IVY League Distance Learning

For those interested in any IVY league education, several IVY League schools have started DL programs.
Those include Columbia University's Video Network (CVN)
www.cvn.columbia.edu
Cornell University - www.ecornell.com
MIT (Not technically IVY League) - http://sdm.mit.edu/sdm
Johns Hopkins (Again not IVY but close) - http://distance.jhsph.edu
Georgia Tech - www.conted.gatech.edu/

These are prestige programs in engineering, public health, administration that give the exact degree as on campus students, some with no visitation required.

I know we have been on the various forums discussing whether reputation matters or not and a DL from any school is good enough and that it is your personality.......that really matters. Well I was given this list by my employer and told that if I am going to do distance education it must be from an established university. Furthermore I was told by the HR recruiter that graduates of certain universities (Called "Focus Schools" at my High Tech Company, start at up to 25% higher in salary and options than graduates of lower tier schools - especially in business and engineering even though they are hired for the exact same position. They wont even sponsor me for some of the "no name" schools for DL. Maybe it is just my employer - but I do work for one of the largest high tech firms in the world and I think that says a lot for how the business world thinks here in the USA. Repuation does matter to a point and the reputation always seems to be with you every where you go (The alumni ties are often so strong here in the US). I do agree with several other posts that personality will have a lot to do with moving up in the ranks but I am seriously questioning why I should put the effort towards a DL degree from a no name school when several prestige universities offer the same thing.

 

If a prestigious university is offering a program that works well for you, you can get accepted into the program, and your employer will pay for it, then there is no reason to pursue a degree from a "no name" school instead. I don't think that I've seen anyone argue otherwise. There really aren't very many DL programs being offered by prestigious schools though. Those programs aren't exactly what everyone is looking for, and even if there is a suitable one it's still the case that not everyone can get accepted, and not everyone can afford it financially. Situations vary, and there are a lot of factors for each person to consider on an individual basis.

I think that I'm a pretty good example. If it were entirely up to me I'd prefer to get a Master of Computer Science through the University of Illinois' DL program (it is a fairly prestigious school for CS). Instead, I'm enrolling in the Capitol College MS in CS program for various reasons, not the least of which are the facts that I probably would not get accepted to the U of I program and the Capitol College program costs about half as much. If I could get accepted, and if an employer were paying for it, then there is no question that I would choose the more prestigious option. There are other considerations as well, such as delivery method, curriculum relevance, etc.

If I were an engineer at Intel then I'd go for the MIT program if I could get accepted and my employer would pay for it.

 

If you can gain admission, satisfy residency requirements, and afford the often absurd tuition, then you should go for it. It just isn't a feasible or realistic option for most people.


Bruce

 

I have taken a number of graduate courses through CVN. Because I live in NYC, I could go to the Morningside campus for exams, etc. The main issue is the "absurd tuition" mentioned by Bruce -- over $3000 per 3-credit course. Columbia allows anyone to take the courses, but admission to a degree program is more difficult. I was never admitted. I aggregated my Columbia (and other) courses into a degree program through NTU. But I have put that on hold (permanently, I suspect) because of the "absurd tuition."

 

Two other schools that should be added to the list are Harvard and NYU. Harvard requires at least one semester of on campus classes. I believe there were some posts saying that this was being reexamined and might actually be made longer. NYU offers several dl only programs in addition to their regular programs. U of Washington also has some dl programs. Although it is not ivy league, I consider it prestigous.

 

Re: Re: IVY League Distance Learning

Call me crazy, but I don't think Intel would cough up 59 grand for a year of DL tuition at MIT. I don't think Intel is paying back tuition as of right now anyways (I am a vendor rep. at Intel and I hear techs and engineers complain that they don't have tuition assistance because of the slow down). I think the KEY factor with choosing average schools over IVY league schools is MONEY, despite tuition assistance or reimbursement (company I work for pays back 8 grand/year and that is pretty good I believe).

BR,

Bill

 

as much as most of us would love to obtain a degree from an Ivy League school, it's tough enough to come up with the money/employer assistance for the cheap schools as it is. I'd be overjoyed to have a chance at UPenn, etc. but it's not realistic for 99% of us. There are PLENTY of "name" schools out there no where near as much $$ as Ivy league that I think sound great.

 

Don't get me wrong - IVY league was a catchy title but my point is that quality counts and there are a lot of good universities including state supported universities versus just going for a program in a specific major just because it is cheap. Networking, being part of an alumni association and actually taking the same courses that on campus students take give an employer a notion of quality that may be absent from a completely distance type of program (virtual university). Yes you may learn just as much in the no name program but there is some price to pay (my opinion - right or wrong).

 

Thanks for posting the links. The MPH program at Johns Hopkins looked good. I'm sure you're right when you say that name recognition counts, especially for new graduates. However, I'd be willing to bet that if you did a 10 year follow up study you'd find that graduates of the Johns Hopkins MPH DL program have remarkably similar outcomes with those who graduate from the UMass MPH program (also 100% DL)
There may be a few from Johns Hopkins grads who reach stratospheric levels but my experience is that, for the vast majority, once you reach a certain postgrad level, say 5 years out of grad school, people care about what you know and what you can do, not about where you went to school.
(my opinion - mostly right or exactly right)
Jack

 

The Stanford online MSEE also costs over $3,000 per 3 credit course. Don't know how many people can afford it with his/her own money, especially under current stock and job market. It may be better to put money in your pocket for a rain day.

 

Stanford Online Education

Stanford offers a bunch of online postgraduate engineering degrees (the so-called "Honors Cooperative Program") that are AFAIK only available through employers who will pay for it directly. (Mine is one of them, but I still have to get that pesky undergraduate degree...and even then, I'm not sure I'll do it.) They set up video links to live lectures, and also tape them; they're also moving some course to web-based instruction. Tuition is paid directly from the company to Stanford; I don't know whether that gets around the issue of graduate tuition being considered taxable by the IRS. (If not, it could incur a huge tax hit.)

 

Re: Stanford Online Education

This is NOT to be considered tax advice or a legal opinion but, generally, up to $5,250 of tuition per year paid by an employer on behalf of an employee can be excluded from the employee's gross income. It doesn't matter whether the funds are paid directly to the institution or the employee is reimbursed. Further, the exclusion is allowed regardless of the degree sought or course of study.

 

Re: Re: Stanford Online Education

Actually I believe SanDiego may be correct. Where I work my undergraduate reimbursement is tax free and my friends graduate level reimbursement is taxed. I am not sure if the IRS has other questions that are part of the decision.

 

Re: Re: Re: Stanford Online Education

Okay, here we go.

Employer-paid educational expenses MAY qualify for an exclusion under Section 127 or Section 132 (working condition fringe benefit) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Section 127 exclusion that I mentioned in my post (up to $5,250) did NOT apply to graduate-level courses PRIOR to January 1, 2002. Now, however, the exclusion applies to ALL courses; Congress removed the language which previously disqualified the exclusion for graduate-level courses.

If the employee could have deducted the educational expenses under Section 162 (as a trade or business expense) had the employee paid for them, then Section 132 (working condition fringe) should serve to exclude the employer-paid expenses. However, educational expenses are not deductible under Section 162 if the courses would qualify an individual for a new trade or business or are required to meet minimum educational requirements for the employee's current position. Rather, the course(s) must maintain or improve skills related to the employee's present job to qualify under Section 162.