Inexpensive, accredited online Master in Education? (Aspen U)

Hello all :veryhappy:, very happy to be here as my stress level from trying to find an online option for a Master in Ed is at an all-time high.


To get right to the point, looking for an inexpensive, accredited online Masters in education. Can anyone point me in the right direction?


I've looke din Aspen a little, plan on calling them tomorrow, but can you really, truly get a Masters for less than $4,000? Just seems too good to be true?


Also, can anyone tell me how their programs work, and their difficulty level? Time is my biggest concern as I am very, very busy.

Thank you all, I much appreciate it!


:hail:

 

Look at the University of Wyoming, they offer a couple of M.Ed degrees online. What area of education are you looking to get your M.Ed in?

 

Probably in leadership or admin. Honestly, with the ridiculous requirements Ohio has, I'd just like to get it cheap and fast.

 

Hi Coach! Welcome to Degree Info.

Aspen is a great school for an even greater price. Dr. Dave Lady, the president, has an unusual business model for his school in that he offers a great quality of education for an unbelievable price. I am impressed with his philosophy and many here speak of the quality of his school.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with the difference between national accreditation (NA) and regional accreditation (RA) so I will give you a brief explanation; pardon me if you already know this information. Aspen is accredited by the DETC which is a recognized, national accreditation agency. National accreditation is recognized by the US Dept. of Education as a legitimate accreditation so it is definitely legitimate and valid. So a degree from Aspen would also be legitimate. That's the good news. The bad news is that degrees that are NA, like an Aspen degree, are not universally accepted by mainline universities.

Regional accreditation is considered to be the gold standard for accreditation. All of your well-known, state and private universities are RA. Regional accreditation is universally accepted in the educational world.

The bottom line is this: A degree from Aspen would not be RA, so only a very few RA universities would recognize that degree. It is possible that a very few employers in other fields might possibly not honor the degree, but it is likely that most would. In a nutshell: A degree from Aspen is great, but it would not open every door out there. You would have to decide if it would work for you.

 

I just wonder if the Ohio Dept of Ed would recognize it? That's my main concern -- will the dept of education recognize it?

Basically what you're saying is that if I tried to transfer the credits, very few, if ant, RA universities would recognize the Aspen Ed?



Thanks so much for that info, surf doctor.

 

Great info, Maniac! I will def look into that, as well!




From the great, O-H



Ohio that is

 

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. You would get a top notch education from Aspen, maybe better than you would get from many RA universities, but the DETC has not earned the necessary clout to open all of the doors yet. However, there are rumors that Aspen is going to attempt to become RA. I asked Dr. Lady about that and found that it was part of his long-range plans but he had no idea of when it would happen and made no promises. I'm a teacher myself and I looked very seriously at their EdD degree. I called the California Dept. of Education to see if they would recognize the DETC and they had no problem with it. However, they said the actual decision of whether or not to honor the degree was left up to each individual school district. I found that the particular school district where I work would honor a DETC degree, but many other local districts would not. I decided to attend Liberty for about 3 times the price because they offered a RA doctoral degree.

 

5x? Ouch!


I just want to get it started already. I started a Med program at an ohio university with a traditional in class education, but a 40+ min drive each way, and sitting oin the class 3 hrs a night, just can't work with my life and work commitments I have now.

I just want to get it over with asap without going broke.

 

Call your employer and find out if DETC is acceptable. If you do not plan to teach at a university and your employer will honor a DETC degree, you might should consider it.

I thought about it and revised 5X down to 3X. The Aspen EdD was going to be about $8 or 9K and the Liberty EdD is roughly $27K, which is still relatively cheap.

 

Well, I don't teach in public school right now, but I want to get back into it. And would love to work at a University someday. So maybe ENMU would be a better fit?

 

Not a M.Ed. degree but WNMU offers this MAIS degree that could consist of 36 units of education for around $6,742 at current tuition rates provide you do not exceed 6-units per semester.
Virtual Campus - Online Programs

 

PS. I'm going off-line and most of the other mods usually do around this time too. So, unless one of us is burning the midnight oil, your posts might not show up again until tomorrow. After an unspecified number of posts, your posts will not have to pass by us and will soon begin to appear directly on the board.

 

Yea, if that's the case, it might be.

 

Thanks so much -- looking forward to more replies tomorrow!

 

If teacher and/or administrator certification is also your goal, please consider Ohio certification requirements. Many states require education degrees to also have programmatic accreditation; e.g. “… when considering teacher education programs in Ohio, one would seek information to verify that a program is appropriately accredited by a teacher education professional/specialized accredited like NCATE or TEAC (Teacher Education Accreditation Council)…” Moreover, “For out of state online teacher education programs, those programs that do not hold professional/specialized accreditation or Ohio authorizations would not be permitted to engage in initial licensure activities in Ohio or engage in activities in Ohio, nor would work completed in such unauthorized activity be accepted toward licensure in Ohio.” http://regents.ohio.gov/academic_programs/program_approval/pdfs/AccreditationOverview.pdf

American College of Education (a subsidiary of Higher Education Holdings, LLC; an Education Management Organization) offers several online M.Ed degrees for $6950. American College is accredited by the HLC-NCA; however not NCATE or TEAC.
Master Degree Online Program at American College of Education

P.S. I believe the Lamar University (in partnership with Higher Education Holding, LLC) online M.Ed is also offered for $6950; however to be eligible, the student must be a certified teacher with a min. of 1-year teaching experience (NCATE accredited).

Wayne State College (NCATE accredited) offers an online MSE in school administration /educational leadership for $237.50 per credit hour x 36 = $8550 School Administration/Educational Leadership AND an MSE in curriculum and instruction. Curriculum and Instruction

Also, Chadron State College (NCATE accredited) online MA in education and MEd programs @ $8550: Degree Programs - Graduate Studies - Chadron State College

NCATE accredited institutions: List of Accredited Institutions
TEAC accredited institutions: TEAC » TEAC Members

 

University of Louisiana–Monroe (NCATE accredited) offers the MEd and MAT online. If enrolled in 12-hours or more per semester; graduate tuition is at $193 per credit hour (out-of-state fees are waived for the online degree student). ULM's Gateway to Online Degrees (GOLD): Offered Online Degrees

 

This is the kind of information I needed. Yes, I was afraid to jump at anything because I wanted it to be qualified under the Ohio department of Education.

I will have to look more into this, for sure.

 

Also, where did you find that info on Ohio? I tried the link but it didn't work.