Online Degree Programs...

[Captain_Bob]

Hi there folks...

I have a question for anyone able to respond.

Has anyone out there looked into Online Degree Programs?

I am currently 33, and have 124 credit hours at Texas Tech University from over 10 years ago. I probably made the biggest mistake of my life when I left college as a Senior to work at a job that was currently paying me more than what I would have gotten with my degree... Big mistake... I was laid off 9 months later... in debt... and 3 months from getting married... so going back to school wasn't an option at that time.

Now that I'm financially able to quit my job to do flight training full time, (ATP this summer), I thought this would be a good time to get my degree as well, since most carriers prefer degrees.

I'm looking for folks that have experience with Online Degree Programs...

Which ones offer the most credit for previous school or work experience?

Do credit hours from 10 years ago transfer?

Do potential employers care that the degree was "Online"?

What are the reputable ones? Trying to steer clear of "Joe's Online University" with a guaranteed degree in just 1 month.

Any advice or words of wisdom from those who have gone this route?

Thank you all,

Bob

 

[rausda27]

I would certainly steer clear of those programs that give you a degree based on "life experience" where you submit a paper an voila, you have your bachelors degree. My suggestion would be to look into distance learning programs from accredited universities.

 

[Mike Lewis]

[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone out there looked into Online Degree Programs?


[/ QUOTE ]

http://jetcareers.com/nontrad.htm

 

[AirborneMedic_ANGa10]

I take classes from UVSC

It's a fully accredited university. Employers don't care that you did your coursework online. I didn't transfer any credit, the best way is to probably give them a call to get a feel.

 

[darrenf]

Just because a school will give you credits for "life experience", does not mean they are not accredited.
You might want to visit this web site.

Edison College

 

[BlueStreak]

I am sure that most major universities offer online degrees. I am graduating next week from Western Michigan University and they offer many online courses, not sure on degrees since I have never checked into it. I know of some friends that have gone through Embry-Riddle's online degree programs and have enjoyed it. I am looking into their masters program because it is one of the few aviation related masters degrees. If I were you I would check back with your original school and see if they offer any online degrees and whether or not your previous credit hours would still transfer. Good luck!

Happy Flying

 

[glenko]

Your sitiuation was alot like mine. Had alot of credits earned from different schools thanks to being in the military and moving all the time. Finished up through Excelsior college a few months ago and could not have been more happy with them. They are a credit bank school that is fully accredited. Excelsior would accept all or most of your credits and apply them to a degree program. The degree in Liberal Studies accepts the most credits and may be the easiest and shortest for you to complete. They accept Cleps and have there own accredited tests themselves. Give them a call or look them up on the web. Here is there URL and others that proved helpfull
www.excelsior.edu
www.geocities.com/BA_in_4_Weeks/
www.degreeinfo.com/
www.degree.net/index.html
Good luck in your pursuits

Glenko

 

[Jason]

Just to correct an earlier statement - yes sometimes employers DO care how you earned your degree. I've talked to several potential employers(outside of the aviation world) and out of the 4 employers that required a degree(in this case a Master's) 3 required that it be earned 'in residence' meaning not online or correspondence, etc. Hopefully as more and more universities and colleges develop their online programs employer acceptance will grow.

Just to echo earlier statements - the most important thing when selecting an online program is to make sure it's accrediated by at least one of the major accrediting agencies.

Jason

 

[socal]

Two years ago this month, I began flight training at my local airport (Burbank, Ca.) and online classes at UVSC. I then went through ATP's career pilot program -- I started January 28 of last year. Despite finishing in 59 days and flying all over the country during my cross country's, the online capability allowed me to keep up my coursework during the program and then once I got hired as an instructor. Now, just two years after starting this new adventure, I have 925 hours TT (with 800 multi) and will be graduating summa cum laude (3.9 GPA) from UVSC this Friday!

I will not lie -- it has been extremely hard. But, if you are committed and willing to sleep less than you are used to, the UVSC/ATP combination is well worth the investment.

If you have any specific questions, send me a private message. Best of luck to you...

Travis

 

[JediNein]

http://www.unomaha.edu/~unoai

UN-Omaha's advisors (get Karen Garver) will evaluate everything you have to offer them and tell you up front what you need to do to graduate from their online degree program. It is a real university and *caution* gives university level assignments (I had 15 lengthy term papers one semester).

UVSC's and ERAU's bachelor programs are in the "you gotta be joking" category. Two multiple-guess open book tests and a 2 page research paper, or taking an FAA knowledge test, are the requirements for many of their classes. If you read slow, a class will take an entire weekend to complete. If you read fast, you read aviation books you may already own, and complete the course in a few hours.

For the multiple-guess exams, UVSC continues to carry incorrect and misleading information in three of their courses. When challenged, the instructors responded, but they have not corrected the content for future courses. ERAU was able to say "this is new research we/you are conducting so many answers are acceptable."

If you have to start over and are determined, you can carry 32 credits in a semester and graduate in 2 years. If you do not want to blow your brains out, take one online course the first semester and add more at a time with the next ones.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[AirborneMedic_ANGa10]

[ QUOTE ]
Just to correct an earlier statement - yes sometimes employers DO care how you earned your degree. I've talked to several potential employers(outside of the aviation world)
Jason


[/ QUOTE ]

I was referring to the aviation biz.

 

[Hootie]

hey jedinein, do you have actual experience with the erau program or did you just hear that from a friend? If you do have experience what classes are the easiest? I have two and a half years of college already done and I need a degree fast (cause Im starving

).

 

[Ophir]

I transfered in nearly 90 hours of credit to UVSC, all of which was nine years old or more.

 

[socal]

Sorry Jedi, but I gotta call BS here...

I don't know which "you gotta be kidding" classes you took, but this semester alone, I wrote a thirty page research paper on the future of commercial aviation, ten five page CRM/accident analysis papers, five five page papers about various systems of the CRJ, had five major biology assignments (including having to read Thoreau's Walden and write a review), took four proctored biology exams and a 100 question final, and had to study for and take the ATP written.

After working my a** off for the past two years, it offends me to have someone with limited knowledge and limited experience at UVSC make it seem as if I and the rest of my fellow graduates got some cracker-jack box degree.

 

[Ophir]

I am with Socal here. Like anything you ever do in the world you get out of it what you put into it. I have been busting hump to get my classes finished and do well too. It is not a walk in the park. In comparison to the time I have spent in real classrooms, this experience is really quite good. Does it have downfalls? Yes, but so does everything else in the world if you want to pick it apart.

If you are interested in graduating from somewhere that has a lot of prestige, go to Harvard. If you want the same for aviation go to Embry-Riddle. But both of those options are very expensive and happen to be a long way from home. The online learning experience has provided me with great flexibility in my time and ability to learn on my own schedule. In the end I have not had to go and "live a life at school", meaning, that I haven't had to move to a certain place just to go to school and once there, that is all I would be doing. I have been able to pick up my classes from anywhere in world and complete them on time. This has allowed me to tailor my schedule to fit many different things into it. The end result has been a wonderful ability to go to class when I am ready to digest information, not when the schedule says I have to.

For many of us who are career changers or just can't get the typical university setting to fit into our lives, this option of online learning is amazing. But I will say you have to be self-motivated.

Sorry JediNein, you are way off base here.

 

[Virusss]

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.geocities.com/BA_in_4_Weeks/

[/ QUOTE ]

No offense but WHAT KIND OF SCHOOL HAS A FREE WEBSITE?????? That just says that this school sucks big time. Websites cost around 14 bucks a month (Not refering to JC.com) Why would you get a free one this just goes to show that it might be a scam? Maybe?

 

[pilot602]

Because it's not a school - it's a Web site providing information on various distance learning schools. That's why it's a Geocities address.

 

[derg]

I dunno. If someone walked into my employment office that gave $3000 to someone for an accredited (by whom?) degree in four weeks, I'd snap a polaroid of him and laugh him out of my office!

 

[Lee D]

I instruct at an airport about 60 miles north of UVSC. Several of my students take online classes in that program. Other than the fact they attend lectures "online" they appear to put in the same amount of work that a regular, class attending student would.

Those with full class loads appear to put in as many hours as I did when I finished my econ degree at the U of Utah several years ago.

 

[BlueStreak]

No matter what way you look at it, you are going to have to work for your degree. A college degree is definately something that you should not be expecting to breeze through in a matter of weeks. Get with a good university and do well in your classes - it will all pay off in the end. My four years is finally complete as of this Saturday and I am incredibly happy to have my degree. I wanted to rush through it at times and often thought how nice it would've been to find an "easier" way through it all, but I am glad I stuck with the program because it has changed me forever. Now it's on to flying, flying and more flying! I've waited along time for this!

Happy Flying!