Capella University

Re: Alternatives

Since you are looking for a bachelor degree in business, I think there are better and more affordable programs out there that will fit your needs. Aside from the ones Steve mentioned, the following DANTES link lists a ton of DL RA bachelor business programs.

http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/InstitutionsBySubjectType.asp?RecID=3

 

Like most schools (DL or B&M) you can get good and bad classes. I took three course at UoP; two were at a campus and one was online.

One of the campus classes was a joke. COSC was going to give me 100 level credit for a 300 level class (we agreed on 200 level). The instructor knew his stuff but the class content was something like...this is a computer - can everyone say C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R...Good boys and girls.

The other class was really hard. The instructor was a retired major from the Air Force and thought the general course syllabus was so easy so he tripled the assignments.

I have met people with degrees from USF, FMU, Almeda (degree mill), and Kennedy-Western (very questionable) and all of them had a different skill set. I have also met people with a high school diploma that were very well spoken.

The point is, some employer accept DL schools as equal to B&M and some do not. If you are really that concerned, go to a B&M school that offers DL courses/degrees. If you can get one close to your home that would be even better.

All my degrees were online. I am in a grad certificate program at UF right now that is online. Most people would not know it is online and, of course, UF is a great school and well respected in the Tampa area as well as across the country. The point is no one will question my UF certificate even if they do question my NCU PhD. Sorry if I rambled and I hope you do not see it as a person that is in an online PhD program that can not write or collect their thoughts

My advice - decide on a program, find schools that offer the program, pick te one that meets your needs. It could be a need for: low cost, short classes, independant study, online forums, name recognition, RA only and nothing else matter, etc.

 

Randell has a lot of good points.

My advice would be to find a good B&M school that is near where you live (or want to live or have lived) that has online classes to complete your degree. Find out their residency requirements and transfer in your previous coursework.

California has a lot of great Community College system and with in-state tuition that might be a real bargain and a way to finish your lower division classes easily.

Good luck.

 

Re: Re: Capella University

With all due respect, that is an irresponsible statement. You have not provided any documented proof for your bold assertion.

I can attest that as a soon to be Ph.D. in the school of psychology at Capella, my journey has been significantly rigorous. The chair of my department studied and sat under most of the greats of family therapy (Virginia Satir, Carl Whtaker, Minuchin and many more). Many of my former course professors have plenty of credentials both in publishing and inside academia.

Also, Capella is CACREP accredited in both the Mental Health and the Family Therapy Masters degrees. If you know anything about that, it means that it is the highest possible gold standard of programmatic accreditation. Also, it was the first online school to receive that distinction.

The Clinical psychology programs are currently under evaluation in the process of obtaining the coveted APA accreditation. Capella has been working very hard for years to get this programmatic accreditation. Capella is committed to obtaining every possible programmatic accreditation in each of the different schools (education, human services, psychology, business, technology, etc.). It is already regionally accredited, which is no small feat.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella University

I can assure you that as a professor at the largest former community college in the USA that Capella fairs quite well with our faculty.

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience. I can point out many of my classmates that "kick serious academic butt" and have already published articles and spoken in professional circles and societies. Some of my classmates are even published authors with their work on the shelves of Barnes and Noble and Borders. I bet you that I could find incompetent grad students in almost any program. I have found them in standard brick and mortar programs.

It sounds like you recently were doing a doctoral program to add to your masters degree. I hope you found a school of your liking.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella University

Hi,

I wonder what sample size you're dealing with.

I'm in the phd in general psychology at Capella, so of course I have a bias.

My experience is that there is a pretty wide range of students in the classes. My experience of their comps process is that it was challenging.

I am now in the dissertation sequence and my fellow learners seem to be of considerable calibre.

Capella has an inclusive admissions policy and I suspect that a number of less prepared students withdraw. The former head of the psych program asserted the school washes out a significant number of students in the first quarter (was your experience in a first quarter class?).

Regards,
GME

 

Re: Re: Re: Capella University

With all due respect, that is an irresponsible statement. You have not provided any documented proof for your bold assertion.

Further, as someone studying psych, the FIRST thing I would expect you to do is disqualify youself for your clear "conflict of interest".

 

Nicely put. I also teach for UoP - I hold my nose and take the money, but I am not impressed with the undergrad and masters classes.

OTOH - I have seen one UoP PhD who really is impressive - but I think he would be impressive no matter where he went.

 

There is something very questionable about the practice of "washing" out students in online doctoral programs in Psychology (or for that matter any doctoral program). The fact is that many online doctoral programs in Psychology have very open and inclusive admission policies (many accept students with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and DETC degrees and no GREs). GENERALLY, students accepted into these online programs would not be admitted into comparable brick and mortar doctoral programs. The criteria for admission in B & M schools is significantly more rigorous and substantive and the students selected are generally top of the rung in regard to academic and research potential (I am referring to the Ph.D program not the Psy.D).

By having relatively lax admission criteria some students may be led to believe that the program may also be lax and relatively easy to complete. Secondly, the fact that online doctoral tuition is astronomical, to wash out a student if they can not perform up to academic standards is grossly outrageous considering the fact that more stringent admission requirements would have weeded these students out prior to commencing the program. This would potentially save these individuals significant financial loss as well as loss of time, energy and frustration!

So it is not a matter of doing an academically questionable student a favor by admitting him/her into a doctoral program but of the school gaining financially regardless of the outcome.

 

Nicely put!

I'd also suggest that there is something questionable about utilizing a high percentage of adjuncts. At every place I've been an adjunct (and that's quite a few) the unspoken pressure for an adjunct was to let student "coast" thru - if they wanted to continue teaching.

 

BTW, I completed an online doctoral level course (not in Psychology) at Capella U. and experienced a situation very similar to the one you described in a previous post. A considerable number of "learners" (does the term "learner" infer some lesser expectation for academic performance than when one is called a 'student"?) in this classroom were conspicuously lacking in doctoral level writing, analytical and communication competencies. In fact I am familiar with high school students who possess vastly superior academic competenicies compared with the students in this online classroom.

One cannot generalize and state that all online doctoral classes share similar student characteristics as those noted above. However, based on my experiences in this classroom I questioned as to how these students were able to progress to the point of being allowed to take this advanced doctoral course
without being held accountable for such questionable academic work.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella University

Ok, Jim... I am a doctoral Ph.D. student at Capella. There's the disclaimer. My point is that you made, what appeared to be a "bombastic" strong statement with sweeping generalizations. As a person who has experienced (more than you have) a fuller representation of the Capella program, I say that you are not being responsible with your original statment.
Probably, it would have been wiser to say that your experience has shown you that Capella may not be XYZ.

In my experience, the program has been sufficiently rigorous and challenging. I have had wonderful professors. I have had a few rotten apples, but then in regular schools, I have seen real ego-centric freaks that would earn an F in many areas of life.

I have nothing against you, just my two cents on how you could have said something in a wiser way.

Best regards.

 

Simon, I have experienced similar in my early first class or two. Once the rigor and length increased, these types fell by the wayside. I think the system washes them out, eventually!

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella University

Blackbird,

And I have nothing against you, but I posted my experiences and observations and they were (and are) exactly that.

Go to the CHE and you will find multiple example of Capella (or Union) being used as a negative example - and in the job market - perception IS reality.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella University

Blackbird,

FYI, as a Psych grad student...you DO understand that your huge bolded font is subliminally irritating, don't you?

 

Re: Re: Capella University

Hi,

My experience with the psych program at Capella is that it is well populated with such folk.

Regards,
GEM

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella University

Hi Steve,

It seems to me that one may feel somewhat defensive about any non-traditional degree.

Re: for profit. Perhaps this is less of an issue in psychology, since most of the private psyd programs are for-profit.

Regards,
GME

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Capella University

I perceive that you have bad perception!

 

Hi,

I have absolutely no independent confirmation of this, but the former head of the psych program stated to me that Capella has an unpublished policy of refunding tuition to learners the school drops from the program (only during their first quarter, btw and if the student dropped there was no refund).

Inclusive admissions is certainly a two edged sword. It opens the door to many who could not otherwise attend. But the fact that those doing the admitting are financially profiting from the transaction certainly should be a consideration.

Re: tuiton costs. I dunno. Capella is less expensive than the private B&M university I work for, and we are the least expensive private university in Los Angeles. In fact, I think Capella is less expensive than the graduate tuition charged to out of state grad students in the University of California and Cal State systems.

Regards,
GME