A subreddit dedicated to free online learning resources in general, in particular college-level, instructor-led programs
With the pandemic limiting in person schooling, has anyone found online degree programs other than the over-advertised degree mills? Can anyone recommend any 100% online degree programs that actually hold some respect in the working world? What has your experience with online schooling been in general? Those of you that have graduated from online schools, have your degrees helped or even harmed your job searches?
A bit of context for anyone interested: I recently started classes at Strayer University for a BS in Criminal Justice. I went with them due to the affordability/discounts through my job, already having an AS in Criminal Justice, as well as the easy scheduling that fits my all over the place work schedule. However as I’m sure many have already seen, Strayer has a rather iffy reputation. Yes, I realize I’m an idiot for not realizing this sooner, but as a working adult that wants to actually finish a degree program, I jumped at the chance. Just wondering if anyone else out there has had good experiences with online education that’s a bit more reputable.
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UPenn, University of London and University of Florida are the top 3 that I can think of. They all offer 100% online degrees. (Penn has 1 short on campus weekend requirement but that’s it).
More than reputation of college, you should pick the one that offers you a course in your preferred area of study.
Thanks for the input! I absolutely want to continue in Criminal Justice as it’s the one thing I’m passionate about that I’ve dedicated a lot of my life towards. I’ve just read so many horror stories about online only schools like University of Phoenix and Strayer being totally worthless to employers and actually harmful to some job seekers and wanted to see what other options exist. Thanks again!
Strayer, UoP and others definitive have value as there are literally thousands of grads in the workplace, many of whom make hiring decisions. That being said there are also hundreds of traditional colleges that offer very strong online programs. Check out ClearDegree.com if you’re interested in expert help finding one.
Nah, that's all just gatekeeping and jealousy from people who spent 50k on school and crying in their debt trying to justify it by putting others down. Sure a few of those people probably exist in hiring roles too, but so do any other arrogance or bias you can't get around.
I think university of Nebraska -Omaha has an online CJ degree
I am actually pretty sure that there is still an all online AS to BS program in CJ at Edison State College in Fort Myers, FL.
Editing to say Actually, I think it started out as an AS to BAS degree in Public Safety Management, but definitely check.
Edit 2. Don't trust any other online program that is not part of a state university system.
Edit 3 BAS is Bachelor of Applied Science
Got a BSBS from Capella last year, FlexPath was legit. Also got to bring in a ton of credits from cheaper partner sites like sophia, straighterline, and study dot com. If you're going online path, get max credits they will let you bring in from outside from cheaper places. Check NCCRS or ACE databases for credit recommendations and go over them with the registrars of the schools you're interested in.
Georgia Tech
Regional accreditation is what will indicate highest quality. The specific Crim Justice accreditor has slowed their roll and is no longer adding new schools is it looks like, but they do still list a short set of schools that met their criteria: https://www.acjs.org/page/Cert_Programs
For online, try and choose nonprofit universities if you're hoping to avoid some of the sketchier behaviors. Wikipedia will typically indicate if a school is for-profit or nonprofit (the school should also be transparent about this).
Also: consider degrees such as a BS in Homeland Security, which will probably have significant curricular overlap. (FEMA list of programs). And checking cost is key, as these degrees are likely quite similar from school to school. No reason to pay $20-$40k more unless there's some really clear benefit to you.
Also, depending on your career track, regionality may matter. For example, if you're looking to be hired in a specific city, having a degree from that state, even online, may carry more weight. (Ex: I've been surprised how my very good degrees from the West Coast and Midwest did not "carry" to New England well - New Englanders really prefer a New England-based degree.)
Once you get the degree and have some experience, no one cares where it came from.
WGU is an awesome institution, accredited, over 20 years old, excellent reputation.
Arizona State University has a good number of fully online programs. Perfectly respectable University.
I did my undergrad at American Public University, they are for-profit but they are regionally accredited but I feel like I got a decent education there and was impressed by the quality of my instructors and the cost was reasonable.
I am now doing my MBA at SNHU and my experience has been good there as well. I wanted to shoot big for my MBA but I couldn't afford ASU or UNC.
SNHU is credible as well, check it out!
Recommend checking out the University of Louisville. Fully accredited institution, great reputation with employers and all online programs are taught and developed by the same highly-experience, research-oriented faculty and staff as the university's on-campus programs. (UofL is actually an R1 research institution.)
UofL offers an online BSCJ, which was highly ranked in the "Best of" 2020 awards from U.S. News and World Report: http://louisville.edu/online/programs/bachelors/bachelor-of-science-in-criminal-justice
Notably, since you're worried about reputation with employers, degrees earned online are not listed that way on your diploma. You earn your degree from UofL, period, regardless of how you take your courses.
(Full disclosure, I do work in marketing for online programs at the University of Louisville. I was just browsing the forum to see if there was any opportunities here for us to connect with students through video when I saw your question. This wasn't my purpose in being here, but I wanted to pass along the information!)
Regardless of what you choose to do, best of luck moving forward!
I been wondering the same thing