Who's going to except my new DL degree?

Hey DegreeInfo,

I've been lurking around this forum for a few weeks and you folks have me convinced- I can get my degree sooner than later. My motto used to be: "It took me 3 years and $20k to figure out I couldn't learn diddly-squat in college!" I just applied to COSC to complete a Bachelor's of Science!!! I read every page of Lawrie Miller's site and I've decided it's only 4 weeks away! Well, maybe a little more than 4 weeks....or 4 months.

My BIG question is this....Who's going to except my degree from Charter Oak (who?) State College as legit and who is going to dismiss it? I mean, let's face it, the name isn't exactly inspiring of shock and awe like Harvard Business School. I'm getting this degree and moving on to the MBA by DL ASAP- regardless of what anyone thinks of it- but what worries me is whether big employers will consider me 2nd rate edu-ma-cated.

Anybody have any horror stories or successes...any advice?

Thanks!

 

The Military will

If you are under 35, relitively healthy, and have a clean police record you can become a military officer.

(just to make a point that it is a good degree)

COSC is RA, and that counts for alot.

Congrats and good luck.

 

I got my BS degree a few years ago from Charter Oak. It got me into a well-respected (2nd tier) Traditional B&M University which also happened to offer a distance MBA program. In addition I scored Highly on the GMAT. So that increased my chances.

Charter oak is regional accredited and roughly equal to most other average state universities.

I was working in a management position and continued to move up the ranks the entire time I was working on my degrees. Once I finished the MBA degree, the bachelor degree made little difference, even though no one has ever questioned it.

Today I'm an Executive with a fortune 500 company, and I'm looking into starting a distance DBA or PhD Program.

If you plan on going for an MBA, Charter Oak is your best bet.

Good Luck

 

I earned my BS degree from Excelsior (formerly USNY/Regents College) - another relatively unknown school. My employer at the time (a major aerospace company) paid all tuition expenses since it was an RA degree. As a consultant no one has ever questioned my degree. For PG degrees Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Embry-Riddle, and Northcentral U. never questioned my Excelsior degree.

That being said I have read (on this web if I recall correctly) that some PG schools will question a degree that has "excessive" credit via test or portfolio.

Good luck with your pursuit of a degree.

 

You've gotten a few good answers to your general question but, with all due respect to the previous posters, I'm guessing that your real question has not been directly answered. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that your real questions are:
1) My degrees are from schools that no one has ever heard of before. Is this going to be a problem?
Then there's this one,
2) My degrees are DL degrees. Is there a stigma associated with these degrees?
In my own opinion the answer to both of these questions is, "Quite possibly, yes" It may ultimately come down to the personal characteristics of the person who interviews you for that "big job." They might be a confirmed moron or they might actually be a bit enlightened on the subject of DL. The challenge to you is to be prepared for the worst. You have to anticipate the questions and have prepared answers for all of them. Good answers. Perhaps it goes without saying (although I don't know if anything really goes without saying these days) that it will likely help a bit if you've got some wicked good grades, outstanding references and incredibly relevant work experience (you know, just those standard, pesky details).
Go for it!
Jack

 

Of course, confusing "except" for "accept" won't help.

[I'd have let it go but you did it twice.]

 

my prof used to tell me.. It does make a difference initally from where you did ur degree, BUT once u r working then it is ur ability that matters. Of course needless to say at the begining of ones carrier, a degree from Harvard ( MBA) is always going to be prefered than degree from some other place... my 2cents..

 

Chucky-

I’m also new to distance education. My question as an employer would be, "What else do you bring to the table?". Are you expecting a degree to carry 100% of the responsibility for your employment? Do you have any leadership experience, special skills, etc? It seems to me that a degree should just be part of a well-rounded person.

I personally know several people that have degrees from Excelsior, COSC, or TESC and I am aware of no discrimination against their degrees. Having said that, most of these people bring 20+ years of other abilities to the table, so I'm not sure if your situation would be similar or not.

If you do pursue the "BA in 4 weeks" route, I for one would enjoy following your journey here.

S/F,
Ryan IV

 

The Big Three do not in fact have the name recognition of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, UCLA, UC-Berkley, Duke, ... the list goes on.

If that kind of name recognition and prestige are important to your plans or desires then you should apply to those. In fact, if name recognition is primarily important to you then you should definately attend Harvard or Yale. Most people do not attend Harvard or Yale.

Name recognition can be important to some people and should be a consideration.

Try an experiment. Without the aid of any sources at all, list every college and university that you know the name of. Try getting a friend or two to do the same. I'm betting that your list won't be all that large.

I am certain that your list will be far less than 1/10 of 1% of the accredited colleges and universitites in the USA. (unless of course you make your profession studying universitites).

For this reason -- I propose that name recognition is only important to about 1/10 of 1% of college graduates. Most have graduated from places you never heard of. Some have graduated from places that have no meaning to you but are very well respected in that field. Example - how impressed are you by a Peabody Conservatory grad based only on a knowledge of the Alma Mater? Have any opinion on the Gemological Institute of America? People in that profession do...

On a side note; I'd expect that in some circles, the Big Three have a higher name recognition than some of the top 50 B&Ms. Likely not more than the top 10 but, who is listed as number 50 this year?

How about Limestone? Catawba, Coker, Newberry, Pfeiffer, Salem, Brevard, Mars Hill, Coastal Carolina, Wingate, Winthrop, J. C. Smith?.... that list from just two states can go on considerably more.

I think more people know who COSC, Excelsior, and TESC are than we give credit...

Now, hit the COSC web page (exactly what an HR person who doesn't know the school will do) and see what your impression is from an employer perspective.

IMHO - desire for a prestigous, well recognized degree should not be one of the primary motives in taking the DL route.

 

Hey Thanks Everybody!!

There is some great advice here.... accept for the grammatical correction

Ryan (by the Grace of God the fourth of that name) wrote:

I’m also new to distance education. My question as an employer would be, "What else do you bring to the table?". Are you expecting a degree to carry 100% of the responsibility for your employment? Do you have any leadership experience, special skills, etc? It seems to me that a degree should just be part of a well-rounded person.




I would agree except (accept) that my "real world" experience has provided me the unfortunate pleasure to work with educated idiots who lost gobs of the clients' money and who couldn't hold together a cogent argument with super-glue and vice-grips. "But they had one thing you haven't got....a diploma." More specifically an MBA. Even MORE specifically "an MBA from (place important sounding name here)."

This degree thing has held me WAY back and I aint'a gonna take it no more! Im gettn that MBA- if it's the last thing I do.....

 

Coach Turner....

Start'n here at home:

WKU, UK, EKU, WKSU, KSU, Lexington Comm. College, Maysville Community College, Georgetown College, Berea College, Cumberland College, Centre College, Asbury College, Asbury Theological Seminary, Campbell College, U of L (they don't count though) Louisville Presbyterian Theo Seminary, Murray State....I'm sure there's more.

Old Stompn' grounds in Colorado:

CU, CSU, USC, UCCS, CC, CCU, DU (almost alma matre), UCD, CIA, Denver Seminary, Western State, Knox Theological, Adams State, Trinidad State Junior College, Gunnison, CTI, CSCC, Denver Comm., Metro State....can't think of any others right now

Ohio:

Cinci, Case/Western, OSU, Ohio U, U of O Miami, Youngstown State...wow, don't know many there.

Tenn:

UTK, UTC, Vandi...

Georgia:

Covenant College (went there too), Georgia, Georgia Tech...

OK, that's 50 in 3 states. Run that out and compensate for the fact that I've lived in 2 of those states and I estimate I could probably list 300 plus schools. Certified "no-peeking." AND THEN... I could start listing the DL and Online schools I've been researching for the last year or so (at least another 20ish).

That was a fun assignment. Helps to be a college football freak

 

The resident Carpathian is stunned...

How on earth could you forget the noblest-named school in Kentucky--Transylvania University?

 

from Commission on Colleges - Southern Assoc.

So, if there are 6,500 institutions to list, 1% would be 650 and 1/10 of 1% would be only 65. Fifty is then very close to 1/10 of 1%. And does indeed support my contention that most people (being a generalization of course) don't know all that many schools when consdiering the number of schools there are to know.

Creating a list of 300 schools from memory is certainly an indicator that one knows his schools a bit but is still less than 1/2 of 1% (.46%). I would hazard however that the typical guy on the street hasn't put forth the same effort in understanding who's who nor has the typical HR guy.

Many agree that the reason mills are able to function is the fact that most HR folk (and the public) don't know these schools. One can argue (probably rightly) that this then creates a bit of a problem for the holder of a degree of little acclaim. The solution being that HR folk need to do better verification work when hiring. This doesn't create an indictment of the legitimate schools themselves though -- it is an indicator that there is a problem in HR land.

Now, add to the question -- in addition to naming these schools, rank them based on employability of alumni (or any other criteria) and then we start running into purely subjective impressions.

Since most of us who frequent this board make a hobby or profession of studying colleges and univesities, we should be able to list more than most others.

So, I contend, in response to the original question, the recognition of the name Charter Oak State College is only important if a prestigous name is your goal. If a regionally accredited undergraduate degree acceptable to the US Dept of Education is your goal then COSC generally meets that need as well as any of the other 6500.

If your goal is something other than that; such as recognition in the profession, a strong alumni network, outstanding research facilities, mentoring prospects, exceptional academic excellence..... then maybe the selection would be different.

 

How on earth could you forget the noblest-named school in Kentucky--Transylvania University?

_________________________________________________________________________________


Ah, the hallowed halls of Transy. Other than the traffic jams the students cause on Broadway at rush hour, you don't really notice that school much.

 

I dredged up this old thread just so I could tack on this story

http://www.idexonline.com/FullArticle?Id=44975

 

Interesting that you brought this up again Kizmet. I've always had a soft spot for GIA. No particular reason why. Maybe because it's such an old home study/distance learning course that concentrates on an industry that we all deal with at some time or another, but know little about. Also, I noticed Uncle Janko participated in this thread. He passed away sometime back in what I'd heard was a senseless car crash (please correct me if I'm mistaken). Regardless, he was an avid participant in this forum and others and may he rest in peace.

 

The University of Pheonix is RA and may get you something but I know a few HR departments where it does not meet their degree requirement.

I don't see distance degrees as being an issue but shit schools, real or perceived, is the issue.

 

Accept.

 

Congratulations, Ted. You have just corrected a typo that is 14-1/2 years old, originally made by someone who has not been on DegreeInfo for, um, 14-1/2 years.

 

Okay.