Online college degrees...... Okay i get a bunch of u o p and other miscellaneous online degree popups its a jk

Question

i mean these online schools look completely fake. Im an undergrad at a state school and the way these schools sound is just way too good to b true. Why would u think u can get the same degree with half the time effort, and $. They have online JD degrees u don't even need a bachelors or the lsat to get in!!! Are these schools degrees even valid newhere?

Answer 1

Some employers don't want an employee that has an online degree. Yes, they do sound good to be true. But if you want to take some classes with those online universities and just want to learn more, go for it. Well, some smaller companies probably won't mind an online degree.

Some universities have online courses you could take to get a degree, like Harvard I found out recently.

Answer 2

"Some universities have online courses you could take to get a degree, like Harvard I found out recently."

Like Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, UMass, U Md, Florida State, Duke, UNC, CSU, UC-Berkeley, and probably the state school you attend... Online delivery of education is here - it's big, it's the way things are going to go. It works.

In fact, a recent survey of public 4-year colleges tells us that almost 50% offer degrees fully online. The percentage is lower among the privates.

If you've never taken an online course from a legit program you should give it a try before you blanketedly dismiss them. Some are indeed garbage as you allude - others (likely the public you attend) will kick your tail like no in-the-classroom class ever did. In an online class, Joe the grad assistant doesn't regurgitate the text to you - you have to read the whole text yourself. And then you write about it, a lot. Give it a shot and see if you can hack it.

As for the JD not needing a bachelors, surprise! it's not required for admissions at most law schools - it's just that all of the competition has one so you need one to compete. Those online JDs (Concord et al) don't qualify the grad to practice law by the way (with very few exceptions like allowing to sit for the Ca bar). Their bar pass rate is abismal.

What may bother you most is that the University of Phoenix holds the same level of accreditation as the state school you attend. If that's the standard your state school ascribes to, how good can it be? Why would you think you can attend a little state public and get the same degree as someone at Harvard, Princeton, or Yale (hope you see a touch of your own elitism in that statement)? I hope you're in a program with disciplinary accreditation in addition to regional. 'cause UoP and their kin are RA too.

All of that said, I'd not attend UoP et al either. But some people do. In fact, more people than any other college in the country.

Answer 3

Schools like University of Phoenix, Kaplan, Strayer, etc. are for-profit institutions. Also, they are usually designed to cater to college drop-outs, working adults, or people who did not get an opportunity to attend a state school. Some employers look down upon these types of schools because of bad press, bad experiences, or just plain bias against online degrees. That is not to say the degrees are useless, but they do have their limits.

UoP, Kaplan, Strayer and some other large for-profit schools are accredited. So, from an academic stand-point, they at least meet minimum standards for an education. However, not all online schools are accredited and there are differences in the levels of accreditation. There are program accreditations like ABET, for engineering and technology programs, and AACSB, for business programs. Program accreditations are over and above a regional accreditation. Regional accreditation is given to an entire school by one of the six regional accreditation bodies. Most state schools are regionally accredited and many will have program accreditations. UoP is regionally accredited, but does not have many program accreditations. Kaplan and Strayer are similar. There are other schools that are not regionally accredited. Many times these are technical or vocational schools or they cater to strictly online students who are working adults. These types of schools are considered nationally accredited. National accreditation is usually done by organizations like DETC or ACICS. An example of a nationally accredited school is ITT Technical Institute. If you see one of ITT Tech's commercials, you should notice the disclaimer, "Credits are unlikely to transfer". This is due to the national accreditation. Regionally accredited schools will sometimes accept credits in transfer from nationally accredited schools, but in many instances will not.

All of that being said, I always recommend that people stay away from the for-profit schools because of high cost. Typical costs for UoP or Kaplan can be in the $400 to $500 per semester credit hour range. Many state schools are expanding online programs and they are usually much less expensive. As another answer mentioned, even Harvard is offering online classes. While you cannot complete a degree completely online from Harvard, you can complete about 3/4 of one.

If you are just starting your college education or have less than 60 semester credit hours and are interested in trying online education, try your local community college first. They may have an online AA degree program. If they don't, try other community colleges in your state.

Once you have an AA degree, you can enroll in an online bachelor's degree completion program at one of the state universities. Many state universities now have online degrees. The following are some websites to get you started.

http://www.fhsu.edu/virtualcollege/
http://www.peru.edu/offuttafb/degreeprograms/onlinelearning.htm
http://outreach.uwyo.edu/ocp/
http://www.distance.msstate.edu/
http://www.distancelearning.ufl.edu/degrees.aspx
http://www.apu.apus.edu/index.htm
http://www.online.uillinois.edu/
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ode/CollegeOverview.asp
http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/

When comparing tuition costs, you have to check if the school is on semester or quarter credit hours. To convert from quarter hours to semester hours, divide the tuition by 0.67. For example, if tuition is $180 per quarter credit hour, that is equal to $268.66 per semester credit hour.

Finally, when you choose a school, make sure it is at least regionally accredited. You can check accreditation at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/search.asp You can learn more about accreditation at http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html

Good luck

Answer 4

Online schools such as university of phoenix, strayer u, devry u, kaplan u and kaiser u are generally not seen as reputable by employers. They are for-profit places and most won't even provide information on their own website but would like the person to provide personal info such as name, address and such. That just doesn't sit well with me. There is a website started by past students of university of phoenix who were less than satisfied with the school :) http://www.uopsucks.com I would agree to stick with the major colleges and universities that offer online courses.