Kevin is exactly right. I would advise you to stay away from for-profit schools. I am currently taking doctoral classes at Grand Canyon University, which changed over to for-profit since I have been there. I received my master's degree there before they were for-profit and I can see considerable changes.

As someone else mentioned, they (online for-profit schools) are overpriced and pressure you into taking the maximum amount of loans. I called to reduce my loans and pay a larger portion out of pocket and they acted like it was the end of the world.

From my experience, for-profit schools make you complete twice as much busy work, the professors provide very little interaction, and your work is not really "graded". I have a problem with writing a 5 page paper every week when it is not enhancing my knowledge on the topic vs 2 or 3 major assignments at a traditional university.

If I were you and seriously considering online classes, I would choose a traditional university that happens to offer those courses online.

Also, as others mentioned, online for-profit degrees are not well received in some circles. I know when I taught in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in NC, they did not offer salary advancement (administration) for Univ. of Phoenix degrees.

Just my .22 cents on that.

I was thinking of mentioning that. Are you still teaching in NC? I'm going on year 3.

I was referring more to connections you had made as a student leader during your undergraduate days. Were you friendly with your campus Greek Advisor or Dean of Students, for example? These people likely attended SA programs that you might be interested in, and are a good avenue to start your research into programs.

ETA: I believe SthrnZeta is getting (or got) her MA in Student Affairs online, but from a traditional university. However, if my memory serves me, she also had quite a bit of work experience in higher education which is a significant difference from your situation in my opinion. You might want to PM her!

No, I taught in NC for 4 years and I relocated to Nevada this past year. Sometimes I really miss NC and the southern hospitality :(

As someone currently in a student affairs mater program, I really recommend against this.

Online programs do not offer the practicum and assistantship (which is currently completely covering my tuition) experience that a traditional university's program has. And with the poor job market, experience is key.

Perhaps as the decade progresses, employers may see online for-profit universities in a different light, but as it stands now, too often, when they see schools like U. of Phoenix or Kaplan University on someone's resume, the thought that comes to their mind is often something to this effect:

Employer's image of online schools

LOLZ. I wish there was an actual funny parody of the chick going to college in her pajamas but the ones I saw are laaaaaaaame.

I had to laugh. Thanks a lot because I started watching tons of YouTube videos, after you posted that! I posted this on my FB wall. Wow. Too funny!

What's the attraction in taking classes in pajamas? That's another reason this whole online school seems like BS to me.

Many students at "real" universities find plenty of opportunities to go to class in their pajamas anyway :p Personally I couldn't do this but it happens!

But even then, they still have to put on shoes and leave the dorm. It seems like these "universities" market themselves towards lazy people. I'm not saying that people who go to online schools are lazy, but many lazy people are attracted to it.

"I'm not saying that people who go to all-you-can-eat buffets are unhealthy, but many unhealthy people are attracted to all-you-can-eat buffets."

I'm not going so far as to label these people lazy in a general sense. I despise Kaplan University, University of Phoenix, and the lesser known online schools (lesser known usually means even more questionable accreditation and something you should stay the hell away from). The people who choose to give their money to these schools for bachelors, graduate (I know of fools who thought they got real PhDs from online schools that no one ever heard of), and associates degrees tend to be people who have limited understanding of academia and their current or potential field(s) of expertise. Many of these people are very busy with work and/or family and struggle to find time for even these online classes.

However, there are students in these programs who ARE lazy and that is one reason why they wouldn't survive at a "real" college or university. They most often aren't saving money by going to Kaplan University and University of Phoenix. They consider themselves to be saving time and finding a place that suits them.

lol
hilarious!

I think the pajama ad is actually for a service that finds you a school, not an actual school. They talk about how they'll find you the program that takes the least amount of time and is the cheapest.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...editorsPicks_1

Undergraduate new-student enrollment fell 25.6% at DeVry's namesake university in the quarter ended June 30. Kaplan reported a 47% decline in new-student enrollment for the June quarter.

It looks like we'll be seeing a correction in this snake-oil market.