Yup. AAU is suing to get reinstated, saying that number is old. #Goodluckwiththat.

I'm glad California is doing something about that. Those numbers are just hideous. I'd like to see these guys hit with an enormous class action or something. This just ain't right.

I agree that it's not right. The sad thing is, these schools do serve a population that may not be right for the traditional Old College U. The idea was good but the execution sucks.

Oh, and that Cal Grants document is 4 pages long.

Does California not have community colleges serving those populations?

We do but the CC's are full.http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...68865855_n.jpg Source wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califor...ystem#Students
from wiki:

The California Community Colleges System (CCCS) consists of 112 community colleges in 72 community college districts in the U.S. state of California. Created by legislation in 1967, it is the largest system of higher education in the world, serving more than 2.4 million students with a wide variety of educational and career goals.


I also attend City College of San Francisco which serves over 90,000 students annually on 9 campuses through out San Francisco. A LOT of people go to cc's for a semester or two then drop out to: join the work force, military, have kids etc. The school (CCSF) has a transfer program and all kinds of resources but for some people, just getting past jr. college can be an issue money wise.
If you're interested, you can probably find more info on the California Community Colleges website http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/

Wow. I looked at your tuition rates. Incredible. No wonder California is hemorrhaging money. Maybe y'all should consider some tuition hikes so that your institutions could keep up with demand? You have to wonder whether the system is working as intended when you're sending deserving students into the arms of for-profits.

Problemo. Cost of living here is incredibly high. A lot of people can't even afford the CC rates. I can barely afford it myself. I'm working for 3 temp agencies and recently finished a seasonal position. If it weren't for the fact that I live with family, I'd be homeless. Curious: which tuition rates did you look at?

Community College of San Francisco. Something like $23 per credit hour.

In Okieland, it's $79 and I thought that was really inexpensive. It's at least $100 cheaper than in-state tuition at a public university.

Our community colleges range from 90-140 a credit hour. That's a shocker to someone who paid $45/credit hour for a state university.

City College of SF is $46 per credit unit for California residents. It went up Summer 2012 from $32 prior. Non-residents pay $187.00 + $46.00 enrollment fee per unit.
http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/student-s...-and-fees.html

Additional fees:

• Student Health Fee (all students): $17.00 (Summer Semester $14.00) (Mandatory)
  
• NOTE: Students who qualify in the following categories will be exempted from payment of the health fee:
  
• Students who depend exclusively upon prayer for healing in accordance with the teachings of bona fide religious sect, denomination, or organization. (Documentation required.)
• Students who are attending college under an approved apprenticeship training program.
  
• Student Activities Fee: $5 (Optional) (No Student Activities Fee for Summer)
  
• Student Representative Fee: $1.00 (Optional) (No Student Representative Fees for Summer)
  
• Web4 User Fee: One-time $3.00 fee per semester (No charge during ADD/DROP period)

.

Even if you take a free class, you still have to pay the extra fees.

That's interesting that CC's would charge more than the State U system. I wonder why.

^That's all a shocking bargain... Of course in red states like mine, the legislature has been systematically removing state funding from higher ed.

Our State U system starts at about $250/credit hour for the directional colleges. The University of Michigan is $7225 a semester if you take 12-18 credits. So if you take 12, you pay more than $600 a credit hour. If you take 18, only $400.

And they charge more for higher level courses so for 100-299 level courses, it is cheaper than for 300 level courses and cheaper than 400 level courses. They also vary by major. I just grabbed numbers for the college of education for the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Software engineering? You pay almost double. Of course, you will make almost double the salary, but still.

My "shocker" statement was about my own tuition from 1983-87. Eastern's tuition increased 555%.

:eek:

That whole system sounds really complicated.

I thought I posted it here but the suit that was filed by my school was won. We are now able to recieve Cal Grants A & B
http://www.sfgate.com/business/artic...ys-4301917.php


This article has a 4 minute video at the bottom re: for profit schools.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1874677.html

I attend Southern New Hampshire University online. They are awesome! They're a not for profit.

http://www.fastcompany.com/most-inno...ire-university

http://www.studentsreview.com/NH/NHC_g.html

PM_Mama, if you go for Health Information Technology or Health Information Management make sure the program is CAHIIM-accredited so you can sit for the RHIT certification exam, it's often hard to find work without it.

Henry Ford Community College is the place she'll want to go if she goes into this, but it won't be online. PM-Mama- If you do go there, some of my former co-workers teach there and host interns. It's a good program :)

Online grad rates
I found this from a google search on degreejungle.com
http://www.degreejungle.com/rankings...aduation-rates

We Are...#1 for Online Schools
 

Must say, I'm pretty pleased to see my alma mater make the #1 spot for graduation rates. I'm a big fan of the Penn State World Campus (though I never attended the online school but, instead University Park) because it is also known to be very "military friendly" in terms of working with our men and women in uniform.

My illustrious school is on pg 5, 8th down. Yeah son! we're not last! lol

I just looked at the list again and no change. I can verify this because when I filled out my FAFSA 34% is what they gave me.:(

I'm considering getting an MBA. Glad I came here because this thread has been useful! I haven't read through the whole thing, but I will. So far I'm glad to see that online degrees from a reputable school are not frowned upon.

I am thinking about doing it online, mainly because I'm not crazy about any of the schools in my area...

Which I guess brings me too much question...

Would it be advantageous to pursue an MBA in person at an unknown program? Or to pursue an online degree from a top ranked program such as one of these? http://www.usnews.com/education/onli...n/mba/rankings

(Also, reason 193847298374293784 why I miss Chicago...so many more school options).

This is just me but, I would much rather an online degree from a reputable school than an in-person degree from a no-name school. At the end of the day, it's what you put on the top of your resume/ CV that can make or break you in an interview. I'd sooner hire someone with an online degree from well-known university over someone who attended classes at a rinky-dink no-name school.

Ha, I was just about to ask if you were still in Chicago, as I'd be able to give more specific advice in that case.

I think the decision depends on so many things, but I tend to lean towards the in-person MBA.

Are you planning to stay in the same area for a while? Some schools are "no-name" nationally, but well-known locally. You will also network with people in your area in a way that you wouldn't at an online school, both classmates and instructors.

Are you planning to be IN business, or are you planning to be in another field, but move into management? I think school name matters far less in the latter.

Personally, when I review resumes, I don't think that much of the online degree, because a ton of the stuff I did in my MBA could not have been done online, and I think the online courses I've taken have been far less valuable.

Also, the schools on the list you linked aren't even that big name. I think "big name," I want to see Wharton, Harvard, Booth, etc.

I complain about the moving away so much on here I thought everyone knew about the move! Ha! ;)

Nope, I plan on returning to Chicago within 5 years.

I like my field, I suppose it would just be for advancement purposes (which I'm actually researching if that's even necessary--I've also sent out a couple emails to trusted mentors in the industry to get their opinions).

My best friend has an MBA and I was getting her input. She encouraged in person as well for that reason.


Oh for sure! I guess what I meant by showing that list is that, in my opinion, I tend to think more highly of a school of it's their main campus. The only in person option near me is University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. I was curious to know if an online degree from, say, Indiana (#3 on that list) would be more valuable than UCCS (which, ironically was all the way up at #37 on that list--I would not have expected that to be that high!). Not to knock smaller schools/satellite campuses...just my two cents.

If I was in Chicago and I decided to apply, I would be applying to Northwestern and UChicago. :(

Typically, when you get a degree online from a regular brick & mortar institution, there is no delineation between that degree and one that was obtained on the ground. A lot of students who are on the ground take at least some of their classes online. I'm seeing that even with kids who are living in the dorms on a campus.

I'm not sure that's true at the MBA level. At least, when I've seen it on resumes, people specify. Also, if you are in once city and the school is in another, it's obvious.

I think what AGDee is saying is that when you get the diploma in the mail it doesn't say

Suzy Sunshine
MBA online program

It will say Suzy Sunshine Masters in Business Administration

The diploma and your transcripts don't delineate that you did them online.

Almost all of the major universities that are within commuting distance of me also have online courses and many majors can be completed online with no delineation. They also have satellite campuses now too. The University of Michigan Ross business school has an Executive MBA program where students go one weekend a month, staying in Ann Arbor for that weekend, but doing some of their work online during the other weeks. Out of state people could easily do that if they chose. Most of the classes at my college are offered both online and on the ground and the transcript does not say which way you took the course.

I am curious what types of things you found valuable in your MBA course that could not be done online? (Note: I am not doing an MBA, I'm doing a Masters of Science in Information Assurance at a school that is primarily a business school).

Class discussions, networking, presentations, and so on.

B-school is all about networking, which is why I don't understand how one could get much out of an MBA program that was entirely online. That said, I'm a real school snob and I focus on national/international, and not regional, reputation--because you never know where you'll end up. Also, you'll want the strong alumni network of a top school.

My ex-boss got his MBA from the University of Phoenix but talks like he was at Wharton or HBS. LAME. I think it's unfair that my uncle (full-time MBA from a Top 20), one of my old boyfriends (executive MBA from an Ivy) and that clown can all say they have the same degree.

On the other hand, one of my friends is now getting his Executive MBA from Michigan's LA program--they meet once a month and his cohort is really close. It sounds amazing.

I guess an employer will know its an Executive MBA from the fact that there's no break in your employment for education.

I am going to have to respectfully disagree with DeltaBetaBaby on her assessment of online courses not giving you the same "experience" / "value" as the classroom experience. I am finishing up my masters online which I started in the classroom, so I have experience with both aspects of the learning environment. In both we have had group projects and presentations. The difference is that my online experience has been more true to life than my classroom one. The group projects that I have been required to do have required time management, online collaboration, conference calls and true group effort as opposed to "meeting in the library 2 or 3 times right before the assignment is due and "knocking it out". The presentations that I have had to do for my online classes have required me to utilize powerpoint and online presentation software that I never would have mastered in the classroom, where typically I would just get up and "wing it" for 15 mins. Online I am required to think on my feet and answer questions from people across the country that i have never met, not my classmates that I have seen twice a week for 5 weeks and feel comfortable around. Overall I have gotten more out of my online classes than I ever did out of my classroom classes. I find that I have to be 120% prepared online. I have to be able to answer questions intelligently and comment on other students work intelligently. It has really honed my critical thinking skills in a way that the classroom ever did.

I agree with you OldOleMiss. My Master's program (again, not an MBA, but at a business school) has included group projects and presentations every step of the way. I've also networked like crazy making connections all over the country, not just in the Detroit area.

It's been pretty true to the real world experience too. Since starting my most recent job in January, I've yet to be in a meeting where all participants are in the same room. I spend 5-7 hours on WebEx, collaborating with people from all over the world, every single day. My direct supervisor lives in the Toronto area so anything we do together is done over WebEx. She comes to the office one week a month. I work directly with team members in Australia and France.

My school is SUCH a gem. :rolleyes: Every so often, I do a web search for articles on my school. I found this one, which was posted last year which I find to pretty spot on.

I couldn't agree more.

This really pisses' me off:

Article on Huff Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2006115.html

So, I was looking up some other information and came across this list of for profit universities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...s_and_colleges and online universities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._United_States

Dang, a lot of the for-profit ones sound like legitimate schools-I imagine they get some students who think they're going to Brown University and get Brown College instead. Do your homework about a school that sounds too good to be true (pun intended).

Actually, the list is much longer than it should be. That link goes to online universities or schools with online programs. It also lists schools like Florida State, Penn State, Purdue, Arizona State, NYU, Texas Tech, and so on. This list is comprised of schools that are also brick and mortar but, also offer online classes. That's why I am shocked when someone tells me they wanted to do their entire degree online and then chose a University of Phoenix, Walden, Kaplan, etc. There are so many reputable schools out there that offer online degrees. Why go to a for-profit?

For a myriad of reasons but: shorter programs, not having to deal with pre-req's, general ed courses and so forth. Personally, I picked my school because:

• working professionals for instructors
• up to date equipment
• updated curriculum and not theory based
• a school full of art majors
• great networking opps in and out of school
• working portfolio at graduation

other reasons too but you get the idea

For me, traditional college was trying to fit a square peg in a circular hole. Just didn't fit. Yeah, it was fun (cheerleader, parties, etc) but I didn't focus on my major and when I finally did, it wasn't what I wanted to do in life.
Ultimately, I changed my major and found a school that had what I was looking for in academics and usefulness for the degree. For me it's been worth the investment.

Traditional college isn't for everyone. For-profit isn't for everyone. Hell, college isn't for everyone. But there's something out there for all of the different people with different educational needs. There are always options.