There hasn't been an Aspen thread in quite awhile so...

I don't think you'd be laughed at, in fact, most businesses would likely accept a DETC degree. It's mostly academia, banking and some technical fields that look seriously at the accreditation of your school. Most others only care if it's legit, and DETC is definitely legit.

On the DL at a local B&M to avoid the DL stigma issue, you would probably be safe as long as the school was located in your same state. I doubt that any HR person would get out a map to see if you really could have driven to your school. This is supposition on my part, but it seems logical.

 

:banana::banana::banana::banana:

 

Oh no, not the bananas again!

 

Finally, somebody who is passing on the savings to the students! Online classes are less expensive for a school and most just pocket the money, but not you. You are doing a service and making a far seeing business move; my hat's off to you.

 

This is a great deal for those for whom a DETC MBA suits their needs.

 

I have an encouraging note about this very topic. This is taken from a job posting for a large county office of education management post:

Thus, even in the previously uppity and picky bastions of local public schools, an NA degree would be acceptable as long as CHEA knows about the school. I consider that good news for some of us looking at NA programs. I'm also sure that not everyone will agree it is good for education, but that's another matter.

 

To me, that means it must be one of the six regional accreditations recognized by the CHEA and that DETC would not be accepted, as it's not a regional accreditation. Even though it's recognized by the CHEA, it's a national accreditation.

 

I think most people will find NA acceptable for their situation. As an independent consultant and small business owner the Aspen MBA would help me by reinforcing a lot of what I already know plus adding a slight advantage when bidding for some contracts. The problem is that as an independent consultant I am always very careful with cash flow and an outlay of $2700 for the initial payment to Aspen is still holding me back a little. I realize Aspen needs to do this partly to reduce risk and ensure commitment but cash is king (at least in my business and in my situation).

 

I love the way ASPEN is going. What is holding me back is the $2700 upfront.
If ASPEN can spread the payment equally over a 6-month period, I'd love to join.

 

Supposedly, you can make payment arrangements for the up-front payment. However, you cannot enroll in your first class until it has been paid in full.

This is what one of the front-line people told me, so YMMV.

 

I agree Michael. Laughed at? No. Many of the fellow grads at my graduation ceremony last 6/10 were already high ranking military, VP's, CEO's and high level Managers in general. We had a grad who was a PhD in molecular science, and her research is widely known. Let's just say I saw a lot of Aspen grads coming out of some high end cars.

As far as the DL stigma. I think there are some old schoolers whose frame of thinking may be hung up on DL. However, the new breed of Managers/leaders are coming to see DL as progressive and innovative. My wife's boss had attended DL schools and received her B.S -PhD level degrees. Now, she has her pick of CFO jobs at VERY high pay. I also have a friend who is a famous plastic cosmetic surgeon here in SoCal, and he is signing up for the Aspen MBA. This will give him more credibility in the board room when he negotiates business matters. So instead of just being John Spinks, M.D., he will be John Spinks, M.D., M.B.A. (no, not real name).

Just my two centavos, duckets, liras, etc.

Abner

 

The $100 per credit hour is now standard tuition charge at Aspen. At this tuition rate, I think Aspen will soon take over DETC accredited DL program market. A lot of other DETC schools will be put out of business very shortly, assuming Aspen offers the programs that they all offer.

The next move should include expanding Aspen's program offerings. I see a huge opportunity in the homeland security/security management (in addition to the criminal justice currently offered) arena, information security/assurance arena, programs that incorporate department of defense architecture framework as well as the federal enterprise architecture framework etc.

Basically, any are that the federal government hires for should be included in their program expansion targets since DETC is not discriminated against by the respective government agencies. offering programs that folks want at such low tuition will make the programs very attractive to those not looking to use their degree to teach, and to others looking for a DL program with guaranteed high ROI. I see very good things happening for Aspen University if program expansion is part of their future and growth plan.

 

The one argument I've seen on this board from time to time is that the NA DL degrees pursued by these "high level" individuals are done so after they are already in these positions, by lieu of previous experience or B&M RA education. I'm sure this is not always the case, but even in the examples you describe, it would seem that these people already found success before pursuing Aspen. I'm curious as to how many people moved into a new career path, or into a higher level of job rank at a new company because of a DETC MS or MBA.

 

I have encouraged people that work for me to obtain degrees (undergrad, grad, etc). I do not care if they are NA or RA (so long as they are "A"). Having done both myself, I understand the merit of each and hold no discrimination regarding either. NA degrees are proving to be equally as rigorous in terms of expectations, curriculum and coursework and that is what matters most to me. I would hire someone with an NA degree "off the street."

 

Those are really two different questions. You would have to define "new career path". Many jobs or promotions are based the sum total of our previous experiences or one skill we possess. Aspen's IT degrees and counseling degrees certainly allow someone to present a new dimension to their resumes. For example, adding an Aspen IT degree could beef up a resume if the person has old or no technical skills. On the other hand, the counseling degrees could offer a people dimension to resume that looks too technical. It all depends.

 

DETC credits are already being accepted by online RA schools. Although the acceptance of this information is not posted on their websites (due to RA issues, and perceived lower admission standards by prospective students and other stakeholders), many doctoral granting for-profit online schools will accept them. At the master's level, schools like Bellevue University as well as plenty of others do accept DETC credits. Also, in terms of using DETC degrees to teach, I've seen a few folks with DETC doctorates in the faculty listings of some RA schools (example, DeVry, Capitol College, Capella, Keiser etc.). The only downside to getting a master's degree from an online-only school is that it would seem as though you are "forced to continue with another online-only school for your doctorate," and this lack of options (inability to use your online degree to attend a traditional public B & M university - they often reject online degrees) could become a nightmare for some.

 

DL degrees by themselves are notorious for not moving folks into higher levels of job rank, especially, when it comes to new jobs/career positions. Alot of DL grads are set in their current career positions, and their DL degrees are used to pad those degrees and to negotiate for bigger raises or used to move into new positions within their company. Bottomline: DL degrees work for everyone differently based on specific individual circumstances.