Why did you choose your college or university?

Choose? Circumstances.

I started college in my early 20's (it the 1990's) taking Business classes at Columbus State Community College here in Columbus, Ohio. I didn't think college was a real option for me, but my employer at the time would pay for business related classes, so I swore I would never pass up "free college". I ended up taking something like 5 classes before I left that company, and I didn't return to college until 2002. So, I picked Columbus State because it had night classes and...it was "free" to me. Honestly, it was probably my favorite college experience.

A few years later, I worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer for two years in my late 20's and part of your "compensation" you received a $5000 educational grant per year of service, with a maximum of two years. So, I completed that job in I think 1998 and I had $10,000 of grant money that I could use for education at some point. The catch was....you had to use it within 5 years, and I had no intentions of going to college at that point in my life (I was hitting 30), and I was finally working in my chosen field (video production) at a respected production company here in town, so it was really just a notice in a letter I got after completing my AmeriCorps job - and didn't seem "real" to me. Then we had a big economic downturn here in Columbus in 2001 and I (being a low level employee) lost my job at the production company. I was immediately hired by another production company...who then went through a similar downsizing after losing a big client and I was let go after only 6 weeks. I was 31 and unemployed and not finding work not having a degree was a big barrier then for anything I was applying for - it kept getting brought up, and I was very frustrated. The woman I was involved with at the time had just gotten a job with the Brookings Institute in Washington, DC and she said, "forget about everything. "Don't worry about money, put your stuff in storage and move to DC with me and become a full-time student and get this barrier out of your way." And I will always be grateful to her for that. She grew up relatively poor near Cincinnati- trailer parks and public assistance and all that and she knew that college was her way out, so she wanted to help realize that kind of opportunity for me.

So I took a garbage bag full of clothes, my guitar and my computer and moved to DC. First, I tried to find jobs - and I got rejection letters from the best places PBS, The Smithsonian, The US Congress, The Discovery Channel - there were all kinds of media jobs - and they all wanted me to have a degree. My years of experience didn't matter - They told me as much. I applied for a tape librarian position with Discovery and I called to get some feedback about why I was not hired, and he simply said - "Well, you don't have a degree." - when I asked if a degree was really necessary, and if he would rather have a 20 year old with a degree rather than a 31 year old with experience, he said, "Well, yeah. We ask for a degree...because we can." He was friendly enough, but that was my answer. I didn't have much better luck applying to colleges. I applied to George Washington University, Johns Hopkins (film program), American University, and I looked at the DC branch of The Art Institute (one of the branches of the for-profit colleges). Honestly, The Art Institute was everything I wanted - focused, media creation classes, the latest computers and software, classes on graphic design, HTML, etc. But after talking to several friends, family members, trusted resources, etc. I was talked out of it. For one, it would have resulted in an Associate's degree (although highly specialized) and my girlfriend was emphatic that I should get the full Bachelor's, and that kind of advice came from everywhere - "It's not a REAL school" "If you are going to spend the time and money, get a Bachelor's" "Those kinds of jobs are hard to get and don't pay." (HA!) So I continued on. Johns Hopkins flat out told me on the phone that I "wasn't Johns Hopkins material." and I had an interview with George Washington and they were bothered by a one year gap between 1988 and 1990 (after I graduated from High School) where I didn't seem to have done anything. That was their big sticking point. I was absolutely dismayed at how much weight these colleges gave to academic records from the 1980's - when I was 17, and they were making a determination about a 31 year old adult in 2001 and deciding he didn't have a good shot at doing well in their program because he got a C sometime during the Reagan administration. It brought up all my previous feelings of inadequacy, and felt like it was proof positive of the gatekeeping nature of this whole structure. Designed to keep working class and poor people OUT.

Then, I got a letter...from American University. I had been told that AU was actually somewhat selective and was considered a "good school" at least on the East Coast and in the region. The letter changed my trajectory. It said that I was considered a "non-traditional student" and that they valued the work and life experiences I had outside of my (outdated) high school and Community College grades (CC grades were all A's BTW!) and they thought that non-traditional students "enhanced their classroom environments" so they had a program for me. They would give me 50% off tuition (!) if i maintained a 3.8 GPA or higher if I wanted to enroll at AU. There was no other choice. (never turn down free college) So, I enrolled, went down the AmeriCorps head office (hey, I was in DC!) and had my education award dispersed to AU, then I borrowed as much as I could and I enrolled. In one semester I completed SIX classes and had a 3.98 GPA. I worked, very, very hard. The classes were incredibly rigorous and I threw myself into the opportunity to re-define my future and honor the effort my girlfriend had made to make it happen. Then, in the middle of all this 9/11 happened and 2001 into 2002 was a rough year to live in DC....

I returned to Columbus in 2002 with no work, no money, and no degree - only 5 community college courses and six university courses behind me. I set about finding freelance work in video production...and I took a newspaper route. Up at 4AM every day and was home again before 7AM. 32 year old guy with a paper route trying to find a way forward. This time, I decided I would just do "the obvious thing" and I went down and applied at The Ohio State University and just got on their track. I chose it because it was the easy thing to do. They gave me money, they took all my transfer credits - I could walk to a bus or ride my bike to campus. It was minutes from where I lived. So, from January 2003 to December 2005 I freelanced, delivered, newspapers, and was a full time student.

I thought I was done with college for good. For a creative person - I was a working musician, occasional actor, VO talent, writer, and media producer - the years I spent in college were the least productive years of my life in those respects. I had quit everything. I had to turn all of my attention to either scraping together money from the small jobs I had or working on school. But a similar situation found me again in 2013. I was part owner of a small communications company and...we had to close up shop in 2013. The husband and wife that owned it had more than 20 years into it, and I had been a partner for the last 7. We had a good run, but again I found myself scrambling for freelance work. It took several years before I had a reliable cashflow again, and in 2018, while still freelancing - I decided a Master's degree at this stage and age (hitting 50 back then) would make some sense. I had an offer from the client I was freelancing for to become a full time employee, so I said "yes" - knowing that at least half of my degree program would end up being covered once I because eligible for tuition reimbursement - so in 2019 I became a full time employee, and started my Master's at Anderson University (online) I paid for the first half of the program, and when I became eligible for tuition reimbursement in the middle of 2019, I was able to submit for reimbursement for the remainder of the degree. (never turn down free college ) Why did I choose Anderson? The program could be completed in a year, the cost was decent, and it is a real brick and mortar institution. And to be honest, I wanted the name of a college that was not identified with being "online" like Walden, Purdue GLOBAL, or even WGU. Nothing against those institutions. But that did factor in. It was an "elegant choice."

Now, I have just been provisionally accepted to The American College of Education in Indiana (ACE) - I am contemplating an MEd in Adult Learning and Training - I'm waiting to see about my transfer credit evaluation first, before approaching my employer with it all -and yes, with the cost they are asking, they will cover ALL of it, but I think with transfer credits, it should take about a year total - all online. Will I go through with it? I don't know. Evaluating a lot of things about my time these days. But I swore I would never pass up "free college". Why did I choose ACE? - cost and convenience 100%. It's VERY affordable and it looks like it could be done in a year. We'll see what happens...

 

@Acolyte a great (and detailed) story. Good luck as you press forward.

 

I chose Bellevue University for both my undergrad and graduate degrees because they were a nonprofit, had an attractive program in an extremely accelerated (albeit exhausting) format, and represented a means to an end. I was already an established executive in my field without a degree, but I knew I needed the degrees on the resume to take my career to a different level. It worked. Additionally, I ended up learning a ton that I didn't know I didn't know. It was a great experience that I'd repeat if I had a do-over.

 

BA, MA, EdS, PhD, all from brick-and-mortar schools. I chose all of these programs thanks to the scholarships and fellowships that were offered because I didn't want to go into debt. The BA and MA were in the days before online learning was much of a thing, but the EdS and PhD were from online programs. They all helped me move up the salary scale as a teacher, but only the EdS is in education. The others are all in content fields.

 

Hey, KayV! It's been a long time.

 

A.A. University of Scranton - Living in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area there were a large number of schools locally. Most people picked from one of them. Penn State had the most name recognition, and that mattered in an area with a strong football culture, but people would ALWAYS seek to clarify whether someone went to "Penn State Main" or not. If you earned that degree on any of the many satellite campuses, people viewed that as being a lesser PSU degree, at least in my circle of acquaintances growing up. Scranton was often regarded as "the best" of the local schools. Nobody really said anything about it being Jesuit. But it was just considered by fellow students and the faculty at my school as being "a very very good school." I went for Psychology initially. In retrospect I might have been better served by Marywood which had/has the area's only PsyD program. However, my high school guidance counselor weirdly told me you should always change schools for grad school and suggested if I had interest in the PsyD I should go somewhere else first and that Scranton was the best. When I left early to enlist, I met the A.A. requirements and took the degree so I felt less like a "drop out." The Navy also let me enlist as an E-3 instead of an E-1 because I had an associate's degree.

B.S. Colorado Technical University - While in the Navy I wanted to finish my degree. The offerings for a BA/BS in Psych were very slim. The only one I recall finding at the time was Liberty. And they were very nice and far less salesy as Phoenix or AIU. However, I was really uncomfortable with Liberty's religious and social stances so I veered away. I had not heard of the big three at that time. I also thought maybe shifting to business was a good idea in general and was beginning to think HR was where I would want to stay. I went with CTU specifically because the name sounded less like an online university than American InterContinental University or some of the others out there. It was fine. I had classes that were more rigorous than ones at Scranton but that was because I had some (tenured) professors who REALLY phoned it in.

B.S. Thomas Edison - Kind of went into a panic that for-profit education was going the way of the dodo with how much of a central piece this was of the first Obama Administration's agenda. I had so many courses, certifications etc that I had completed post-bachelors so it was a pretty quick little detour. I have also struggled with whether I would omit one of my bachelors degrees or list them both when applying for a job (I've done both). I realize now it was largely just my anxiety getting the better of me. Basically the waking version of the dream where you realize years after graduating you were one class short and now have to go back.

M.S.M. - University of Management and Technology - At that stage of my life I NEEDED self paced. And I also needed a Masters to move into a management role. It checked the box. It was also writing intensive and had only two multiple choice exams.

M.B.A. University of Scranton - I always felt like half a royal having left without my bachelors. When work offered to pay I realized that for all of the many options online I wanted to go back to my roots. I never would have paid for this MBA on my own. I could have had much more name recognition for the same money or about the same name recognition for far less money. Drexel was also under consideration as was Binghamton University (formerly SUNY Binghamton) and Syracuse University.

I've thought about a doctorate but to be honest, I don't have it in me. It would have to be in an area where I have a lot of personal interest like philosophy or religion. And it would also have to be affordable to the point where it would result in no debt or significant financial sacrifice on my part. I would also only be into a PhD or an EdD and not a DMin. If I ever find a program that checks those boxes then maybe. Otherwise, I'll just have to be cool with being just another Mr. Neuhaus and be all the prouder if my kids put on doctoral robes.

 

I'm from a blue collar family and was a blue collar laborer for several years. Accidentally fell into a ridiculous opportunity to switch to professional work. Got burned out at the company with no opportunity for career advancement and tried to apply to jobs. At an interview, the interviewer asked about my education which consisted of high school and some certs I got on Coursera. She said something negative abouty education just being a couple online things in a condescending tone. Couldn't even get an interview anywhere else. A few years earlier I'd found Lawrie Miller's website and knew what degree hacking was and had thought about trying it but never got around to it.

Big Three U:
After getting remarried which came with a stepkid and that interview leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I decided to remove this stupid sheepskin obstacle once and for all.
Went HAM on researching degreeforum, put together a plan and grinded through ACE credits like my entire future depended on it. (Because it did.) Also wanted to set an example for my stepkid. Graduated in less than a year. Chose because of time and affordability.

Arizona State: Their Universal Learner platform offered classes for $49 or whatever it was during COVID. I took 32 credits worth because they were dirt cheap, I had imposter syndrome about all my credits being all ACE stuff, and I felt like not having many RA credits might limit future grad school possibilities. Great platform. I tell everyone who will listen to consider it.

Pierpont C&T College: Had all the credits to reverse transfer for a free associates, so I did.

U. Memphis: they offered three free classes during COVID. I took them but they don't put them on an official transcript where you can transfer them out. They're also dysfunctional and I think outsource their online stuff to a third party OPM. administration and services at the B&M school seemed really confused and disconnected. They don't use bright space well. Bad experience and I warn people to avoid them.

Jacksonville State University: Try it Free classes. Remember everything I said about Memphis? They're 180 degree opposite. Great school great faculty great support great experience. LOVE them.

Texas A&M Commerce: Learned about their CBE program with flat rate and high ACE acceptance. It seemed doable for less than a grand. I still had imposter syndrome because at work or social networking mixer situations, people frequently asked about me living in a certain college town and said "oh so you went to school there." "No." "Oh so where did you go to college?" "I went to [name of big three]." "Where's that at?" "It's in [state]." "Oh is that where you're from?" "No." "Oh so you just went there while you were in college." "No." *Confused looks*
I naively thought all regionally accredited degrees were equal, but in reality, I've found there's definitely still a negative stigma about online schools.
TAMUC is in the area where I live, half my family are in Texas and I got this idea in my head that a degree from there could solve that conversation problem, as it's a brick and mortar school sharing a recognized and nationally known brand. And at my age, if I drop that name, people would just assume I went there in person back in the 90s. I also selfishly wanted Latin honors which wasn't available at the big three due to taking almost no classes in residence. So I graduated summa cum laude, on a $350 scholarship and a few benjamins out of pocket to retcon my education story. The diploma is also bigger and nicer than my first bachelor's and looks good in my office.

 

I chose Liberty because it made sense to me. The veteran tuition rate and book voucher were what sealed the deal. I was aware of the controversy surrounding the school, but my main goal was to finish my degree at a brick-and-mortar institution. Completing a degree was a personal goal I wanted to achieve, not something I did to get a raise or change careers.