Hi, I am new to elearners but not to elearning. I am on my second year with Kaplan and I am doing quite well. I am in the honors program and with the exception of a B+ in chemistry have been maintaining a 4.0.
Recently I found that MSU billings (which is in my state) is offering more online learning degrees in business areas. This would allow me to continue going to school online but pay in-state tuition saving me a good 20,000.00 (it would have been more like 30,000.00 but I have already spent a year at Kaplan). I have a consult coming up with an advisor this week for more information and odds are good that I will make this switch, but in my efforts to make the best choice for myself I am also checking around online to see if I can get any feedback from those who have finished the online schooling process and have gone on to the world of employment.
These are the facts that I am weighing:
First of all, I am really scared to mess up a good thing.
Secondly, I don't want to put my family into more debt than needed for me to move on and have a fulfilling career after my education. If I don't pay it off early, by the time my loans are paid off my daughters will be getting ready to enter high school and we'll have two more educations to finance, so the ability to pay off a smaller amount is pretty enticing to me.
I really love nutrition and I enjoy what I am learning.
I don't mind the idea of working in Human Resources. I see that as also being a good match for me and I can always study nutrition on my own as a hobby for my own personal knowledge.
There are many more offices to choose from in an H.R. area than there are for nutrition which probably expands my ability to find a job after I get my degree.
I am concerned that I wouldn't have as much of a specialty if I take the BLS route.
The nutrition program at Kaplan is not CADE accredited so it would never allow me to become a registered dietician which is required for a license to practice as a nutritionist in my state, so with the high cost of Kaplan, and the knowledge that I wouldn't be licensed, I would always be in an office setting working for someone else with either degree.
I am very much aware that part of the answer to this is based on what I would prefer doing, but coming from an employability/debt perspective, I am concerned that a Bachelors in Liberal studies is so general that it might not look as good as a BS however, because I have to be in a CADE certified program in order to become licensed to work as a nutritionist in my state I have to wonder how much better off I would be with a nutrition degree that runs a good 30,000.00 more than the BLS.
If I didn't confuse everyone with all the back and forth I would love some feedback as I struggle with my final decision