Top Tier DL Bachelor´s Degree

I don't disagree with the premises that you've put forth. I also don't disagree with the way USNWR has established size as a criteria of measurement. Size is something quantifiable.

Considering the high number of both DL programs and grads out there - is it possible then that the prevailing consideration in DL programs is not prestige? Are we trying to quantify something that just doesn't matter so much to the typical DL student or to the market they enter?

I'm not sure here -- just thinking out loud. I do know that just about everything can be measured... It just matters which ruler we're using.

 

Maybe the STUDENTS don´t care about the prestige, paying more attention to things like cost, time, etc... But the fact is that in the world out there, the employer DO care about the prestige of the school.

I think a DL degree from PennState would open more doors than a Excelsior or a Empire State College degree, don´t think?

 

I think that's part of the question right now and that the answer is not clear. Anecdotally, it would appear that if the students don't care about prestige then it may have little or no impact at this level on employment use.

It's been argued that many more DL students are presently employed seekers of advancement (or personal enrichment) than 13th graders with no work experience. Maybe there is an entirely different role of the degree in employment once one is in the workforce for a while. If that's true, then we need be looking at "which is best" with an entirely different set of criteria than do mom and dad when looking for a place to send Johnny after high school.

As an example: Let's say Jane is a public school teacher who has a BA in Social Studies from little known State Teacher's College and a secondary certificate in Social Studies. She has a job at Hometown High School and would like to earn more money (arguably the goal of many adults completing a DL degree). Will she earn more at Hometown High School with an MA from Ivy League DL or with the MA from Hometown State College? Generally speaking, she simply needs to check the box "master's degree" to get an immediate and substantial pay raise. Her criteria in selecting "the best" school to get her MA is very different then than what is used by those with no work experience or job.

Let's consider another example: Let's say Susan got married right out of high school and didn't go to college. She worked through a variety of retail jobs at fairly low levels for the past 18 years and took some classes now and then at local community college or local state U during that time. Now that the kids are in HS she decides to quit working and go to college full-time. If she were to get an Ivy BA at this point in life, would the employment impact be the same as if she had when she was right out of HS? Probably not. By history she's a retail worker - a BA will likely get her into a management position (fairly low) but the source isn't going to impact her ability to find employment all that much (this is my speculative opinion not a researched fact).

Even if it is true though that the criteria for defining "the best" DL BA/BS is different than defining "the best" in-the-seat; there must be some measurable standard that we as the DL community can put in place to evaluate (rank) programs.

It's very likely that it is up to the community that reads here to determine what standards are going to become the industry norms. It's probably not going to be accepted all too well that the size of the program determines which is "best" (as USNWR has done) but instead going to be an issue with convenience, versatility, and utility. Such things as selectiveness which are important with in-the-seat programs won't be such an important consideration to the DL student.

The DL student needs past credit transferability - 18 year old Johnny (picking which school to attend) doesn't need to consider such things. The DL student probably needs flexibility around work and family - 18 year old Johnny has nothing but school to be flexible around. Both need a quality education.

I'm still thinking that a DL BA/BS and an in-the-seat BA/BS are apples and oranges. Maybe even apples and bananas.

 

The differences in an adult completing a bachelors degree later in life and anyone going for a master's degree are pretty big. The value of an ALB in anything from Harvard Extension are pretty big because even though there's that funny extra letter, it's still a bachelor's degree from Harvard.

Graduate degrees are expected to be much more targeted, which is why an advanced degree in the right subject from an otherwise lower tier state school can be worth much, much more than the same degree at Cornell or Brown. My prestigious current school, the University of Chicago, has a whole nest of "humanities" program and "social science" extension program terminal master's degrees which do not at all compare to the same subject in top state schools. The students tend to be those who did not get into PhD programs and want to reapply with a little U of C sparkle on the CV. They are good for what they are, but they are less than what they seem.