Education On-line

I just finished by BA degree through Ashford University and it was wonderful. The professors are awesome and I really enjoy the interaction with the other students on line. I must tell you that even though I finished my AA degree at a local community college in 2005, I hadn't been in school since 1967. In a about 18 months I was able to recieve my BA degree. You should be able to pull up their website - they are located in Clinton, Iowa.

I've been doing online classes with Westwood College. It all really depends on the degree that you're looking to achieve.
Good-luck

-J. M.

M.,

I am currently getting my teaching degree renewed through University of Phoenix online courses. They work really well, but they are very intense for the 3 or 5 week class that you take. They basically fit a 12 week semester of a three credit class into three weeks, and believe me you CRAM! But, if you can put aside that kind of time for a short period of time, then you can get it done. It is very interactive and interesting. Worth a try. Go to University of Phoenix' website and you can find the list of classes offered - undergrad and grad.

D. D.

Well M.,
I recently started working for the Federal Government, and I noticed that they would only accept my Education as credit toward pay and qualification for the positions I was applying for if the school was nationally accredited like a State School, I know UMKC has an online program. I know someone who just finished their Masters Degree. Just make sure you don't go to any of these University of Phoenix type Schools, or even like Devry or Pinnacle, while the degrees from these types of school may be valid I assure you from talking to people in various work areas they are not respected, and as I mentioned the Government does not consider them valid. I personally only went to Vocational school and was unable to put that down. I know I had been unemployed for so long I was looking into going to college and found that KU has a local campus in Overland Park this is a link to request information they get back to you within 48 hours generally and were really good about answering all my questions, this is for the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park. https://www.applyweb.com/public/inquiry?s=UKGINQEC

OK and finally to help you educate yourself before making a decision and for all the Moms out there here is a website I think no Mom should be without http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/
it is the Government's information website, there is everything on there from safety recalls to how to buy a new car, stay safe on the internet, and information on adult education, and how to choose a daycare. I subscribe to the newsletters and get recalls in me e-mail everyday. I think it is one of the best websites around. Hope I helped and good luck!

M.,

It depends a lot on which degree you are working on and where you live. I completed my Master's in Education all on line. but for my bachelor's most of the necessary courses are in classroom courses and aren't offered on line. I got my degree thru Drury University at the Fort Leonard Wood extension office. There are practicuums you have to do in classrooms and group projects you will be required to work on. The experience and knowledge you gain from your fellow classmates makes it well worth the time spend in the classroom, especially if you are planning on being a practicing teacher.

The last course you take is your student teaching and if you are doing your courses on-line, you may run into difficulties when it comes time to do you student teaching if you are taking your course through an out of state on line program. But I am not sure how they work.

Another thing to consider is cost. I know some on line programs cost more than in classroom course. Look at the program you are considering and compare it to other programs and see which fits your budget best.

You may find you can take a combination of in classroom and on line. Drury's online software is very simple to work with and their program was very comparable. Their on line classes do not cost more than their in classroom course, which is a plus.

It also depends on what you want to teach as the program is different for elementary ed and secondary ed.

After you decide what you want to teach, shop around for the most cost effective program for you. I would advise for just starting back out to start with just a couple on line courses. That way you will get the feel for the programs and won't get over whelmed when you have to complete research papers for both courses. Most classes have a staggered delivery/due date so you do have some flex time. But I did take 4 classes one semester that three out of the four all had the same deadlines!!

Good luck and feel free to email me off line if you have any questions. I still have all my lesson plans from both degrees!

N.

Well I too started to back to college online. I originally went to a community college in Syracuse New York, so I contacted that school and I am finishing online through that school. I'm not sure how many hours or classes you are looking to take, I am only take one a semester, beacuse I only needed 3 classes. I know JCCC offers classes. If you already have some credits at a school see if you can finish there, most schools offer some online classes

I received my degree in education online through Walden University. They were wonderful! Everything I learned was innovative and transfered directly into my classroom. Good luck!

Hi M.,

I am currently taking classes through University of Phoenix. They are an online based school and I love it! Everything is done online and you never have to go in to a physical school. The courses are 9 weeks long and cost about $885 per course which is 3 credit hours. You have an actual classroom that you go to and have students that you interact with. You can contact your instructor throught the classroom, email, or even phone. All instructors post their phone number and business hours for you to contact them if you have any questions. There is also a tech support you can call in case you have problems with your computer or with their website. This is the first time I've ever taken college courses and I love this type of environment. I have two kids and a full time job so this really works around my schedual. I started last March and this December I will already have my Associates in Accounting. I would highly suggest checking them out. Hope this helps!!

I am a 32 year old mother trying to finish her degree to teach. In my experience you are going to have to get the degree and then go back to either a traditional college student teaching class, or find a district that will hire you on a provisional and get your teaching certification while you are working. But as for the online classes I am finishing mine for an English degree through Drury University in Springfield, Mo. I started my traditional college classes with them when I was 18 and loved the campus and teachers, and the onine experience I am sure (since I am just going back this semester) will be just as great. Their site is www.drury.edu if you would like to check them out. Personally and professionally I like to stick to the more known traditional schools for my online degree as well, because I figure they are already grounded and not just a "fly by night online" business. But that is just my conservative view on getting an accreditted degree. Drury is a little expensive since they are a private institution, we are working on a ton of scholarship possibilities. I am sorry for the long response, but I hope it helps you. And GOOD LUCK, I look forward to seeing you as a teaching colleague. :)

Hi! I'm almost finished with my degree in business at Indiana Institute of Technology. It's been a real good school for me. They will work with you on getting student loans.

Their independent study program consists of signing up for a class (about $850 for a 3unit course), they send you the books and help you set up with username/password to get online. Online you can email your instructor quetions, download assignment info (usually 4-6 per class - mainly reports), upload finished assignments and receive your grades along with comments from instructors. It's been great for me! check it out!

Hello M.,

I am currently taking online courses at Kaplan University and love the experience to date. I have no complaints, and for your current dynamic of life, this would probably be great. If I am reading your request correctly your are interested in Education, Kaplan has an education area of study and it works around your schedule. I also worked from home with children when I started the process and it has been fabulous. I do not know the exact link to give you but I would do a Google search for the universities name and see what I get. I found the school online and as I said have never regretted it. The advisors will contact you almost immediately after your request and they help with financial aid and everything. They will help with transferring any credits already achieved and you will start to make great friends through this experience, from all over the world. They work really hard at making the experience life-like and the professor's have been great as well. I would recommend this school to anyone! Good luck in your search! Also if you would like you can email me directly at ____@____.com and maybe I can find some better directions on how to contact this school. God Bless!

You do have lots of choices! Pretty much any college offers online classes. Personally I think the best university out there that teaches online classes is University of Maryland University College. You would have to pay out of state tuition with them though, but they are the most experienced and ranked one of the number one online schools.

I'd watch out with university of phoenix. They are accredited, but many professionals do not consider it an equitable degree to other institutions. They are also for-profit where most colleges and universities are not.

I go to Park University, I can take either online or face to face classes that way. I'm getting my masters there. They have a nice small cozy campus, but 60% of their students are taught online because most are military.

Hope that helps

I take classes through Columbia College and I quite happy with them so far. They have 8 week sessions so you canmove a little faster than the traditional semester. I only take one at a time because they are a bit time consuming. You must log in several times a week and I devote at least an hour a day to my studies. I also work full time and am a single parent to a 2 yr. old. I live in Columbia MO and it is convenient for me to take my midterms and finals in the town I live in. If you are not local, you can get a proctor anywhere you live. Books can be ordered and sold back online and I've never had to wait more than a few days for one to arrive. Classes are 205 per credit hour which is pretty good for online. It's worth a look! Congrats and good luck!

I am in my second set of classes with the University of Phoenix, with a GPA of 4.0 and 6 college credits.... 54 more to go for my degree.

I am very glad I chose UOP, I'm with the Axia online campus. The teachers are wonderfull... you have an actual classroom you log into and a chatroom where you can talk to your classmates, it's great!

UOP is highly accredited, and recomended, so even though it's a bit pricy there is a reason, because it is the best!

I have three councelors too who call to see how I am doing and update things with me. They really help you through what to do.

I looked into several colleges online and seems many SAHMs have chose UOP as well, because I have many SAHMs as classmates, and it's great!

All course materials are downloadable, so no need to purchase them to be sent to you by mail. They have an onlne library, tutorials, and even a writing center where you can submit your papers before turning them in to make sure they are written academically. It is very worth the price to go to UOP! You can even buy a class ring when you graduate if you want!

I earned my Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology (BSIT) in 2006 from the University of Phoenix Online, and recently returned to school in October 2007, to pursue my Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree; I anticipate a completion date about a year from now.

The key things to look for is the accreditation of the school. Regionally-accredited it better than Nationally-accredited, and semester credit hours are better than quarter credit hours. You risk losing credits when going between schools that are in conflict of one another such as from nationally to regionally accredited and from quarterly credit hours to semester credit hours for example. Also, when looking at online schools, be sure to do your homework. Depending on your degree, some states do not acknowledge online education in some fields even though the online schools may offer it, areas such as medical, legal, and education. While some of the online schools may be accredited, you are paying for convenience many times and if you can swing it, might be better off going to a local community college or university to cut costs on tuition. With that said YOU will have to be the one to decide what is right for you. One more thing on accreditations, some of the online schools don't have certain accreditations for various degree programs, meaning the ones that really count in the workplace. Bottom line, do you homework and find the best fit for you if you proceed to move forward with any degree no matter where you choose to attend. Talk to many schools and ask lots of questions. Decide what you want to do (or plan to do) if this program or school doesn't work out, or you eventually want to transfer. Find out if the school you would consider (or plan to transfer to) WILL take you credits from the school that came before it. Often times students wait until they want to transfer and then upset that their credits (or a bunch of their credits) won't transfer. However, if they had only done their homework first, they would have known this, but most don't know a thing that they are spending a lot of money on. Most students I've seen spend more time researching the car they are going to buy than the money they spend on their education, which let's face it, is a heck of a lot more!

Whatever you decide, good luck. If you have any questions or want to chat, drop me a line.

M., you have LOTS of choices. I teach right now through a program called the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance. This program allows students to take classes online offered by any of these colleges:

Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Texas Tech University, Michigan State University, University of Missouri-Columbia, Montana State University, University of Nebraska, North Dakota State University, Oklahoma State University, South Dakota State University

You have to pick one of those schools as your "home school," and probably you'd want to pick one that has low cost credit hours or doesn't charge fellow "great plains" students out-of-state-tuition. You can contact them and they can help you figure out the best school to hook up through.

http://www.gpidea.org/

I can't really tell you what OTHER people's online courses are like, but if you want more information about how I run mine, feel free to contact me.

Good luck!

Hi M.,

Good for you on going back to school. I am a graudate student at Missouri Baptist; however, I would NOT recommend them at all to anyone. As far as online course, I believe the University of Phoneix offes some.

Where do you live? I live in St. Louis MO.

I am a SAHM, graduate student, pursing my MSE in Elementary Ed and Cross Cat. In addition, I am also a SimplyFun Consultant (www.ctyalor.simplyfun.com), and an AVON Rep. Please visit my SimplyFun website. I is about getting back to board games to build family bonds, and to pull us away from the TV and computer. I also have an AVON webiste if you are interested.

My personal e-mail is ____@____.com

http://www.ccis.edu is a good place to start. They are based in Columbia, Missouri and have sites at 20 locations in the country, including one in the KC area where the former Blue Ridge Mall was located. They have a large sign on the office building there. They were one of the first colleges to have multiple sites around the country. They have done this since 1972 and started online courses in 2000. They now have more than 500 online courses taught in 8 week sections, many by their full time faculty in Columbia.

I teach at the home campus and also online. Their courses are transferable to many other institutions, which is important when considering any online program. I'm just finishing up one online session and the next will start in 2 weeks.

Good luck w/whatever you decide to do.

M.,
A few days ago I talked to my sister about what her husband had done. We (my husband) are also trying to get through schooling and work full time. I know that the University of Phoenix is nation wide and has numerous courses online and is an idea. My sister told me her husband went through AIC (American International College). He seamed to like them better than any other for whatever reason, and he finished his online classes and got his degree through them. Maybe someone else knows a little more first hand about these to give you more input. I hope you find what your looking for. Good luck.

I work in admissions for Fontbonne University. If you'd like to give me a call, I'd be happy to share what I know! I specialize in adult students, aka "non-traditional".

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M. R.

I just completed my BA through DeVry University's online program. They are similar to the University of Pheniox in that everything is done online. With them you take 2 (full-time) new classes every 8 weeks. They go one right after another and you only have two weeks off at the end of December and two weeks off at the end of June. DeVry was a little more expensive then others that I checked into but it was a good fit for me. I would think as long as you check that they are accredited then any one you chose wouldn't be a problem. Good luck with your schooling, it is definately worth it in the end.

Your best bet is to go through a real college. That way you don't have any future problems with getting proper credit for your courses. Some on line courses do not transfer to colleges. (Or you may receive partial credit) St. Charles Community College offers several online classes as well as nights and weekends. I go to class there two nights a week from 6:50 to 9:50. (I get to have dinner with my family but, I don't get to tuck them in)
Several years ago I took tele courses through Harcourt Learning Center only to find out that most of my credits from them were non-transferable.

I am a current University of Phoenix student and I love the program. DeVry also offers a good online program, but unfortunately they did not offer a Bachelor's program in Human Services which is what I needed. Depending on the program you need, you may have no choice, but I strongly back U of P.

My husband finished his Bachelor's degree with U of P last year and is very happy with the results.

My husband chose to attend classes once a week in St. Louis whereas I do ALL of my classes online. You can do either way. Either way requires you to have computer access.

University of Phoenix requires you do team assignments which I wasn't comfortable with at first, but soon learned that this is pretty much the same way a business is ran and it gives you the opportunity to work in a team environment before you go to work with a company and have to work with a team for the first time then. I think employers respect the whole team environment approach that U of P offers. I don't think Devry is set up this way.

Good luck with your journey!

I had gone to Columbia College, and they have campuses all over the US. But, they also do many degrees online, so I am also praying about going back to school. www.ccis.edu is what I think it is.

Hi M., My husband used University of Phoenix. They do have a college located in Wichita. To finish his Masters he needed to attend one class I believe onsite.
They give you a counselor to interface with of class enrollment etc. If you want to call them and check on financing or courses available online, they are listed in business white pages of Wichita phone book.
University Of Phoenix
3020 N. Cypress Dr. 67226
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Good Luck and Hope you reach our goal
K.

M.,
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I know of a GREAT Opportunity NO Experience required and you could start right now!

This company is privately owned and has a 50 Year History and a an impeccable reputation.

If you would like to know more - feel free to give me a call
S. at 1-877-233-1809

You could try universtiy of phoenix, or just google
online education from universities.
My husband is planning on doing a masters through the
university of phoenix.
My best to you.

I go to the Metropolitan Community Colleges (MCC). They have online courses (go to www.mcckc.edu). If you already have an Associates Degree, you can check out Park (www.park.edu). My sister does online classes there, and I am enrolled to begin an online degree, but I am taking all the classes that transfer at MCC first because MCC is about one-third the cost per credit hour. Talk with admissions at both places first to be sure you 'don't waste your money' or time. (Sorry for the cheesy TV quote!) Hope that helps! I, too, am a non-traditional student. I am a 35-year-old first time single mom, and somehow I am making it work! You can do it!

I have been researching online colleges also and I started out with Univ of Phoenix when I began checking out all the universities. I have my paralegal certification from William Jewell College and they were excellent. But, they do not offer much online degree programs right now.
Before I went to Jewell I went to two of the cheesy schools advertised during the day - National American University (burst into cheesy slogan song now, lol) and Brown Mackie. In my OPINION, University of Phoenix is just a more expensive version of those two. Now in fairness, I will say my mom is going there and so is a friend and they love it there but they truly live in the middle of nowwhereville population 2 so that limits them on some places where they can go as they could not commute to campus if necc. But, they are both getting business and healthcare degrees. I am not sure what degree you are wanting to end up with and that does make a difference on where you can get away with going. For a more basic degree such as business then you could possibly go to a less traditional college and be ok. Probably not the case with a more specialized degree or if you were pursuing a teaching degree.
I agree with some of the other posters in that in talking with prospective employers a degree from U of P or a similar school, versus a degree from a more traditional college, it does come into play. And I know my mom and my friend are paying a bunch more for some of the extra conveniences that are offered.
I have found that Park University has a great online program for a reasonable amount of money. And, they have been very helpful and supportive in getting me in touch with the right people to talk to . I have several friends who have done the online classes and have had lots of success with them. And, it is a very reputable and respected college. If you are going to spend the time and money to go back to school then it makes sense to make sure where ever you go will get you into the kind of job you want. Some of the other places I called tried to tell me that it is the degree that matters not where you go. I know that is not the case. A very well respected and educated businessmen told me if that is not true. If you took two candidates and one had a degree from Princeton and the other from say, National American University I think it is a pretty safe assumption who they would lean towards. :)
I know I am long winded. Sorry! But I am in same boat you are. I want to finish my bachelor's and I have been really having to invest a lot of time into looking into where the best fit would be. It's a lot of money to go back to school...go where you feel you will have the most success and worry about the student loans later. Maybe I will "see" you
online at Park University! That's where I most likely will end up. Good luck!!

www.usaonlinecolleges.com