Hello all,

This is the third time I'm writing this message, because of trying to spell check.

Anyways to keep this brief, I'm an American citizen obtaining my BA in Education in the Arabic language overseas in Saudi Arabia(keep in mind Arabic is my second language, I am not Arab)

I study throughout the year, full time and work at night teaching English as a foreign language.

I want to obtain a BA from an online college in either Business Management, Education, or the English language.

I need it to be Fully online, including final exams. I cannot do personal proctored exams because i am not in America for long periods of time,

I was real interested in Penn Foster due to the cost, but then i read that there are final exams proctored. So i will call them tomorrow to find out more information on that.

The other one i was reading up on was Andrew Jackson which seems to have online proctored exams.

I have a few dilemmas, I need it to be 100% online, I need it to be at my own pace,  I need it to be reasonably priced(the lower the better), and I need it to be accredited.

That leads me to my next topic, which type of accredit do i go for? Which one will be recognized overseas? It seems like regional holds more weight, but does that mean national wont hold up for foreign ministries? Can someone give me a brief summary of the differences?

Any and all help or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks....John

Hi John, I can meet three of your four criteria with one school.  But first it's important for you to understand that DETC or other NA schools may not be as readily accepted overseas should a foreign employer, it's difficult for Americans to understand, I can't even imagine what it looks like to those in other countries.  To be on the safe side I would recommend going with RA, especially since you currently teach for a profession and even within the U.S., most teaching gigs require a RA degree.

That being said I'd check out American Public University, they're RA, only $750 a class and that includes books, as far as I know they do not use proctored exams however they are not "at your own pace" technically as you have 8 week and greater semester lengths.  They are asynchronous, so you can work on your coursework anytime so long as you turn things in by their deadline. 

Also Peru State College is fairly inexpensive, price does not include books and I'm not sure about the proctor thing, the school being a state school may well leave that up to the individual professors, which could prove problematic.  They are asynch but not necassarily at your own pace.

Amberton University is also very inexpensive and I have not heard anything about them using proctors at all.  So definitely check them out.  Again they are asynch. and not necassarily at your own pace.

Most schools if not every school I have seen that is at your own pace will have proctored exam requirements.  It's just the nature of the beast I suppose...

Kaplan University and the University of Phoenix are 100% online with no proctored exams.  You can also try the State University of New York (SUNY):

 http://sln.suny.edu/sln/public/original.nsf/0/bdfaee3e96b7b4d28525675f0057a75d?OpenDocument 

donald11:

Kaplan University and the University of Phoenix are 100% online with no proctored exams.  You can also try the State University of New York (SUNY):

 http://sln.suny.edu/sln/public/original.nsf/0/bdfaee3e96b7b4d28525675f0057a75d?OpenDocument 

And V-E-R-Y expensive if paying out of pocket.

Yeah i just looked at it, seemed like it was 60,000+ for the BA at Kaplan,  Way too much for me.

I'm still looking through those colleges you posted Cajun, I really hate some of these websites though. They make it so difficult to find out the simplist of information.

I had another idea, I really don't know how legit it is, but perhaps someone else knows.

For example I attend Andrew Jackson, complete lets say a BA, Would it be possible to transfer those credits/degree to a reigional college since they are ACE certified. or obtain the AA from Andrew Jackson, then transfer to a 4 year regional school to obtain the BA from them?

I guess the reason I'm so interested in AJU is because of the price, and it being 100% online, but the accredit issue is the one i need the most understanding of right now... Which one will better serve me down the line, etc....

Thanks again..

Sure you can, but you have to realize that some schools will not accept the credits.  I did my AS degree from Ashworth College, DETC accredited, and finished my BS at Southwestern College, a RA school in Winfield, KS. 

Likewise you can finish a DETC accredited BS and move on to a regionally accredited MS or MBA, again, you will have limitations but those walls are slowly but surely coming down.

For example you can get your BS from AJU then move on to an MBA from Kaplan or UofP.  Of course there are way cheaper Masters degrees out there that accept DETC accredited undergrad degrees, such as American Public University...

I think thats my best bet, due to my time/ finance limitations, Perticularly in Saudia Arabia you can get teaching English with as little as a High school diploma if you're a native. Obviously you wont get the same wages, but by no means is it bad. But having a degree helps with visa issues, and just ups your worth.

So I think thats what im gonna go with, I really appreciate your help  just do a little more reading up on AJU, and take the plunge.

Hi Cajun,  I am considering Ashworth College for an online school for AS degree in the Medical Field.  Since you did your AS degree from there do you have any advise?  Do you recommend Ashworth?  Thanks for your input.

Overview:  I have worked for over 25 years in office envoironment and this is the first time I am actually going back to school for a degree.

I'm kind of torn on what to tell you...Ashworth College is good and bad.  Good in the sense that they make getting your degree very accessible, bad in their customer service, good in the materials and content you get, bad in shipping times on your materials, good in that you actually learn valuable real world information, bad in long waiting times on the phone if and when you need customer service, good in that they are very, very inexpensive, bad in that you pretty much get treated like a number and not a person. 

That said I do not regret getting my degree from there but two of my brothers got so fed up with their poor service they simply dropped out.  So I don't necassarily recommend them, but neither do I recommend against them.  I've heard they changed a lot since I was in but I can't vouch for that personally.

On the flip side, Andrew Jackson University is similarly accredited, cost about the same and has way, WAY better customer service from what I'm told.  Check out them and check out Penn Foster, then pull the trigger on the school that makes you feel best.  McKinnley College is another one to look at. http://www.elearners.com/college/mckinley-college/ as is California Coast http://www.elearners.com/college/california-coast-university/.  I was most impressed when speaking to AJU and CCU.

MrSpillz:

I think thats my best bet, due to my time/ finance limitations, Perticularly in Saudia Arabia you can get teaching English with as little as a High school diploma if you're a native. Obviously you wont get the same wages, but by no means is it bad. But having a degree helps with visa issues, and just ups your worth.  So I think thats what im gonna go with, I really appreciate your help  just do a little more reading up on AJU, and take the plunge.

If money really is an object, or if going at your own pace in an independent study model is a real necessity, then this could be the way to go.  You will have regionally accredited MBA options with a Bachelor's in business from AJU, not every school, but then you'll only need one, right?

-=Steve=-

Yeah exactly my point, I only need one MBA aside from the BA in Saudi that I'm getting aside from that  I have my TEFL, and plan on getting my CELTA as well. So i think that should be sufficient.

I did go over to American Public Uni. spoke to them a little about what type of credits they accept. They said they accept national accredited credits, and I also asked them about having like a Associates in business management then going for a BA in English or something, and they explained how that works.

So if anything I could go for my Associates in AJU then go for the BA at APU, or just through with BA from AJU and get the MBA from APU...

Either way, it seems like the least expensive, best option for me.