Looking for a decent program.

Hello everyone my name is Juice and I'm glad that I have found this website for all the useful information that I have found.
Here is a little background about myself. I am 33 years old married with kids, and recently I decided to return to college and earn a degree in IT-Networking. So I have been taking classes at my local community college (Cuyahoga Community College-Tri-C) here in Cleveland, OH. I have completed some general education courses like English Comp I, General Psychology, Earth Science, etc...
Now this is where I decided to switch gears and attend a accredited university online and stick with one program to finish my degree to receive my bachelors. I also have been having mixed feelings about what career path I should follow, because I am worried that once I earn my degree in IT I will make much less money than my current job due to no experience in the IT field (right now I am basically a laborer and make decent earning, but do not want to do this job all my life. I'm looking for job satisfaction.) So my other option was to get into business and maybe have a specialization in finance or marketing.
In the meantime I have been researching for almost 2 months now on what online college I would like to attend, and I have came up with the following schools that I'm interested in for IT or Business

Bellevue
U o P - I know after reading not good
Umassonline
Southern New Hampshire
Regis
Arizona State
Fort Hays
Colorado State Global
Western Gov.- Not a big fan after having discussion with enrollment counselor
Champlain College
American Public
Iowa Central Community College- 2yr school then transfer somewhere

I'm sure there are more on my list, but have been looking at many others. Keep in mind I'm looking for how fast I can finish and cost is another issue. I would like to mention I receive 6,000 a year from my employer which helps with some of the cost.



So my question to the members of degreeinfo.com are....

Are any of these school a good pick to pursue a career in IT?
Have any of you attended these schools? If yes what did you think?

What would be a good route to follow to make a decent living once completed with my degree?

Thanks to everyone in advance and sorry for a long post that goes all over the place.

Juice

 

I think that WGU requires experience, an IT associate's, or certifications before you can be admitted to their IT programs. You could look for programs that mix business with IT such as computer information systems or management information systems. Some business programs have concentrations in these. I would just completely scratch UoP off the list. There is no advantage to attending that school.

For speed, there are the Big 3: Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College, and Thomas Edison State College. They take an unlimited number of CBEs (credit by exam such as CLEP and DSST), ACE credits (in most cases), and transfer credits. If you don't like the tuition charged at one of the schools, you can just take the course somewhere else and transfer it in. You can come really close to completing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an area of study in Computer Information Systems at TESC just by using tests and alternative sources of credit. I don't know if your employer will pay for any of these since they are not college courses.

The American Public University System is pretty liberal with accepting CBEs and ACE credits. I don't know about the CBE policies at the other schools.

On another note, business majors are the most underemployed right now according to an article I read. There are too many of them. I assume that those with finance, accounting, IT, and human resource concentrations do better in the job market; but, there is a lot of competition in other areas. This is when the prestige of your college really counts. It's sort of like law degrees. Since there are too many lawyers, mostly only the ones who graduated from top schools are going to have a somewhat easy time finding a good paying job. With marketing, you might have to start in sales to get your foot in the door.

 

Hello sanantone thank you for the reply and all of your kind advice. I have come to find out that this is a decision that is very stressful and not that enjoyable. I agree with you about there being way to many business degrees. Maybe I could do a business degree with a focus on IT.
Thanks

 

I earned my BA at Bellevue University and am almost done with my MS, also from Bellevue. I have nothing but great things to say about them. They are nonprofit and their online programs have earned awards from U.S. News and World Report in the last couple of years. The online interface is very user friendly, course content is challenging, and many of the programs are offered in accelerated format. Customer service and student advisement have been quite good as well. They are also very liberal when it comes to transfer credit. They accept CBE, FEMA, and NA at the undergraduate level. Perhaps best of all for your situation, if you earn an associates degree elsewhere, then transfer to Bellevue, they accept your entire associates in satisfaction of all core requirements. They do not do a course-by-course analysis. This means all you would have to do for the BA or BS is your major, plus open electives.

There are other great options as well, but I thought I'd chime in since I am so familiar with Bellevue. I earned my associates from TESC, which would be a very fast option for you.

 

Juice,

While you are searching for your IT or business degree - finish your associates degree from CCC. It's a good school and inexpensive. You will probably pay less in tuition at CCC than any of the listed 4-year schools.

I highly recommend an associates degree for the adult learner - you earn a credential along the way if life happens.

Good luck!

 

I'm going to encourage you to not worry about the college yet. Try to get into your heart and decide what field you feel you would enjoy for the next 30-35 years of your life. There is nothing worse than doing something you don't love, when you could have picked something you really loved. Once you've decided what you want to do, then focus on the college.

I've been where you are and wish I had done it differently...

 

I want to thank all of you for taking the time to respond to my thread.

Pug- I'm glad that you had a positive experience with Bellevue. I also have read nothing but good reviews from that school. When the time comes I might just give that school a chance.

Shawn- I agree with you I should just complete an associates degree from Tri-C, but the only problem I am running into is the amount of time it may take me. I have been only able to get into 14 or 16 week courses there and that eats up plenty of my time taking 3 classes at once. The cost on the other hand is very very reasonable. I might have to reevaluate my career options and just stick it out with that school for the time being.

Steve- Thanks for recognizing that I have been doing my homework. That is one thing that I am certainly doing. I do not want to make the wrong choices and put myself or my family in a financial crisis just to hurry up and get a degree. I will consider the asscioiats degree from my local college.

GoodYellowDogs- Your absolutely right about what path to follow. I am actually looking for a career counselor to help me figure out what path to follow. I have so many interest that I have potential at I'm having a hard time telling myself what direction to go in. I do not want to dread my decision down the road. My goal is to find that job satisfaction that also allows me to raise my family comfortably.

I want to inform all of you I have been on another forum with some people in the IT field and unfortunately they have been explaining to me that I will be making under 40k for the first 5 years. Since I do not have any experience at my age and no degree as of yet I'm entering a danger zone. I can not afford a pay cut so I might have to reconsider chasing the IT career and focus on something else. I might take a look into Business with a focus on IT and then maybe I could take a supervisor job at my current place of employment just to get my feet wet a little bit. This will and possibly open up other avenues throughout my career.

Thanks you all once again. Any other tips or advice I am all ears.

Juice

 

If you're working IT and making under 40K after five years in, it would be due to lack of effort on your part.

That's how I see it.

IT is a field that mostly goes based on how well you can do things. (There is some variance, but if you're willing to work for it, you can get to where you want to be.)

Of course, the fastest track to making more money in IT (without losing what you have now) would involve the following:

1 - make a 5-year target position
2 - start volunteering on the side
3 - get some certifications under your belt
4 - once you start getting IT offers that match/exceed your current pay, switch over
5 - revise your goals annually, shoot higher

Of course, this has nothing to do with the degree. The degree comes into play in two cases:
1 - companies that care about it to just get in
2 - companies that care about it for promoting into management

If you're targeting management, I'd advise balancing your technical side with an MBA in IT. A degree does matter. The issue is that the time/reward ratio is in favor of certifications if you're trying to quickly get to the level you want. Of course, for longevity's sake, you probably want to get the degree eventually.

I sincerely hope TechExams didn't tell you to work 5 years at 40K. I say that because I advise you to go to techexams.net if you want career-building advice for IT.

Also, as many mentioned before, there are several options for expedited degree reward. If you were a more experienced tech, I'd advise WGU for the quickest finish. Otherwise, I'd advise one of the "Big Three". In that case, you can check out degreeforum.net for more tips on degree options where you can leverage your community college degree/credits into a degree-completion program.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Instant for your reply. You are absolutely right what I put into a program will determine how far I will make it. I will hop over to techexams and see what they have to say. WGU is an option I just have to complete one cert (A+) before they will accept me since I do not have any prior experience. Thanks again