how good are those online degree programs, I've been offered an awesome deal to earn a degree in the field I wanted to study for a long time now. How good are they?Also give me resources from where i can get information about online college degree.

Asking how good "those on-line degree programs are" is pretty vague.  Quality of on-line programs differs, just as it does for bricks & mortar programs.  Fortunately, this website has a ton of good information on credible institutes offering on-line and distance education programs.  There are also a large number of students from a number of institutions that might be able to answer your questions about specific programs & institutions.

I have to limit my comments to two institutions I've taken courses through (Athabasca University, very good, and Columbia Southern Univiersity, so far so good), and one institute that colleagues have used (Royal Roads, but it requires a residency as well).  Based on the quality of graduates, this is a good program as well.  All of these assume you want to further your education in Health, Safety and Environment however.

If you can be more specific, someone can help you out.

Michel:

how good are those online degree programs, I've been offered an awesome deal to earn a degree in the field I wanted to study for a long time now. How good are they?Also give me resources from where i can get information about online college degree.

It might also help if you gave us the name of that online degree program that gave you that awesome deal.

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Theodore L. Heiks, BA, History/Political Science, Western State College of Colorado, 1984; MBA, Entrepfreneurship, City University Washington, 1992; MBA, Marketing, City University Washington, 1993

tedmeister:

It might also help if you gave us the name of that online degree program that gave you that awesome deal.

Agreed.  There are some deals out there, but there's a lot of shady offers as well.

-=Steve=- 

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

Hi decostop,

Currently, I consider getting a reputable online MSIT degree. So far, I have those narrow down to a handful of schools. The selection criteria as follows: reputation and general acceptance; quality of education; affordability; transferability to other AACSB and/or regionally accredited schools.

Since I live in California, I first researched Cal State U and UC. The costs vary from just under 10k to over 30k for resident (tuition only). They all have AACSB accreditation and WASC senior college regional accreditation. The draw back is all of them require GRE/GMAT with the range of 530 to 675 minimum. My problems are in SAT type of vocabulary, after 15+ years of IT work the grandiloquent words are disappeared in my vocabulary, although I could score at 90 percentile in quantitative-math sections and have reasonable writing skills. I am afraid I may not be able to manage 700 in GMAT range and ensure a spot in admission process. So, I start looking into the alternative schools where GRE/GMAT is not required. You have mentioned a couple of Canadian online colleges, AU, RRU and one US Columbus Southern U. if every thing remains the same, would you take California State University’s Master for their AACSB accreditation instead of what you have now? Also, there is a real cheap university-Aspen University which is accredited by DETC. The tuition is abysmal in higher education nowadays-under 6k if you pay the whole thing when you enroll. What you think about this, is that a reputable degree and recognition by the large employers? My director has signed off my tuition reinburstment petition last Friday (2k per year). The only requirement for school is an accredited school by US Department of Education as it stated. Personally, I don't want the schools with a lot of controvercies in their quality of eduction.

You seem knowledgeable for online education and school selection. I would love to hear your suggestion and/or comments. I want to take the advantage of the company benefit.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm not decostop, nor do I play him on TV, but in my opinion if AACSB is important to you then the GRE or GMAT is probably a bullet you will have to bite.  If that accreditation is not important to you then you have a TON of options out there available.

If quality is the highest factor, for between 20 and 30K you could probably get a ALM (Masters of Liberal Arts) in Computer Science from Harvard University.  Though you may be required to do a short residency, last I checked though the Computer Science one didn't have a residency requirement.  I may be wrong so check it out.

If price is the biggest facto, Aspen used to have a $4,500 special going, but I haven't seen or heard of this recently.  In which case there is always APUS for $275 an hour and RA.

Really though it would be hard to beat Cal State or UC.

Hi Cajun and all,

How important is AACSB certification to (current and potential) employers and what would it mean if someone's business degree didn't come from an AACSB school whether they have an undergrad or grad. degree?

 Thanks again!!!

Deb

 

 

I think AACSB is the gold standard by conventional wisdom. Once you have that, no one will question the quality of education and your legitimacy of your degree.

 

This does not automatically translate to your success at work place. The most important is your ability to carry yourself and done well on your job. Management tends to be practical; if you are an exemplary employee, witty and get along with your peers, then any degree will help you move up the corporate ladder. The best example is Bill Gates and Larry Ellison. Bill was a Harvard drop out (may be he was bored) and Larry barely got his high school diploma (I am not 100% certain), but they are the most successful people in technology arena.

 

But to have AACSB accredited degree will come with a haughty price tag. If you got the money or your employer pays for it, go for it by any mean. If you have to cough up the money, then you need think twice.  

 

Hope this helpsJ.

Thanks for your input. It is very hard for me to decide. Practical or prestige. My employer won’t pick up the Ivy League price tag for sure. So, I may have to settle what is practical. I strongly belief once you got the degree you wanted, you should not go broke:).

kcdpas:

But to have AACSB accredited degree will come with a haughty price tag. If you got the money or your employer pays for it, go for it by any mean. If you have to cough up the money, then you need think twice.  

 

Hope this helpsJ.

Thank you for your input, but I found, at at least in my state, was actually opposite.  I know the University and 2 state colleges are AACSB accredited.  As for the two state colleges, they are probably the cheapest education in the state for a undergrad or grad degree (as far as a brick and mortar education goes) and have a "party school" reputation, at least in this state. While the private, very expensive most prestigous colleges are not certified.  I know one of these colleges is working on it though.  I just found that ironic for some reason. 

Is there a good online college, accelerated college that is AACSB certified?

Thanks again!!!

I have been looking at becomming a student of the SMC DBA program. It is the right price for someone who is mid-career and has a stay at home mom with 2 kids. Only those with money and family circumstances that are non prohibitive can someone take 6 years off to do a PHD the traditional route.

Here is the answer I recieved from Swiss Management Center regarding their accreditation:

Thank you for your email. Switzerland is a confederation of 26 republics and semi-republics, each of which is responsible for its educational system. In our republic, the canton of Zug, Anglo Saxon degree granting institutions (such as SMC) are registered on a cantonal level to deliver foreign degrees, but on a Federal level there are only  the Federal Universities teaching  under the national degree system which are accredited. In 2016, under the new legislation which is now being proposed (but has not passed yet), cantonal and federal level instutions will be going through an accreditation process

Due to this, we are accredited internationally by ACBSP (US Council of Higher Education for Accreditation) and ECBE (European Council of Business Education). We are beginning an EU state accreditation procedure (Switzerland is not in the EU), which will be completed in approximately 10 months.

Zaboss:

I have been looking at becomming a student of the SMC DBA program. It is the right price for someone who is mid-career and has a stay at home mom with 2 kids. Only those with money and family circumstances that are non prohibitive can someone take 6 years off to do a PHD the traditional route. Here is the answer I recieved from Swiss Management Center regarding their accreditation:

SMC:

Thank you for your email. Switzerland is a confederation of 26 republics and semi-republics, each of which is responsible for its educational system. In our republic, the canton of Zug, Anglo Saxon degree granting institutions (such as SMC) are registered on a cantonal level to deliver foreign degrees, but on a Federal level there are only  the Federal Universities teaching  under the national degree system which are accredited. In 2016, under the new legislation which is now being proposed (but has not passed yet), cantonal and federal level instutions will be going through an accreditation process

Due to this, we are accredited internationally by ACBSP (US Council of Higher Education for Accreditation) and ECBE (European Council of Business Education). We are beginning an EU state accreditation procedure (Switzerland is not in the EU), which will be completed in approximately 10 months.

I agree that SMC is more reasonably priced than many online options and I don't believe that ACBSP would accredit a school that wasn't any good.  But talking about what might happen in 2016, or even about some "EU state accreditation procedure" (whatever that means) doesn't resolve the real issue that other Swiss universities don't respect their credentials.  That's potentially a serious problem when it comes to international recognition, whether in academia, or for things like immigration eligibility, etc.

I suppose to me the real question is why someone who has no objection to looking internationally wouldn't see all those question marks and at least consider South African schools as an alternative.  They're much cheaper, and those schools that are members of the Association of Commonwealth Universities have their credentials accepted internationally without a problem.

-=Steve=- 

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

May be true if you are paying resident tuition.

Inexpensive tuition + AACSB = no brainer to me.  Just my .02 but you have to consider whether the coursework, degree programs, etc. are right for you.  Personally of the hundreds of jobs I've seen posted for I've only seen AACSB required 3 times and only once by name.