Online Education?

I am looking for some real answers here, what is everyone's deal with online education? Honestly, most of the people who answer questions regarding online education have you ever done it? Do you work for a major fortune 500 company and know how employers perceive the degrees? There are many fortune 500 companies that will reimburse your tuition for online education through programs at Capella or University of Phoenix, so why would they pay for them and then not accept them, that doesn't make any sense. If you really read alot of the reviews people always seem to complain about the cost of tuition, who cares if someone is willing to pay it. A college education is very expensive no matter where you earn it. If a school is accredited then it is worth something. I read a post that someone wrote that accredidation is just a piece of paper and any school can be accredided, so if that is the case, then aren't all schools pointless since accredidation means nothing. Any thoughts?

Online Education?
It looks like you got a lot of misinformation previously, and that's not unusual on this site. Try to ignore the lame answers and focus on those with some actual knowledge to share.





My background: I have taken online courses (through a UC and a community college), and I teach at a community college and half of my courses are offered online. In answer to your questions:





1) Accreditation: Yes, it means something--big time. If one goes to an unaccredited school, the units won't transfer; the degree is simply an expensive piece of paper; public funding is not available; the units earned will not count toward licensure or certification, as required in some fields; and the minimum standards necessary for what is considered a "quality" education have not been met. "Quality" refers to specific educational standards. See this link to the US Dept. of Ed. for more information, and links to accreditation agencies: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/i...





2) Online education: Just as or sometimes more rigorous than traditional brick-and-mortar courses, so long as they are offered at an accredited institution. At my college, the research department found that the students who select online courses are the better students in the institution (earning higher grades) in BOTH the courses they take on campus and the courses they take online. In other words, the students choosing to take online classes are the ones who, in the traditional class, tend to set the curve :-) I think this is because the online courses require more discipline, and thus, a higher level of commitment and perseverance, so those students with those qualities select the online challenge. But I digress.





3) Fortune 500 company: No, I do not work for a Fortune 500 company; however, given the competitive nature of those businesses and the demanding nature of the online learning environment, I can see how those compliment one another.





I hope that information helps you some.
Reply:1) I have done online education. One of my three Master's degrees was completed online. Honestly, I believe the online Master's was harder than my other two.





2) I'm semi-retired. While I never worked for a fortune 500 company, people I worked with five years ago didn't hold University of Phoenix in high regard.





3) There may be companies that reimburse employees for University of Phoenix degrees, however, there are some that won't. Intel Corp. is one big company that will not reimburse employees for a business degree from University of Phoenix.





4) Yes, I have a problem with the cost. Why pay University of Phoenix, Capella, or Kaplan or any other for-profit school tuition if you can get the same degree online from a state school for 1/2 the cost?





5) Accreditation does matter. However, there are several different levels of accreditation. There is regional accreditation which is what the typical state schools and most of the for-profits have. There is also specialized programmatic accreditations that are over and above regional accreditation. Some examples of these are AACSB for business, ABET for Technology and Engineering, APA for psychology programs etc. For-profit, online schools usually won't have these types of accreditations. Many state schools will have these accreditations.





Good luck,
Reply:Let me just say one thing. My friend used to go to normal school. Now he goes to cyber school and hes practically 10 times smarter
Reply:Hello!





I graduated from University of Phoenix July 06 with an MBA. My tuition was paid for by my employer, number one in the world for the manufacturer of industrial gas. Many of my classmates were also from top fortune 500 companies and were being reimbursed for tuition.





My undergrad is in Chemistry from the University of Michigan. Many of my classmates also had undergrad degrees from reputable colleges and universities.





With that said, I will give you my opinion of online schools - I think undergraduates need to experience brick and mortar schools. To me, students need the face to face interaction and experience campus life challenges.





I also think that if students are seeking to obtain a job in the business world, they would be better off going to a college that is AACSB. In my case, I was in my middle 40's, established in my career and just looking to enhance my skillsets. This was also the case for many of my classmates - many were Hospital Directors and managers in the chemical industry.





There are people that just cannot find the time to attend a campus. In those situations, I do think that going to an online college is their best option. To me, any education is better than no education. Let's face it, today's workforce is requiring at least a bachelors degree for many jobs that did not require one years ago.





I recently changed jobs and got a 20K increase in salary. After being hired, the HR Manager said that the company had interviewed five people for my job. But, what made them pick me was because of my MBA. It showed discipline and initiative and desire to improve myself.





I have a friend that just got hired into Vetco Gray Controls, which is now GE. She has a bachelor degree from the University of Phoenix. So, the school name did not hinder her chances to get a job with GE.





One of my friends had said that another reason Intel stopped providing tuition reimbursement for employees attending the University of Phoenix was because many employees wound up leaving the company. The University of Phoenix MBA is easier to obtain and many Intel employees could not or did not receive promotions from wihtin and consequently left the company. Intel funds the brick and mortar MBA programs as those are harder to get into and requires much more time in terms of classroom - going to campus and study time.





I think you will find many opinions about online education, particulary the University of Phoenix. Ulitmately, it boils down to the individual and whether an online education fits their needs.





Hope this helped.