Hello to all and thank you for reading my thread. I am new to your discussion board and also new to distance learning. Both my wife and I who have 3 daughters and full time jobs like most are trying to find both time and money to finish the education that we have been unable to accomplish since high school, and here 15 years later there is hope for us yet however there are many unkowns that concern us. We are both currently enrolled in the business program through Univ. Of Phoenix. which should begin for us soon. Both of us have some college credits from a local community college ranging from 30 to 56 credits. We both look forward to returning to school but ask for your assistance in suggesting and recommending some of the better, reputable and cost effective avenues to pursue. Our attempt at distance learning is not to avoid hard work but accomodate the family and work schedules. I have noticed that most programs that I have seen offered are very expensive 1300++ for one class which is hefty when looking towards 3 more in college in a few years. Another concern is quality of education. Is the reputation of UOP that of a well accepted quality education or is it becoming one of the famed diploma mills that we have read about. Considering this may be our last chance at pursuing our degrees for quite some time our effort is to make it not only educationally meaningful but also possible from the financial standpoint. Again thank you for taking time to read our thread and any assistance that you may provide. best wishes to all JAPONDs
I was a campus chair for a year with UoP. I can say that you'll get a good quality education, but an expensive one. (Of course, most of your distance learning options are pricey, but there are exceptions.) Your degree will be well-accepted in the business world; most employers will care mainly that it is from an accredited school. By no means should UoP be confused with a diploma mill. It is the largest private university in the country, and has been accredited from almost the beginning. Now is the time to explore your other options. I hope other posters will jump in with specific examples that they've either used or are familiar with. My two cents are on accreditation in general and UoP specifically. I'm not recommending UoP for you, but it is a legitimate, accredited university and you'll earn a good, usable degree. But then, that can be said for many other schools. Happy hunting!
probably the quickest way to see additional programs would be to go to: www.geteducated.com and download the guides. I like this university for cost: http://www.amberton.edu/BDegrees.htm you can also check the following: www.sreb.org Good luck,
Rich and Fed Thank you for your replies on our concerns. As I have stated we are both currently preparing to attend UOP and your (Rich) post does ease some of our concerns in regards to the acceptance of their programs however as you stated they as with many others are pricey. Fed Thank you as Amberton is also of interest and warrants some more inquiring into.
It sounds like you need is something RA accredited and cheap. I have found a good source for cheap, quality, and flexible courses to be LSU. http://www.is.lsu.edu/defaultlg.asp. They themselves don't offer DL degrees, but work with others that do. Also don't forget about CLEPs. They can save time and money as well. There's also the "big 3" many people talk about. They accept transfer credits from just about anywhere and will award degrees. The big 3 are: Excelsior Thomas Edison State College Charter Oak State College
Your profile says you are a fireman in Florida. Did you know UF offers an online BS in Fire and Emergency Services? See http://www.bcn.ufl.edu/pde/Fire-html/
Edowave, Thank you for the information. Yes I am a fireman in Florida. I have considered going the UF route but after 15 years I am trying to prepare for life after so I thought that maybe a business degree in management would be applicable to either direction in the event that I may chose to retire into some other field or continue to possibly upper management in the fire service. Thank you once again for your recommendations as I will research them with hopes of good luck and a bright future.
I would suggest buying (or checking out from your local library) Bears' Guide to Distance Learning, 15th Edition, which, in my opinion, is the best and most organized presentation of distance learning materials available (including the web). Good luck in your quest.
Japonds- I'm a current UoP (online) student and I can assure you the classes are good. Others have had different experiences and hold various opinions. However, all the horrible things I have read and heard about UoP have not came true for me. If you do choose UoP be prepared for lots of writing. You will have at least two research papers and a learning team paper in every class (except math). Most of my classes are of average difficulty. My teachers have been very good and I have learned alot. My English teacher Margie Askins is the best! The down side: Lots of money!!
Re: Re: please help What a splendid--and candid--post! I'm the first one to step up and criticize UoP, especially UoP Online. But my concerns ignore the most wonderful aspect of UoP--its faculty and students. Expect to do a substantial amount of work. Papers are, typically, due every week. Add that to your learning team papers and exercises, and you have quite a burden. But if you're up to it, you'll get both a solid education and a degree you can use.
UF also has an online Business Administration degree. The in-state tuititon might be much better for you, as well as the reputation of the school. More important though is access to the school's Career Resource Center and Career Fairs. http://www.cba.ufl.edu/onlinebsba/
Dantes catalog good compilation of schools.... You may want to check here for a compilation of DL schools. Only RA schools make it here: http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/DEDCNav.asp Click on the 'I understand' button and do a search. A LT in the Navy that I used to work for did both his BA and MA from UoP and he said that it was overall farily easy AT THE TIME. This was 9+ years ago and since then he has admitted that much of the curriculum has gotten a lot more strict (requiring chats or logins at regular intervals). Great point here that cannot be overemphasized. Since cost is a concern, you'll want to maximize your prior college credits, portfolio assessment, job/military training, or CLEP, DSST, ECE, etc. to complete as many degree requirements as possible. The dantes catalog that was listed above is unique in not only displaying RA DL colleges, but the residency requirements are low.
Bellevue University You might want to check out Bellevue University too. They have an online business program. I am taking in my last 28 semester hours of a business information systems program and have been very pleased so far. They are regionally accredited and the expenses are quite reasonable.
For business degrees try THIS! If you are good at exams or learning own your own you may want to look at BA in 4 Weeks!, and degreeforum. Always check the community colleges in your state, you probably will not find lower tuition than these, and many of them have distance or online courses. Best of Luck!
re: going back to school I know it is hard given all the factors to think about, but I find online classes to be just what I needed. I too am married with 3 children and after 12 years of contemplating going back to school and weighing my options as far as how I would be able to accomodate my duties as a parent and work...I finally decided that the expensive money was worth it when I weighed babysitter cost and the total inconvience of having to arrange my classes around my job. It was worth it. I have been attending Strayer University for the past two years and I love it....The asychronous classes are great I can log in when I want and do the work turn it in and go on with my life...I'm not stuck to my computer and I have the time I need with my family and work.....think about it and remember gas vs babysitter vs time away from your family and work...vs online classes....the price may not look so bad then....plus I like the fact that books are delivered to you and credited to you school out of your loan money so no up front cost out of your pocket...books can be very expensive.
I agree that books can be expensive. However I've found that I can get really good deals at www.half.com or www.amazon.com if you look at the used book prices. Sometimes I'll get them for about 1/4 of the retail price, and they are cheaper than the used price at my campus bookstore.
What a great thread, with good input from old regulars as well as good input from a bunch of newbies! To the latter, welcome aboard and best of luck to all of you.
Thank you I just wanted to take a moment to say Thank you to everyone for reading and returning comments to assist my family in our decision process. The assistance has been very helpful and very much appreciated. I can Only hope that one day I may return the assistance to someone in a similar position. Once again thank you to all
