Would anyone know of a good online university?

Question

I'm looking for a Global Information System's master's degree. Anyone know of an online, take the classes when I can, university? I'd prefer not to do the University of Phoenix as the last I checked they were like $500/credit hour. That's outrageous.

Answer 1

You could do an online (or distance learning) degree with a traditional University (many offer online courses as well).

A good degree is usually going to cost you money. There are grants and scholarships, but they're usually for students who study within the University (check fastweb for the grants available... there may be something for your background).

If you're in State, most public Universities have good degrees at reasonable prices. Community Colleges are the cheapest (often free), and they often offer flexible hours, and have links to respectable four year colleges.

I got scholarships when I thought I couldn't get any, and I had my room and food paid for as well! I wasn't a straight A student in high school, and I didn't think I was eligible, but tried anyway, and got in and paid to study. Go for it.

Answer 2

If you do an online degree in GIS, you definitely want to do it at a university that has a campus, rather than at an online university. Preferably, it should be at a well respected campus based university.

Virtually all good online programs, and many that are not good, are expensive. Not to shock you, but I have to pay $800 per credit plus technology fees for my online MS degree program courses. Quality online programs generally are not cheaper, shorter or easier ways to earn a degree.

From what I can tell, the number of good graduate level GIS programs being offered is limited. Here are some possibilities:

Penn State University
They offer the Master of Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) degree online. It is a 35-credit program, and tuition is $551 per credit. It may be more than you wanted to pay, but I like the way this program looks. Here is the website:

http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/MasterinGIS.shtml?cid=1106_GRAJS6634_1107


Beyond Penn State University, what you generally find are graduate certificate programs, which give you perhaps the equivalent of the first year of an MS program. The rest you would have to take elsewhere. It might be less expensive for you to do a certificate, and then transfer the credits to a campus based program to finish the degree.

Here are a couple of those:

University of Southern California. Total program cost is $10,000 to $12,000.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/learngis/

University of Maine. This is a postbaccalaureate certificate program, with more of an emphasis on the technical (math and physics) aspects of GPS. Tuition is $300 per course. That's not too expensive, perhaps because the university views this as an undergrqaduate rather than as a graduate certificate.
http://www.gnss.umaine.edu/


Eastern Michigan University. This GIS certificate is geared more towards educators. I do not know the cost.
http://www.ce.emich.edu/gis/about.html#contact

Answer 3

I'm sorry, but a good deal of your online universities like the University of Phoenix are a joke among colleges and universities that have real buildings because, for starters, the credits usually do not transfer.

Your best bet is to go to your local community college and they will probably offer online courses that mirror the classroom courses and your credits will almost always transfer. I pay around $100/ credit hr or so, I'd have to check. But the University of Phoenix and DeVry University are jokes and their degrees are not honored as highly as even your community college's.

Hope I could help.

Answer 4

The sad true is that on-line degrees are no better than fake degrees; some of them teach as good as real collage but possible employer just make fun of them, so why to spend all that money on something worthless in the real world. So there is no one good. On-line school is only good if plan on using the degree to open your own business or to improve yourself.

The best bet is to go to a real University that offer some online courses.

Answer 5

Dear James,

You might want to check out this site here that really helped me a while ago. It's called http://onlinecollegefaqs.com/ if I remember it correctly.

Make sure to do lots of research before applying to avoid some of those pure "for profit" colleges that aren't really reputable!

Good Luck and kind regards,
Lindsay

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Just make sure that whosoever degree you may choose but the college that is offering that specific course should be accredited and legit. Don't just opt for any course it may harm you latter.