If you could return your DL degree and get all of your money back, would you?

I have to admit, my experience seems to vary from many of you. I wish I would have started my DL undergraduate degree much sooner than I did. The fact is, I just didn't realize DL was an option. It wasn't until I discovered DegreeInfo that I found myself absorbing a ton of useful information, that without DegreeInfo, I would have never of figured out on my own. As for my major itself, I enjoy the subject matter, but deep down I wish I would have perused an undergraduate degree in Business Administration because of the increased utility. But hey, so long as I keep getting great information here on this forum, I may begin looking for an MBA program.

 

This is why some of look at ROI when considering certain degree programs and their costs. The bottom line is this: if your degree extracted a lot of cash from you and its utility is not clear, then there's every reason to have regrets. On the other hand, if your degree extracted a few thousand dollars, and you've been able to receive even one raise from earning it, then the ROI of that degree is bound to being high. This is why Abner does not have any reason to regret, just like I don't with my TUI MS, which was cheap, and one that I don't intend to use for anything.

 

Why all these regrets? It seems majority of the regrets pertain to online degrees..... Could it be because we are realizing that expensive online degrees are potentially a waste of money?

Ultimately, we'll all see that overtime, cheap degrees from schools like Aspen will have better higher ROI than degrees from schools like NCU or the rest of those very expensive internet schools because of the limitations of those degrees. The truth is not everyone with an RA degree from an online school will be able to secure an online adjunct position, which is the main utility of those expensive internet degrees.

Get a degree from one of those internet schools with bloated tuition with your bad credit, weak employment history, and some bankruptcies including foreclosures, and the let us see how useful those degrees can be, even for teaching online at the school where you got the degree. The word is enough for the wise. Invest your tuition dollars at a real school with physical campus. if you have to get it from an online school, it must be cheap.

 

Im getting a distance learning degree from a real school with a physical campus. In fact, its ranked one of the top 200 universities in the nation according to US World and News report (Florida tech). Are you saying that my degree is worthless as well because it was earned via distance learning instead of being on campus? And yes it was expensive...

 

No that's NOT what he is saying. He's saying getting an online degree from a traditional school is the way to go. That way, nobody knows you earned it online and it's the same exact degree you'd earn on campus. boom.

 

I can't argue with that. If at all possible, a degree from a B&M that offers online instruction is the way to go. In fact, as these well-known, traditional universities begin to offer more and more degrees via online delivery, I suspect that they will begin to threaten the online only schools.

That's not to say that schools like Walden, Capella, NCU, TUI, Excelsior, Etc. are poor in quality. They are not poor, they are often great. I firmly believe that they offer, in many cases, an equal and sometimes better education than traditional schools. The problem is the unjustified stigma that online schools fall victim to. The education is solid, but there are many who unfairly criticize and refuse to accept graduates of online schools. I'm hoping that this will change, but I'm not seeing as much evidence of this as I would like. Fortunately, in a majority of instances outside of academia, a degree from a legitimate online school is well-accepted.

 

My undergrad degree is one of my proudest accomplishments. I was able to take my life's greatest disappointment, failing out of my first attempt at a bachelor's degree, and put it behind me forever. When I hung that diploma on the wall it changed the way my employer, my peers, and my employees saw me, but most importantly, it changed the way I saw myself. There is absolutely no way I'd trade that for a little bit of cash - and it would be just a little bit. To finish my degree at Wyoming, I spent just over $7K over four years, including CLEP and DSST exams. I was able to cash-flow the degree program as I went along, and graduated debt-free. To be honest, it's the best money I ever spent.

It actually amazes me how many people say they'd take the money back if they could. To me, a legitimate degree earned honestly is a worthwhile goal in and of itself. The ROI, such as it is, will take care of itself eventually.

 

I think anyone who looks at my resume is going to know I earned my degree online. It will be pretty hard to miss that my most recent employer, in North Carolina, overlaps the time I was earning my degree, in Illinois.

 

That is a smart idea. I did free lance work while in school so the overlapping of my work and education isn't really a factor anyway.

 

This is true. Additionally, many savvy interviewers will ask you if your degree was earned online. You then would have to decide if you were willing to lie.

 

I agree. I'm proud of the fact that I earned my degrees online and I wouldn't want to work for anyone who did not respect them. Plus, lying, in general, is a bad idea. I was in no way suggesting it. My current employer is not even interested in finding out whether his employees have online degrees; doesn't want to be bothered with that information, he only cares if they are regionally accredited.

 

Actually, I work at a B&M university, and I had to provide transcripts when applying for my non-academic (staff) job . That's not to say that they would have cared about online/traditional or anything, but it was a little more than just showing a diploma.

 

I hold a 4 year on campus B&M degree that I would return for my money and wasted time back. How do I give the knowledge back? Lobotomy? :eek5:

 

No, I would not. My Excelsior and South University degrees have served me well so far. However, I will likely choose to pursue my doctorate at a B&M school that offers either a hybrid or executive format model. I have given up on pursuing a doctorate from an "online" only school; personal preference that's all.

 

This is exactly what I chose to do and I'm glad I did.

 

Now you throw around ROI BUT your blanket statements don’t fly. My employer would not pay for a DETC school so an Aspen MBA would cost more out of pocket then my PhD from NCU. A PhD from Nova would have cost about $20K out of pocket vs. $3K out of pocket for NCU. Where do you factor “opportunity” when I have no plan on how I will use it other than keep the adjunct jobs I have and get a raise? I think I will recoup the $3K in less than a year with the pay differential at one school. By your measure, NCU is the best thing since sliced bread!

What does this have to do with anything, “Get a degree from one of those internet schools with bloated tuition with your bad credit, weak employment history , and some bankruptcies including foreclosures, and the let us see how useful those degrees can be, even for teaching online at the school where you got the degree.”

How about this, “Get a degree from a good degree with a B&M school with those divorces, drug charges, and sexual assault charges and let’s see how far you get”