Hello everyone, I am a recent graduate of American Military University, and I am now attending Liberty online. It took me around 2 years to complete my Bachelors in Business at AMU, and now I am around halfway done with my Masters at Liberty. I will not go into much more detail about what specific classes I am taking, because I do not want to be identified by either school, but I have a few questions. Does anyone else besides myself question the difficulty of some of these online institutions? I have yet to crack a book, I submit most work in one day, and I still receive mostly A's with zero effort whatsoever. I do not consider myself some type of "genius" or even really much smarter than the average person. Being Active duty military,leaves these online institutions as basically my only option as working 50 plus hours per week, spending time with my family, and studying in a class would be rather difficult. Additionally, will holding online degrees be frowned upon by future employers? I hope not as I have spent a great deal of money on these courses, but I really feel as though I haven't learned much.
If you think all there is to it is to trade a bit of work for a grade, then you're doing it right. But if you feel there is an education to be had, well, you're missing it. There is some stigma regarding degrees earned by distance learning and (more so) online schools. But it's hard to anticipate when and where it will occur, and whether or not these incidences will outweigh the convenience of the routes you took. I'd be more concerned about potential backlash regarding Liberty.
To my way of thinking it's a little late in the game to be wondering if employers will be bothered by your online degrees. The answer to your question is "maybe," and you should spend more than a few minutes figuring out how you're going to respond to all the predictable questions you'll get during interviews.
Like you, many of my courses taken in brick and mortar universities were super easy for me while classmates struggled (both UG and graduate). But I read papers, magazines like the Economist, have an interest in most of the courses I took. More recently I took and passed several geology courses though UC Riverside (a well regarded school) - some of their exams I could answer from my high school course in geography. I believe the ease or difficulty of courses depends on your background.
"It was a terrific way to complete my degree while balancing the demands of my family and career. The experience has prepared me for managing even greater challenges during stressful situations."
Thank you to everyone who replied. It really brings to light the reason why I am performing well in these classes with little to no effort. Maybe these classes are actually the easier way for me to learn? I guess I am actually retaining more knowledge than I actually think that I am. Since I have already created a thread there is no reason to create another, so I will ask another off topic question. Do you all know of any physics type degrees that I could pursue online? Recently I have taken an interest in Physics, and I have yet to come across any institutions that would offer these courses online.
That's possible. Also, perhaps you knew more than you thought you did going in. For many people, earning a degree is a matter not no much of learning, but simply of verifying past learning. And in that case, that should be easy!
The MBA program I went through (Regis University) was brutal. I was writing 10+ page research papers every week. I was fairly naive about what graduate work was supposed to be like in those days and assumed all graduate degree programs were supposed to be very difficult. If I had known that other schools were easier, I would've jumped ship for sure. In the end I'm glad I stuck it out and finished.
If this is the measure then my WGU MBA is brutal as well. Projects easily pass 15-20 pages, I have to build presentations and decipher balance sheets...some of these things are a lot easier for me than others. Though, like several posters above, I don't think of it as brutal...in fact I find it sort of like the OP suggests...a little to easy. In fact I'm a bit bored and distracted right now and not accomplishing much in the self paced program. Easiness, like the old saying with beauty, is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. I will tell you that I have received accolades and rejection with my "online degree". Traditional academics seem to reject the idea the way buggy makers must have reviled Henry Ford. The hospital I work for encourages everyone, especially nurses, to go back to school any way they can and get a Bachelors then a Masters...they need the numbers to gain certification as a "nursing center of excellence". In the end your degree's value is somewhat subjective and the value will largely come from how you apply it and sell it.
As a LU alumnus, I would agree with your point. LU screams political, cultural, and religious conservatism. The online program doesn't have as much of the political element, but the school itself is becoming increasing known for its role as a conservative/fundamentalist institution. Other Christian schools take positions similar to LU's, but LU takes the positions so vociferously and publicly that the potential for backlash definitely exists. For conservative circles, an LU degree might be quite beneficial. For the general marketplace, LU's reputation may nor may not make much difference. For intentionally secular or politically liberal organizations, however, an LU degree is likely a major negative. (Unless of course, you are renouncing conservative/fundamentalist Christianity, in which case having an LU degree might give you some credibility as a former "insider.")
Add that Liberty's founder and guiding executive, Jerry Falwell, Sr., was a well-known, sometimes controversial, national figure in his own name. Jerry Falwell, Jr. is now Liberty's chancellor.
It really depends on someones level of maturity and ability to manage your time. If you have a lot of discipline and you can force yourself to study with other time pressures present, you'll be good to go. If you lack those two qualities, then attending classes at your local college might be more your speed. Clear as mud?
Well, you aren't exactly attending highly ranked schools. Liberty University is not an online school and it has an okay ranking in the Regional South. If you were to attend a tier 3 school on campus, you would most likely come across the same ease in coursework. I don't judge the difficulty of a program by how much work it requires. A lot of schools geared toward non-traditional students think that they are doing something by requiring a lot of busy work. I attended Colorado Technical University, which required a lot of busy work, and I didn't have to read any of my e-books. I wrote a lot of papers for Western International University and didn't learn one thing there. I guess I would have actually read the textbooks if I didn't have to spend so much time writing BS papers. I learned more studying for CLEPs and DSSTs.
