offered only at the undergraduate level. It is not offered at
the graduate level.
2. Portfolio-based credit for prior experiential learning is awarded for no more than 30 semester
units, or the equivalent, toward the degree. Credit is awarded only for documented learning
which ties the prior experience to the theories and data of the relevant field.
3. Credit is awarded only in areas which fall within the regular curricular offerings of the institution
and are part of the instructional program the student completes.
4. Institutions that use documentation and interviews, in lieu of examinations, demonstrate that the
documentation provides academic assurances of equivalency to credit earned by traditional
means.
5. No assurances are made in advance regarding the number of credits to be awarded.
6. Credit is awarded only by faculty holding regular appointments in the appropriate discipline. The
awarding of credit, and the determination of the amount of such credit, is made by a qualified
faculty member. The faculty member ensures that assessment procedures are appropriate for
the credit awarded.
7. Credit is only awarded to matriculated students and is identified on the student’s transcript as
“credit for prior experiential learning.” The institution is prepared, on request, to furnish
documentation describing the learning that was assessed, how such learning was evaluated, and
the basis on which such credit was awarded.
8. Steps are taken to ensure that credit for prior experiential learning does not duplicate credit
already awarded or remaining courses planned for the student’s academic program.
9. Policies and procedures for awarding experiential learning credit are adopted, described in
appropriate institutional publications, and reviewed at regular intervals.
10. Fees charged are realistically related to the cost of the program. Adequate precautions are
provided to ensure that payment of fees does not influence the award of credit.

 

TESC is an option but I prefer Charter Oak. They are cheaper and a whole lot easier to work with. For a BS/BA degree there are some really good options with a low cost.
Amberton University
Amberton University - Home

Ft. Hayes State University
Fort Hays State University

AMU/APU
American Military University  

to name a few.

 

>>

All of the suggestions are good, and to avoid redundancy, I'll throw out there some other ideas. NEARLY ALL state colleges/universities offer online learning. Really. The hunt is always for the best fit (program A is in my area of interest but expensive, program B is cheap but too long, program C takes a lot of CLEP but isn't really in a major I want......)

In my opinion, for profit-online schools should be a last resort. They are open enrollment generally and expensive- in other words- they are there if you need them, but you might be able to find something MUCH cheaper and some local name cred. That's not to say there is anything wrong with most of the schools. If you find one that is regionally accredited, then technically it's as good as the next. I suggest that because sometimes people can't see the forest for the trees. It's possible that your local university has an inexpensive program that you can take online! The trick is knowing what to look for. Many schools don't actually say that they offer "online degrees." HOWEVER, if you start looking deeper, you find that they offer online classes - and in a mix-n-match fashion can meet all of the degree requirements...viola! Online degree.

I know for some people, any degree will meet their needs- so they end up getting a degree in liberal arts (which is fine) but honestly, if you use CLEP and have existing credit you can already shave off massive time/cost. In my opinion, a degree that takes 3-5 semesters in a field you want is worth more than a degree that takes 2-3 semesters in a random away. But, that's my opinion. I have seen people change degree majors because they would waste 3 credits if they didn't. <shrug>

A lot of people here know about IT stuff, I don't, but there is good help here. For firefighter credits (and EMT credit) you'll probably be able to use those in electives as long as you took them for credit as opposed to a college's adult education dept for non-credit. Many schools offer both, so you should check to see what you did. You need to specifically ask if the courses were for "CEU" or "college credit" and the office worker can look this up in 2 seconds.

Lastly, the most important thing you can do for yourself is understand the rules. All schools have their own rules, and the more general information you understand, the better prepared you will be to assess how that particular school will fit. Yes, colleges are not set up to grant degrees quickly- but if I know a college's rules, then "I" decide how quickly I can earn my degree within the parameters of the game oops, I mean degree process.

Welcome!

 

That is a good point. My BS degree was just an "admissions ticket" to a masters program so I really did not care - I knew it was not the end for me.

If you have Microsoft, CompTIA, or Cisco certs they are worth credits at Excelsior and Charter Oak. You can even do a masters at Charles Stuart (without a bachelors degree) and use the Microsoft certifications to complete half the program. I have a coworker that did that and said he loved the program.

 

I don't have any certifications with Microsoft or Cisco, but I've worked with enough Microcrap Servers (and Exchange, ugh, don't get me started on Exchange) that I can probably get the certifications trivially if I can just take the exams.

No, I was a firefighter, I didn't take any classes expect the standard Firefighting 1 certification in NYS, and associated classes.

TESC and Charter Oak look pretty good. It just seems that there isn't a streamlined way to do all of this, and I admit I'm pretty nervous :-/.

Still, thank you all for your help.