I’m giving serious thought to leaving the country. No, I don’t mean I’m thinking of fleeing the U.S.
to live on a sandy beach in Panama
(although that is my retirement plan).
Nor do I mean I will leave the country if one presidential candidate
wins over the other. No, I’m thinking of
studying with a foreign university.
I’ve been kicking around the idea of transferring all of my
credits to Excelsior College
once I wrap up my current semester at Penn
Foster College. I’m very close to having the credits needed
for a BA. I still plan to get that BA,
but in the meantime I have stumbled upon another university that is right up my
alley, and could actually speed up my plans to get a graduate degree…even
before I get my BA.
I found the MA in Communications, Media and Public Relations
at the University of Leicester
in the United Kingdom. It is highly regarded as one of the Top 200
universities in the world. It has proper
accreditation under the Royal Charter in the U.K. The clincher:
they will admit students who don’t have an undergraduate degree, but do
possess significant professional experience in communications, media and/or
public relations.
Prior to working in marketing and public relations, I worked
as a journalist for more than 20 years.
A representative at the University
of Leicester told me that is more
than enough experience required for admission into the program. Of course, I would have to maintain my
grades, and I may have to submit a 2,000 word essay in support of my
application, as well as professional references.
The total cost for the program is $13,800, which is actually
a bit cheaper than similar programs I have found in the U.S.,
even with the currency exchange rate. Payments
can be split into three payments each year for two years. That’s about $2,300 every four months. That’s still a serious chunk of change for
me. Student aid is not available for U.S.
students studying in foreign schools, so it would definitely be a challenge for
me to find a way of paying for this school.
Private student loans are a possibility, as well as scholarships, I
suppose.
The program is entirely by correspondence, and there is one
exam at the end of the first year, which can be taken at a U.S.
university.
The more I look into this program, the more I like what I see,
and this is exactly the type of graduate degree I have been looking for. While it might be a little weird to get an MA
before I get my BA, it would definitely be a boost for my career.
If money were no object, I would enroll today. Unfortunately, it is.