Online Degree Pursuit - How Valuable

[RobRoy]

I've recently been considering returning to school for an advanced degree, but given my commuting schedule and family responsibilities, would find it tricky at best to do this. I was wondering what the concensus is on online courses, especially from those colleges/universities who claim to be wholly online as opposed to those traditional institutions who have an online component attached to them?

[ServiceSoon]

Has a lot to do with the opinion of the person hiring. At least it shows you are continuing your education. Is the program you are looking at accredited?

[RobRoy]

Has a lot to do with the opinion of the person hiring. At least it shows you are continuing your education. Is the program you are looking at accredited?

I'm unconcerned about being hired. This is for personal benefit. Haven't looked at any specific program, but for my particular interests, it wouldn't benefit me to pursue a degree from an unaccredited institute.

I was just curious what the general opinion of online versus traditional are these days.

[genesplicer]

I prefer to take online classes that are from actual, physical places, such as a university or museum. I have never had any problem with such classes and getting them accepted by the university I study through. For purely online universities, I have had friends who prefer the ones where you meet somewhere as a class once or twice during the actual class.

Just my opinion.

[kev]

I think it really depends on your circumstances. I completed an online graduate degree in education (wholly online). My primary motivation was monetary. The only way I can cuurently obtain a pay increase as a HS teacher is to get a masters degree and get older. If I had other options, I would exercise them, but I don't. I was under no illusions about the degree. I made sure it was from an accredited school, although I don't pretend that it was the most challenging undertaking of my life either. It was what I expected.

In particular, it was convenient - I had no physical option within 75 miles. My schedule does not allow for taking classes at certain times. The quality of courses were similar to most of my educational experience - some were really good, worthwhile and useful. Others were not very relavent and I did what I had to in order to get through the class. I also liked the fact that because much of the work was on my own, I could do more to tailor the assignments to my own situation - HS Biology, instead of learning about examples of education for 8th grade social studies.

I am currently looking to take some online Biology classes - It has been 15 years since I graduated, and I would like to take some selected classwork on evolution, genetics etc. as I feel like much of it was glossed over when I was in HS/college. In my opinion, the online classes are as useful as you are willing to make them yourself. If you are only there to jump through the hoops, you will get little out of them. In my experience, they are less challenging. If a person's dream is to be a great research scientist, I don't know that an online program is the way to go. However, if you are simply looking for a good way to increase your current knowledge, while trying to meet daily obligations, they can be pretty good. Overall, my experience with online courses is positive, but be sure to do your homework in looking for courses/programs that measure up to what you are looking for.

[Worm]

I got my degree through the Open University (http://www.openuniversity.com/). While this is in theory not a wholly online institution, I did probalby 80-90% of my work online, including electronic submission of assignments, e-tutorials etc. - I did have to attend written examinations however.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was very adaptable to my circumstances - I could take as many courses, of varying scope, when I wanted, and could pick the subjects I wanted (to a fair degree...there was some restriction)

I have no hesitation in recommending it..you just need to find the right one for you :)

[Tiktaalik]

I researched this some last year. The programs I found for what I was looking for cost $24,000 - $30,000. Since I got my first MS free (graduate research assistantship - they waived tuition & fees & paid me) I gave up quickly. Plus, one university I contacted then began "hard-selling" me, bugging me with phone calls & emails (I had to call them to get the course price, which they at first refused to give to me, until I completed paperwork. Finally I got someone to just give me the price.) I finally got mad at the caller & told them to never call me again. At that point I wouldn't have given $30,000 of my hard-earned money to that university for anything.

But...if you've got the bucks, don't mind the hard-sell, have a decent connection speed, & can't go in person for some reason, I'd think it would be worth it. More education is never bad...

[Henners]

I got my degree through the Open University (http://www.openuniversity.com/). While this is in theory not a wholly online institution, I did probalby 80-90% of my work online, including electronic submission of assignments, e-tutorials etc. - I did have to attend written examinations however.

I can definitely recommend the OU.

On one summer school, there was a guy aged 84.

Jokingly, I asked him if he was a bit old for getting a degree.

He told me he was on his fourth.