I just finished my B.S. through Excelsior College and was accepted to Western Kentucky University to complete my Master's. For those active duty folks on the board, WKU offers grad school tuition at $250 a semester hour (which corresponds with the amount Tuition Assistance will pay). They also have text book programs for active duty, basically you get free books on loan. If WKU doesn't offer a major you're looking for, the University of Louisville also has $250 a semester hour graduate school for active duty military. I will post updates as I start the program at Western, hopefully it goes well!
Congrats! I'm currently active duty and was curious as to if that $250 per credit hour applies to the online graduate degrees at WKU? Thanks!
It does. https://www.wku.edu/veterans/wku_special_tuition_rate.php Also, a Textbooks for Troops program. https://www.wku.edu/veterans/textbooksfortroops.php
I just finished my first two classes, one was on-line and the other a self paced course on BlackBoard which WKU refers to as "On-Demand". The 250 a semester hour includes grad tuition, and the University has a Textbook for Troops program- which I used for both classes last semester. So far the classes have been reasonable, a little heavy on discussion boards but not too much more difficult than undergrad I start 2 more classes in 2 weeks, I was able to enroll in the M.A. in Organizational Leadership Program and a Grad Certificate in Adult Education. The Grad Cert is 4 classes and I will able to complete both programs in only 10 classes. Sorry it took a while to respond to my thread.....if you have any questions just post! Thanks! Justin
Awesome to hear, thanks for coming back to your thread! I dont really mind discussion boards, they usually end up around 500-700 words in my experience. I am curious about the length and number of papers required though? Right now I'm dealing with a 5 page midterm and 10 page final for my upper level undergrad classes. Are there quizzes, and if so how are they administered?
For the "On-Demand" class I had 5 one-page single spaced papers, a 5-page paper based off of interviewing 8 people, a 5-page journal article review, a 5-page site visit paper, and a 8-page final paper. The normal web course a had a 2-page paper, 8 case studies (normally 2 pages), a 2-page ethics paper, a 1-page decision memo, and an 8-page final paper with an attached power point or video presentation summarizing the paper. I haven't had a quiz or test yet, outside of syllabus tests.... My next two classes start in 2 weeks, so I can provide more feedback then.
Thank you! I love that the MAOL allows you to get a grad cert as part of the degree program. It's looking very hard to beat the value for military.
That was a major reason I chose WKU. University of Louisville also offers the 250 a semester hour for military.
Just to update the required papers portion of your question, the course I just started (LEAD 540, Leading Teams) has two 8-page papers, two 3-page papers, 10 case studies (2 pages give or take), and 13 discussion board posts. I don't think it's too overbearing for a 15-week grad class - but still its quite a bit of discussion board posts. When my other class starts (ADED 530, Program Development) I will outline the basic requirements. Still no quizzes or tests, outside of a 10 question syllabus test...
It does. It is often difficult to find (they don't like to advertise to all the non-SM's that they're giving different rates), but many schools reduce tuition pretty considerably for veterans, and especially for active duty. Other schools to consider: Oklahoma State University (I believe the military rate is $325 p/h - so about $50 out of pocket after TA) University of Louisiana-Monroe University of the Incarnate Word (I got my first Masters fully funded by TA) Western Kentucky University Louisville University There are also many others that give slight discounts. In example, University of Nebraska-Lincoln discounts military by 10%. It's always worth asking the Veterans Assistance Office.
Sorry I was off the board for a while, but I've done ADED 510 Intro to Adult Ed, LEAD 500 Effective Leadership, LEAD 540 Leading Teams, ADED 530 Program Development, EDFN 500 Research Methods, and LEAD 525 Leadership Ethics so far The only classes that were rough of those: ADED 530 and EDFN 500. However, the only reason they were rough was completely related to my motivation in the class.
Awesome, thanks for the update! By my count, you only have 4 more courses for the Master's? Have you completed the certificate yet?
Awesome thanks for the responses. I ended up going to the University of the Incarnate Word for my Master of Arts in Healthcare Admin. I graduated this past May and was able to complete the program in 10 months while active duty with TA. Great school and great program for those interested.