That's right. The classes that really don't have much to do with the degree are pretty simple and often can be passed really quickly. There are usually pretests for these classes and if you score high enough on the pretest you can usually take the final test in a few days. The final test is often very similar to the pretest too. If it wasn't for the heavy Microsoft certs I had to take I could have been done in a year that would have taken 2 years. In the end it took 1.5 years but they are 6 month terms.
Online degrees
- Thread starter Cyclonepride
- Start date
I did on online Masters (Reliability Engineering) through the University of Maryland. A degree from any nationally accredited program should have the same value, whether earned online or on campus.
If you just want to learn stuff, there are many free, online, undergrad-level classes from top flight universities (MIT, Harvard, Stanford, etc.) on Coursera. You can take the course for free, or for a fee they will issue you a certificate of completion upon passing the course.
If you just want to learn stuff, there are many free, online, undergrad-level classes from top flight universities (MIT, Harvard, Stanford, etc.) on Coursera. You can take the course for free, or for a fee they will issue you a certificate of completion upon passing the course.
National accreditation is for fly by night for profit schools. Real colleges and universities are regionally accredited.
I guess that is the other question- do you need a full degree to get hired or will the right certifications get you in the door?
For engineering careers, employers typically a degree from an ABET accredited institution. ABET is actually a global accreditation. All of the big engineering universities (including ISU) are ABET accredited. Maybe there are other accreditation organizations for other subjects?
http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx
ABET is a pretty specific instance and is about individual programs within a university. ABET looks at programs, not institutions. Accreditation of reputable universities is done by 6 different regional bodies in the US. Here's a link to wikipedia for you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_accreditation
Just did a little searching, and it looks like the "gold-standard" accreditation for an entire school is regional. For this accreditation, ISU is in the Higher Learning Commission. There are other organizations for other regions of the country. But for specific programs (like engineering, nursing, vet med, etc.) there are national accreditation organizations.
This is not true at all. If you want a degree to break into a field that you're not currently in, or are thinking of relocating to a certain geographic area, name recognition matters...a resume listing Drake University isn't going to stand out in Cleveland the same way that a resume from Case Western Reserve will, just as a degree from Iowa State University is going to carry a lot more prestige than one from National University of America or some other obviously for-profit, online-only degree mill.
There's a reason people who go to Harvard are more likely to be successful than people who go to Gudger College, and it's not only because they're brighter to begin with (or that Gudger College is fictional, haha).
What I meant was that a degree earned on campus is no different (better) than a degree earned from the same school through an online program, so long as the school is reputable.
