What is the cheapest Masters of Liberal Arts or Humanities Degree

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by ebbwvale, Dec 5, 2011.

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  1. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    I have a friend who is retired, but is interested in doing a distance learning Masters Degree in Liberal Arts of Humanities. It is an interest only degree and there is no intent to use it for anything other than self development. This being the case, issues of accreditation are not really relevant.

    It is more a question of reasonable quality and cost. Any ideas?
     
  2. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    "Reasonable" is pretty open to interpretation.....any idea of what his/her budget is?

    In any case, if there is no desire to use the degree, why bother with a degree program? Why not just take online/correspondence courses that interests him/her?
     
  3. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    I guess something under 10,000 I guess, if possible. I think it is an itch that he wants to scratch, a challenge. As former work colleague, he was always talking about doing something more, but couldn't for a range of reasons. Now he has plenty of time and has the desire to do something that is developmental and more general. I suggested the liberal arts or humanities might be the ticket.

    I also suggested a great books reading list, but I think he wants the mileposts of the degree. Coursework Masters degrees in this country are quite expensive, so I suggested the US might be a better option.
     
  4. Michael

    Michael Member

  5. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    HUX Home
    Tuition is around $7,000 in 2011 dollars.
    Books and other fees need to be added.
    Perhaps the first DL masters in the USA.
     
  6. major56

    major56 Active Member

  7. rebel100

    rebel100 New Member

    MA Interdisciplinary Studies at Western New Mexico University might fit the bill. Virtual Campus - Online Programs Around $7000 if taken part time (and if they continue offering the discount). You can break the cost into payments as well.

    Oops, just re-read...this is a self directed program of study, but is not specifically in Humanities. Plenty of History/Psychology/English/or Writing if they are so inclined. I passes over this program several times before finally realizing that it was probably perfect for me.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 5, 2011
  8. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    Thank you for all your assistance. There are some very good programs there. I will pass this on. I think the US excels in the online education area despite all the misgivings there seems to be in some quarters in the US over distance learning. It can be quite expensive here for coursework Masters here, while pure research Masters are usually have government scholarships.
     
  9. Nicole-HUX

    Nicole-HUX New Member

    Hi Ebbwvale--

    If you or your friend would like to contact me, we would be more than happy to send out our brochure. The link was kindly provided above by Ian.

    Nicole
    HUX Phase III advisor
    CSUDH
     
  10. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Anything from UNISA will be far cheaper than anything from the USA.
     
  11. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

  12. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    I am surprised how many people here are doing undergraduate degrees via UNISA. We have a significant South African community here and they use UNISA as rule, rather than the exception. Their Masters, like ours, seem to be full research which require a focus on a specific topic from the outset, where the MLA appears to be broad based and more interdisciplinary.

    Without going too much into it, there are significant health issues involved, which I am involved in supporting, where it may be best for a broad based intellectual challenge that won't break the bank. Distance learning is the best option.

    Thanks for all the advice. I will pass it on.
     
  13. Pilot

    Pilot Member

  14. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

  15. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    Randall and Pilot.
    Thank you. There is certainly value for money around. I am committed elsewhere at the moment, otherwise I would be interested myself.

    I have often wondered why the US universities have not targetted Australia for distance learning students. Certainly, Australian universities have done just that in the US. The postgraduate market is particularly open to the US lower cost universities with the Aussie dollar going up. Australia is very globally focussed with most of our population travelling overseas in their lifetime. We also have a strong following of technology here, apparently higher than most developed countries on a per capita basis.

    I think that there is real value in the degrees mentioned in this thread. I think that the interest in liberal studies may be stronger here than the US. All this infomation has been passed on and the decision is there to be made. There has been some surprise at the cost, a lot lower than here.
     
  16. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    I was about to plug this (my) program until I read your post and realized the same thing!
     
  17. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

  18. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    It would depend on one's definition of "cheap," but a per-credit hour cost of $500 ($17,500 total) is steep compared to some other programs.
     
  19. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    Just to give some perspective on the costs for a taught Masters subject, here is the cost of a subject in humanities from Open Universities Australia in US Dollars:
    $1,750.00 (AUD) equals at current exchange rates $1,810,10 US. Some universities charge $2,000 AUD a subject.
    Plato and Aristotle
    The offset to this is that you can get a government loan to do the subject, but at some stage you have to pay it back and in most cases, with some interest. A US course at roughly $700 - 800 dollars US translates to $680.10 - $777 AUD at current exchange rates. If you can claim it back from tax because of employment relevance, then a third cheaper again. A little hard for humanities, but perhaps not impossible.
    You can see why the US has a competitive advantage in this market as the Australian costs are unrealistic for distance learning. The other thing is that distance learning is readily accepted here without an eye brow being raised, because of its long history in this country. Doing something here in the postgrad category for interest is not feasible for most people.
     

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