Online College: Your Opinion?

[Cain]

So, I know a few people in the Active-Duty Military who work on Online Degrees and I was wondering: Does anyone really know the credibility of them? Are they worth to do? I signed 6 years of Active-Service, and plan to stay in for 20 years so if I go to college it is going to have to be Online I believe.

I, personally, have always dreamed of a MA or PHD in Military History, but I also dream of a degree in Agriculture Business BA. So, I am going to say, I am wanting to get a BA in Military History/History, and a MA in Military History, but I am pretty sure, I am going to have to go to a school for the MA.

What do you think/advise?

Also, I was told by a friend who is currently Air Force Active Duty [Fire Protection] that your first year is mostly spent working as a Apprentice, and trying to get something [honestly forgot] achieved, Level 5s I think he called it? Anyways, so the first year or two I am not going to be able to manage it, but just wondering anyways. Love to plan ahead.

 

[aplcr0331]

Your first year or two will be spent at boot camp, tech school, and then ojt and earning your 5 level. Which means doing your 5 level CDC's (correspondence courses). You'll be busy, but depending on your AFSC you could still go to college. Most Air Force tech school get you college credits as well, so you can apply those towards your CCAF degree (A two year degree from the Air Force) and then you can transfer to a 4 year college.

Online college is legit as long as the school is. Meaning if the school is accredited and they offer online degrees then there is nothing to worry about except ignorant people's perception of "online learning".

What is your AFSC going to be in the AF?

AgriBusiness and Military History? Pretty extreme difference in those two degree plans. What do you want to do with your degree?

Good luck,

C

 

[Madeline]

My advice would be to use distance learning courses at a traditional school. Avoid the for-profits, like University of Phoenix.

You can test out of most of your freshman year requirements, if you scored highly enough. Saves time and tuition money.

Seems to me, the military would have advisors very skilled in just such questions.....mebbe ask a recruiter?

 

[California Girl]

So, I know a few people in the Active-Duty Military who work on Online Degrees and I was wondering: Does anyone really know the credibility of them? Are they worth to do? I signed 6 years of Active-Service, and plan to stay in for 20 years so if I go to college it is going to have to be Online I believe.

I, personally, have always dreamed of a MA or PHD in Military History, but I also dream of a degree in Agriculture Business BA. So, I am going to say, I am wanting to get a BA in Military History/History, and a MA in Military History, but I am pretty sure, I am going to have to go to a school for the MA.

What do you think/advise?

Also, I was told by a friend who is currently Air Force Active Duty [Fire Protection] that your first year is mostly spent working as a Apprentice, and trying to get something [honestly forgot] achieved, Level 5s I think he called it? Anyways, so the first year or two I am not going to be able to manage it, but just wondering anyways. Love to plan ahead.

Seriously, Cain, you are better off speaking to serving military and the USAF about options, not a bunch of idiots on a forum. One of my brothers did a Masters in Military History, one has a PhD in International Relations - both did correspondence courses. Ask those who have been there and done that, they know much more than we do.

 

[Cain]

Your first year or two will be spent at boot camp, tech school, and then ojt and earning your 5 level. Which means doing your 5 level CDC's (correspondence courses). You'll be busy, but depending on your AFSC you could still go to college. Most Air Force tech school get you college credits as well, so you can apply those towards your CCAF degree (A two year degree from the Air Force) and then you can transfer to a 4 year college.

Online college is legit as long as the school is. Meaning if the school is accredited and they offer online degrees then there is nothing to worry about except ignorant people's perception of "online learning".

What is your AFSC going to be in the AF?

AgriBusiness and Military History? Pretty extreme difference in those two degree plans. What do you want to do with your degree?

Good luck,

C

Security Forces. lol yea, I get that a lot. Ag Business would be for farm management, and Military History because I have always wanted to teach it. I am pretty sure I'll just give up Ag Business.

 

[aplcr0331]

.

Seriously, Cain, you are better off speaking to serving military and the USAF about options, not a bunch of idiots on a forum.

Just because you are not in the military or have an online degree does not mean you should call yourself an idiot.

<---------------------------13 years military, 6 active duty, 7 in national guard.
<---------------------------multiple college degrees, some online and some in person.
<---------------------------not an idiot (although my wife might object).

 

[aplcr0331]

C

Security Forces. lol yea, I get that a lot. Ag Business would be for farm management, and Military History because I have always wanted to teach it. I am pretty sure I'll just give up Ag Business.

Security Forces? Yeeeeech That's a bit different than most AF positions. Your optempo will be greater than most. Meaning more training, more deployments and you'll probably work some odd hours. Which will make getting a degree a little more difficult.

The CCAF degree you will be eligible for will be in Criminal Justice. You might get some of that to transfer to a 4 year college but I imagine there is not too much overlap between SF curriculum and AgriBusiness or Military History for that matter.

Once you have served in the military for your initial active duty tour you can apply to the Troops to Teachers program. They can help you get started on your way to becoming a teacher. Just a note for further consideration: History teachers are a dime a dozen. You would be better off getting a teaching certification in Math or Science. Much higher need, thus you'll be more able to get a job, with those subjects than for History or Social Studies.

There are a number of colleges out there with history degree. And yes, you are much better off going to a traditional university that offers distance learning/online education than you would going to an online only school.

C

 

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

a few moth ago i took a hitchhiker with my ride. He told me about his online studies (business administration). It´s simple and cheap, only the exam fees are a bit expensive because he needs a lawyer where he can make it. But he´s allowed to share one with some other students, so that these costs are affordable too.

It´s a question of acceptance but in general, i think this is the future.

 

[old navy]

I'd like to add a bit to what aplcr 0331 wrote. Special education is another area where there are teacher shortages. I teach high school and we get more students every year but not more teachers. The competition for non math and science jobs is tougher than ever. Some of the SPED classes only have 5 or 6 students. I have 170 students in 6 classes. Of those 170, I have as many if not more students with IEPs than the SPED teachers do.

To the online topic. I needed a couple of education courses to qualify for my five year teaching license. I did them both at an all online university. I had to get the school system to approve it prior and I was surprised that they did. Regional accreditation was the key. I have a masters in public administration and will start a political science masters in a few weeks. I may try for an endorsement to teach government. I should go for the SPED endorsement though. Less students.

 

[editec]

So, I know a few people in the Active-Duty Military who work on Online Degrees and I was wondering: Does anyone really know the credibility of them? Are they worth to do? I signed 6 years of Active-Service, and plan to stay in for 20 years so if I go to college it is going to have to be Online I believe.

I, personally, have always dreamed of a MA or PHD in Military History, but I also dream of a degree in Agriculture Business BA. So, I am going to say, I am wanting to get a BA in Military History/History, and a MA in Military History, but I am pretty sure, I am going to have to go to a school for the MA.

What do you think/advise?

Also, I was told by a friend who is currently Air Force Active Duty [Fire Protection] that your first year is mostly spent working as a Apprentice, and trying to get something [honestly forgot] achieved, Level 5s I think he called it? Anyways, so the first year or two I am not going to be able to manage it, but just wondering anyways. Love to plan ahead.

Don't do it.

You can take college course (usually on most large bases) and get a real degree from a real college.

 

[old navy]

Why isn't a regionally accredited online college a real college that awards real degrees? A person's potential to an employer has more to do with integrity, experience, and how the person might fit into the culture of the agency or company. There are degree snobs out there that will say and do otherwise I know. Online studies works for military personnel due to deployments and other reasons.

When I was taking my online education courses for my teaching license, I spoke to a colleage who was doing a masters in education at a brick and mortar. A final exam in one of his courses was done at Starbucks and consisted of chatting with the professor and classmates about the course. They all got As.

Many employers, especially the government, assigns great value to degrees from online universities. Thats a good thing since in-person education does not work for lots of military personnel.

 

[goldcatt]

The problem is acceptance. If you're doing an approved course for an employer you already have, that's different from completing a degree in hopes of it getting you employment down the road like what Cain is talking about.

Proper regional accreditation means it's a decent education as long as the student is completing it according to the honor code - which is one thing a lot of employers worry about. But I would still hesitate to take an entire degree rather than individual courses through an online only school. Correspondence or online courses offered by a traditional university are going to be much more widely accepted. Maybe that will change in time, I believe it will actually. But degree snobs or not, they're out there and hiring and they don't all like distance learning.

 

[asterism]

So, I know a few people in the Active-Duty Military who work on Online Degrees and I was wondering: Does anyone really know the credibility of them? Are they worth to do? I signed 6 years of Active-Service, and plan to stay in for 20 years so if I go to college it is going to have to be Online I believe.

I, personally, have always dreamed of a MA or PHD in Military History, but I also dream of a degree in Agriculture Business BA. So, I am going to say, I am wanting to get a BA in Military History/History, and a MA in Military History, but I am pretty sure, I am going to have to go to a school for the MA.

What do you think/advise?

Also, I was told by a friend who is currently Air Force Active Duty [Fire Protection] that your first year is mostly spent working as a Apprentice, and trying to get something [honestly forgot] achieved, Level 5s I think he called it? Anyways, so the first year or two I am not going to be able to manage it, but just wondering anyways. Love to plan ahead.

Online degrees from traditional state universities are generally good (not as good as actually being there but good). Many colleges have hybrids of online, correspondence, and remote classrooms on military bases and those are excellent. The University of Maryland is an example. As for the University of Phoenix, Strayer, Argosy, and others of that vein be careful. An excellent education can be attained, but they don't have the same prestige due to their open enrollment and partially-earned perception of being diploma mills.

Also, the Air Force is accredited so you can probably have most of your military training converted to credits.
http://www.au.af.mil/au/

 

[asterism]

My advice would be to use distance learning courses at a traditional school. Avoid the for-profits, like University of Phoenix.

You can test out of most of your freshman year requirements, if you scored highly enough. Saves time and tuition money.

Seems to me, the military would have advisors very skilled in just such questions.....mebbe ask a recruiter?

You are generally correct, but I object to the categorization of "for-profits." Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is an excellent institution that has been way ahead of the technically oriented programs at traditional universities. The Art Institute is a for-profit but it is a fine school for careers in creativity.

That said, the specific school you cited and those similar have earned their reputations.

 

[psikeyhackr]

On-line college is somewhat of an oxymoron.

It acknowledges the existence of technology but does not want to make the most use of it.

Netbooks come with 250 gigabyte hard drives now. I remember when I thought 10 gig was big. I remember when I thought 100 megabytes was big. Just compile 100 gig of non-redundabt important information and why does someone that wants to learn need the school.

If they just walk in and take the tests and pass and don't need to be lectured by teachers then why not? Lecturing is just a technologically obsolete tradition.

Schools just deliberately buy books that need teachers to go with them.

The CybeRevolution is a bitch. How many cultures will it destroy?

They will be obsolete cultures of course.

psik

 

[Samson]

July 21, 2009 by Sam Narisi
Posted in: Assessing the right candidate, In This Week's E-Newsletter

Online schools are becoming more common, but HR and hiring managers still prefer candidates with degrees from traditional institutions.

Resumes listing degrees obtained online are coming across the desks of HR managers more and more frequently. Just under half (49%) have come across applicants with online degrees, according to a Vault.com survey.

And it’s not necessarily a good thing. Among those who answered the survey:

Only 19% have ever hired someone with just an online degree
63% said they always favor candidates with traditional degrees (strangely, 2% said they favor online degrees), and
18% said online degrees are “not credible and not acceptable,” while 59% said they aren’t as credible as traditional degrees.

 

[old navy]

Many online students are employed in government, the military, and first-responder type of jobs. The online degree has more value there and many of the hiring managers are online educated as well.