We received this email last week from Guy in Sacramento, CA:
"I am researching online schools where I can earn an online bachelor's degree in technology or computer science. I have several years of college underneath my belt. I don't know how to evaluate these "online only" universities. How does one compare a for-profit school with a state school, for example?
I am working full time so it will be a real stretch to get a degree, too. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this."
Here is our response:
"Thanks for your email. You ask a lot of great questions. Hope we can help.
If you simply want to finish your degree as quickly as possible, a smart strategy is to choose a school that will accept as many of your previous college credits as possible.
Now, there are 3 schools in particular who are well known for being very generous in credit transfer and have a lot of experience working with military folks, as well as non-traditional, adult, and military students:
- Charter Oak State College - http://www.cosc.edu/
- Thomas Edison State College - http://www.tesc.edu/
- Excelsior College - http://www.excelsior.edu/
You really can't go wrong with any of them.
Plus, these schools have a variety of ways to earn the rest of the credit you'll need to finish your degree -- in other words, you can take face-to-face classes locally and transfer the credit in, take online courses (some may be self-paced or instructor-led), take exams for credit like CLEP, DANTES, or ECE tests), do a portfolio assessment that demonstrates college-level learning, etc.
Some of the well-known schools in the online space, like Capella University or University of Phoenix, are also good choices (although generally tend to be more expensive than a public school, i.e. community college or state university) in being able to complete a degree rather quickly. They are highly flexible and innovative in offering online and/or distance learning classes that are shorter in length (only 6-8 weeks long vs. a traditional 15-16 week semester) and are available more often (multiple course/program start dates vs. only being able to start in the Spring and Fall semester.)
In terms of name recognition or acceptance ... well, that's difficult to assess.
How a current employer is going to view a credential earned primarily through distance learning vs. one earned "traditionally" or how a future employer will regard a degree earned at a for-profit school vs. a public university is, honestly, anyone's guess. Depending on the industry (IT, health, business, education, etc.) and what your ultimate employment goal is (i.e. do you need this degree to change jobs, earn a promotion in your current company, completely switch fields, etc.), the answer will vary.
In my experience, I would say that mid-career professionals pursuing their first degree (associate's or bachelor's) will tend to worry less about name recognition and concentrate on simply attaining their degree - usually in the fastest or most cost-effective way possible. Often times, these are people who haven't been in school for a long time (or this is their first time enrolled in higher education) and should focus on a school that has excellent student services and lots of experience in meeting the special needs of adult students -- which are very different from the needs of an 18-year-old student who lives on-campus and attends full-time.
The last piece of advice I'd give is to NOT look for the one "perfect" school. There are likely several schools that will be able to offer the program of study that you want, with good student support, with some kind of financial aid. Certainly take the time to investigate, but don't stop from taking that leap of faith and enrolling in school because you get paralyzed by too much choice!
Good luck!"