Penn State's Program?

Anyone familiar with or have an opinion about Penn State's distance learning programs (bachelor's level)? I'm looking for any feedback -- good, bad, or indifferent. I've researched numerous programs and found quite a few to consider. I'm 40 years old and after sending my baby off to college this year, find myself wanting and really needing to complete my bachelors for personal and professional reasons. I live in NC and will more than likely transfer to a UNC school once I have enough credits. Friend had trouble transferring into NC system from Regis (? -- I think that's the program) -- they wouldn't accept a lot of her credits. Job doesn't permit commitment needed to attend brick and mortar. Thanks for your input.

 

Hi CarolinaGirl

Welcome to the forum. I briefly looked at the Penn State program but decided against it because of the general focus and lack of a way to accelerate the program.

If you plan to transfer before getting a Bachelor's, you may have difficulty with Penn State also. If you don't have many credits yet I would seriously consider CLEP credits. It might also be very effective to complete a degree from Excelsior/TESC/COSC then complete a second one at a NC school. Lastly, if you have credits already and are looking for a degree program from a more traditional school that is flexible and suited to a mature student, you may want to check DePaul University's DL program. Good luck.

 

Re: Re: Penn State's Program?

Dave, thanks for the welcome. I guess I should have given a brief intro before asking questions. As I said, I'm 40 years old and after 15 years as a divorced mom, was able to exale after settling my daughter into her dorm last month. I've been extremely fortunate in my career as I've been able to advance to a Sr. Marketing Analyst position without my bachelors. I do need to have a degree to continue moving up or even to make a lateral move. The syndicated data supplier we use is extremely specialized so my ability to understand and manage that data has been my saving grace. In today's environment, I know it will be virtually impossible to find another job at my current salary and level without a degree.

This is a great resource! I appreciate your feedback. I apologize in advance for my ignorance but what is TESC/COSC? I will investigate DePaul and Excelsior. I need a school that's accredited so that I qualify for partial tuition reimbursement from my employer. I only have 15 credits but that's not enough for any of the NC DL programs (and state tuition!)

Thanks again for your feedback. Looking forward to participating.

 

There's no question that Penn State is a great school and so I'd bet that they run a quality distance education program. However, I'd also bet that their prices per credit are not even close to the lowest you can find. This may not be a factor for a Sr. Marketing Analyst but it always is a consideration for me. This is especially true if you're going to eventually transfer the credits to a NC school. In that scenario, you'd pay the higher price and not even get the benefit of the Penn State diploma. BTW, TESC is Thomas Edison State College (New Jersey) and COSC is Charter Oak State College (Connecticut), two schools that have become quite popular due to the flexibility of their DL programs. A final bit of advice...buy John Bears book. It is the single best way to learn the most about DL (with degreeinfo running a close second place). Good luck,
Jack

 

TRUST me ... cost is a factor for a Sr. Marketing Analyst (I didn't realize how vain I sounded until I saw it in print). Forgive me I've been in meetings all day and forgot to turn the bull*** meter (the one where we toss around fancy phrases and titles like folks really care) off once I got home. Anyway, Penn's tuition for lower level courses (numbers 0-299) is $162/credit hr. Course numbers 300+ are $311. You make a good point about paying for the name but ending up with a degree from a NC school. I hadn't thought of that. I have two coworkers in Univ. of Phoenix but it seemed AWFULLY expensive to me so I passed on that one. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I continue researching.

Thanks again!

 

You should look through the list of Distance Learning Undergraduate Business Degrees compiled by Gus Sainz, and Lawrie Miller's BA in 4 Weeks site. Lawrie's approach works equally well for Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak State College, and Excelsior College, since none of these schools require that you actually earn any of your credits through them (though all credits must be earned through valid sources). However, no matter what school you go with you will save time and money by taking as many CLEP or DANTES exams as they will allow. If you choose a US school, and want your degree to have the most utility and recognition, just make sure that it is regionally accredited (check this list). You may also want to read this article, if you haven't already. Good luck!

 

I would like to add that I know of a few folks who have gone through the Excelsior program and went on to graduate study at UNC. Excelsior, Thomas Edison, and Charter Oak are all excellent opportunities for someone in your situation.

John

-- Also in North Carolina with a daughter at UNC

 

The acceptance of credits being transferred, does not always depend on the school they were earned under. It also depends heavily on the school you are transferring to's policy on how many they will accpet as a maximum and what they ar in (topic).

Just because you have 60 credits at Pen state in literature (as an example) does not mean that UNC wil accpet them all or even any of them (especially if you are entering a none literature program).

As others have said above, your best course of actin would be to do a BA/BS from TESC/COSC/Excelsior and then transfer to UNC for a masters. Probably cost the least and take the least additional calender time.

 

Since you say you will "more than likely transfer to a UNC school" -- why not start in NC? Check out the community colleges -- they're likely to have articulation agreements with UNC and to have lower tuition.

See http://www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/Distance_Learning/ for links to info about distance learning in the North Carolina Community College System. Randolph Community College has a virtual campus at http://www.virtualrandolph.org/

And links to UNC distance learning opportunities:

UNC Asheville
http://bulldog.unca.edu/unca_stc/

UNC Greensboro
http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/web/credit_distance.asp

UNC Chapel Hill
http://www.fridaycenter.unc.edu/

Schools can be very persnickety about accepting transfer credit. Using a community college in the same state is one way to make it more likely that the university will accept the credit.

 

When I originally looked at NC Schools, the majority of them had completion programs and would not accept me as a matriculation student since I had less than 60 credits. I will re-look at the NC Schools and investigate the on-line opportunities at Randlolph and the other community colleges. Thanks for your input.

 

Thanks for the input. I'll add Excelsior to my list of sites to study tonight.


My daughter's at Appalachian this year (freshman)

 

My daughter at UNC is a freshman too, her boyfriend is a freshman at Appalachian. My other daughter is a junior at NC State.

John

 

HEY!! It is good to see so many students from NC. I am from NC too and in this state it can be really important for your career to have a degree from UNC, NC-State or Duke. The names travel well. However, I feel your pain as you look to this state to help your situation. How far do you live from Raleigh? Here are a couple of programs you may be able to look at.

1. Mount Olive College has a degree completion program for Business Admin. I got in with 49 hours and completed the program in just under 2 years. However, they also have a new Heritage Program for those with little or no college credit. You can start with that program and either go 2 years for a Associates or at the 1.5 year point, transfer into the Bachelors program. Meetings are once a week for 4 hours. (Weeknight or Saturday mornings from 8am-12pm) www.moc.edu

2. CLEP or take Comm. College Courses and then transfer to East Carolina University's Online Bachelors in Business Education. It is not a teacher program. www.ecu.edu

3. Barton College in Wilson has a Weekend College where you go alternating weekends.

4. NC Weslyn (spelling?) College also offers a weekend program.

There may be some more resourses to look into as well and I would be more then happy to help you. Just let me know.

Duff

M.A. Counseling Student, Liberty University
M.S. Administration, Central Michigan University
B.S. Business Administration, Mount Olive College

 

I didn't think you sounded vain. If the emoticon had worked properly it would have been more obvious that I was only kidding around. Best of luck in pursuing your goals.
Jack

 

Beyond becoming a virtual NC thread...!

Well, THIS is virtually becoming a NC thread! (I'm applying to UNC for grad work myself.)

Another site worth visiting--whoose author also hawks a book worth reading (she tought a spell at Duke and UNC)--is <http://www.traditionaldegrees.com/>, "Traditional Degrees for Non-Traditional Students." Carole Sargent writes very favorably of the Friday Center at UNC, I recall, for their help with adult degree-completers.

No I know that the concept of Brick & Mortar degree completion takes a back seat here at degreeinfo.net, but a stong case is made for its advantages.

Perhaps the Associates degree via the Big Three (Excelsior, TESC, COSC) is in order? With Excelsior, if not the rest, you could even include distance courework from the Carolina consortium. That may even ease your acceptance into the appropriate school for degree completion--since the admitting authorities would be assured that you can "do the work!"

--Orson

 

Re: Beyond becoming a virtual NC thread...!

While they don't get a lot of air time here, degree completion programs are a very solid path to a degree.

I would be hesitent to suggest an AA degree from the big three unless I had checked directly with the school I hoped to transfer it to first. AA degrees are strongest when transfered to an in-state institution with an articulation agreement. Acceptance for transfer to BA programs is more risky.