In my personal evaluation of schools there have been reoccurring questions that I have asked each in order to ascertain the best fit for me. I am posting these questions here in order that you may use them as well.
1.) What is the tuition and is it per hour, quarter, etc? This gets right to the bones of the matter doesn’t it? After all, if you can’t afford the tuition then that kind of makes the follow up questions a moot point.
2.) Do you offer financial aid? Again, this should be within your first or second question unless you’re paying out of pocket.
3.) Are you accredited and by whom? I generally don’t take their word for it upfront but perform my own research. Then double check with the accrediting agency, they almost always have a searchable database of accredited schools. Secondly double check with the U.S. Dept. of Education if there is any doubt as to the accrediting agency. Beware of fraudulent accrediting agencies that sound like legitimate agencies. One such example is the Council for Distance Education which is a fraud which sounds like the legitimate Distance Education and Training Council. Unless you are familiar with the differences, I suggest you always check it out or ask someone who is both knowledgeable and reputable. Hint: The elearners site only lists accredited schools.
4.) How does the program work? Online? Correspondence? Do I have to have a proctor for the tests? Etc. Find out how the program operates and how you are expected to learn; try to look for a program that plays to your strengths. For example if you operate poorly under pressure, don’t enroll in a 10 month MBA program with an online format or you will be in for a rude awakening. If you operate independently and love to work at your own pace then perhaps a correspondence method would be better. Some additional questions could be:
A.) Do you require any real time teleconferencing or the like?
B.) Will I be required to do a residency on campus?
C.) Will I be required to use certain testing sites?
D.) Will I be learning via various media, i.e. DVD, online, correspondence, etc. and is this dependent upon the professor?
5.) When was your last tuition increase and about how often do you increase? Some schools haven’t had a tuition increase in 5 years; some do it annually. It’s better to find out up front than later.
6.) What are your transfer requirements? Some schools have fairly liberal transfer requirements, such as similar credits earned at any accredited college or school recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Some are more involved, only accepting credits transferred from regionally accredited schools. Some may only accept lower division level credit transfers. Almost all of them have a maximum you can transfer. Find out as much about this as possible.
7.) How long are your semesters and how many do you have a year? Pay special attention here. 6 week semesters will likely be much more grueling and intense than a 16 week semester, all things being equal. Likewise there may be a couple of 12 week semesters with a couple of 10 week summer semesters offered. Personally I can stand any topic for 6 weeks but 12 can be trying on my short attention span. This will be more important than you know since you are making a commitment that may last years. Make sure you understand your likes and dislikes and again, play to your strengths.
8.) Do you have faculty that once enrolled I will be interacting with? Again this may not be an obvious question but believe me, there are schools where interaction with any instructor or professor will be nil, such as in many correspondence schools whereas there are other schools where the professor will be making multiple contacts a week with you. If you are the type that hates to talk to the professor or the type that needs a lot of attention, you should know this stuff.
9.) How big is your average class size? Again this has to do with how much attention you can expect from an instructor. Suffice to say a class with 45 students will not likely garner the level of personal attention a class of 10 may. A good follow up question would be how many students are currently enrolled in your school? The University of Phoenix (student population in excess of 30,000) is likely to have more students fall through the cracks than say, the school I am attending now with a mere 3,500 students give or take. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, I’m just betting on the probability here.
10.) Last but not least understand the admission requirements fully by asking the seemingly innocuous question “what are your admission requirements?” Again, seek and attain a catalogue detailing the admission requirements and make sure you understand every detail. Though your admissions rep may fully understand the process, they may be having an off day, forget something or just not like you. Make sure that you understand what you need to since it is you that is making the commitment. There is nothing more frustrating than applying to a school and starting only to find out half way through your first class in that there are items you must remediate in, haven’t qualified for, etc.
Lastly a quick tip. Compare and contrast as many schools as possible before making a decision. Do not let someone else, family, admissions rep or otherwise make your decision for you, it is up to you to decide based upon factors that are important to you. Some schools have pushy admissions reps that will make it sound like you’re about to miss some great window of opportunity if you don’t act now, etc. Slow down, make sure you have and understand all of the information at your disposal, sleep on it and then decide.
---Cheers,
Cajun