Mom Seeking Online College

Hi C., I am a single mom on twin boys and recently started online classes. I am going through Kaplan University, and it's been great. Just another for you to think about.

cc

My son is taking classes at TCC (Tarrant County Community College) this summer. I don't know what classes they offer online but you can call their Center for Long Distance Learning and they can help you.

My daughter (41)just started after much research, an online degree and found Texas Tech Univ. had the best

Hi C.! First, I'd like to commend you on continuing your education. Not only is it a great thing to do for yourself and your career, but it also sets a great example for your kids! As a college professor who teaches about half of my courses online, I'd like expand upon some of the good advice you've gotten already:

1) Accreditation is very very important. Anyone can start a website and name themselves a college. If you're putting in the time and money, you want to make sure you're getting something worthwhile to you, and that will be well-regarded by employers.

2) Along with accreditation, make sure that whichever school you go to, students are eligible for federal financial aid from the government. Whether or not you personally will be getting FEDERAL (as opposed to school- or privately-sponsored)aid, this will indicate to you whether or not the school is well-regarded. The US government places restrictions on where you can use government financial aid, to make sure that this aid is only used at legitimate colleges.

3) Regardless of what school you chose, you should be aware of the difference between state sponsored, private non-profit, and for-profit colleges. Colleges like TWU, UNT, UTD, Texas A&M Commerce, Texas Tech, etc. are all state colleges. This means that they are subsidized by tax dollars, and accountable to the state government. The idea behind this is that it's in the state's best interest to have well-educated citizens. While college won't be free like K-12 school is, this is usually the cheapest option, and very good quality for the money, since the citizens of Texas are helping to pay for your education! The University of Dallas, Baylor, etc are private non-profit colleges. These are usually more expensive, since they are not state subsidized, but still are generally very good quality. They are not interested in--or actually legally allowed to--make a profit. They must re-invest whatever money they get into your education, by paying for professors, facilities, computer resources, etc. Finally, colleges like the University of Phoenix and DeVry University are for-profit: they are run as a business, in order to make money for owners or shareholders. They can offer a good education, but you should be very careful to do your research with these, as their PRIMARY interest is in making themselves money. As other posters have suggested, they can be very expensive, and may try to sell you classes, supplies, or services you don't need in order to get more of your money.

4) Personally, I would recommend going to a state school, like TWU. I actually teach at a state college in Oklahoma (Southeastern Oklahoma State University). Along with the quality-to-price issue, all Texas state schools also make it REALLY easy to transfer credits between them. So if, for instance, you take a few courses online from Texas Tech, then decide 5 years from now you'd really like a degree from TWU, you would be guaranteed that your courses would count.

Good luck in your decision, and in your courses!

Good for you!

I teach business classes (both online and classroom) at North Central Texas College in Corinth. It's very affordable, and a great way to get your feet wet. Let me know if you have any questions- I'd be glad to talk to you about it.

Hi C.,

Just wanted to say what you're doing is awesome and wanted to give a couple suggestions, some things to think about. Not all colleges are accredited. Online colleges like DeVry and Phoenix are not Accredited. Which means if you wanted to put these on your resume or if you wanted to end up going to an accredited college, these would not transfer. I go to UNT and our business school is highly rated and AACSB accredited which is what you want to look for. UNT has alot of online class but so does I'm sure UTD, TWU, UTArlington and so on. But just because they say they are accredited that doesn't mean anything, make sure they are AACSB accredited. I do work at UNT so if you're interested email me and I can get you some information. Whatever you decide, continuing your education is always an awesome choice. Good luck!

Most reputable colleges have online courses now days. Local ones such as University of Texas at Arlington or Tarrant County College may offer what you are looking for. Also I can give a good recommendation for Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX. I have had a good experience with all the online course I have taken thourgh MSU. Good luck.

Texas Tech has a great outreach and distance university program, so I'd try them. They have classes from Elem. thru adult professional development.

The prices are very reasonable.

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ode/outreach/heading.asp

Hi C.,

My husband and I both attend DeVry. Their Business program is great. We actually do both online and attend classes. I like the flexibililty DeVry has to offer with classes. Their online classes are great too. If you have any questions feel free to email me. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Check out Amberton University. They are in Garland, and were formerly associated with Abilene Christian many years ago. I finished my bachelor's there, and my husband completed an MBA there a few years back.

They are about 1/3 the cost of University of Phoenix (at least at the time), and they allow you to mix on-campus or on-line courses at any time - both count the same.

Try Rio Salado College. riosalado.edu It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It is based in AZ but I have attended there. The classes are great. They are only $159 per credit hour for online. UOP and others are in the $1000's per class.

My hisband started with U of Pheonix in Jan. He really likes it and I decided it was a great college so I started classes this week. I really like it. They really take care of their students.

My husband is about to graduate from UOP and I've taken classes there before. If online is the way you want to go, UOP would be the best. They really take care of their students. The classwork is extensive but you will feel that you really learned something.

I currently attend Everest College Online and I wouldn't recommend them. They pale in comparison to UOP and once my current classes are over, I will not enroll in anymore classes. They do not take care of their students and don't seem to be very organized.

I also hear that LeTourneau is very good as well.

Try the University of Dallas. (udallas.edu) They have many online MBA classes (I'm assuming you're looking for masters-level classes and not undergraduate-level classes). If you're looking at taking classes just for the knowledge and not for a degree, you might look at seminars or day-courses in your field instead of courses at a college or university. Many programs require some sort of entrance exam and/or registration fees and the classes are meant for people who are looking to get a degree, not just 6 hours of credit. Is there a professional association in your field that might offer a seminar or other classes for Continuing Education Credits? This might even be more cost effective too.

I have a friend that does Univ of Phenoix and she really likes that she can focus on one course at a time... I go to UTA... and take "telecampus courses" from all University of Texas schools.. so now I am a UTA student taking courses held at UT Brownsville and UT Permian Basin.
hope that helps :)
D.
oh and you can still do late enrollment in a summer long course (10-11 weeks depending on school) or start a summer 2 course for 5 weeks beginning in july

There are a few schools like Phoenix and Devry that advertise being online schools, but be sure to check out your local Universities and Community Colleges first!!! Collin County Community College http://www.ccccd.edu offers most of their courses online, they are VERY inexpensive and they have some really great professors there. Larger Univ's like UNT, TWU, etc. also offer many online courses. And from my experience, their advisement staff is always happy to help you find what you are looking for!

C.,
I go to Phoenix Online and they have resource centers in Arlington, Dallas and soon to open in Cedar Hill. You can go in and ask them what you need to do. I know that any person who goes to Phoenix have a better chance than other online sites of being more credible. Devry is great also.

Texas Woman's University has great online programs. Not sure if you're looking at undegrad or grad programs, but either way it's worth looking into. There is an open house tomorrow on the Denton Campus if you're interested. Call the admissions office. ###-###-####.

Hi C., if you are in the DFW area try looking at Tarrant County College or Navaro. They are wonderful, local and much more affordable ways to study at home. I took a video course at home from them. I took 12 hours from them to finish up an AA degree while working more than full time.
They are close too and are so willing to help anyway they can.

Just an idea - always great to keep up on your skills while taking care of the little ones. :)

I think it might depend a little on your goals. Are you looking to complete a degree or just take a few classes? If you want to compelte a degree, I would look for a non-profit university (which most are). However, both DeVry and Phoenix are for profit, so their educational philosophies differ from traditional universities. If you're looking for degree completion, I suggest Dallas Baptist University. You can take many courses online, and they even offer up to 30 hours college credit from life experience.

I'm fairly certain that Collin County Community College has online courses....if you live here, that could be pretty inexpensive, too. good luck.

Hi C.,

Taking courses online can be a royal pain or pretty easy depending on the school. My experience with the University of Phoenix was NOT GOOD! They are very expensive, their computer systems are a royal pain in the butt to deal with, and their teachers aren't all that great either. I suggest you check more into DeVry. I've heard good things about them.

Best of luck in your studies!
T.

Acutally you can take online courses through most traditional colleges. My BFF has been doing this for some time and has earned her associates degree and is working towards her bachelors. I know Midwestern in Wichita Falls, Abilene Christian, McMurry, and Hardin Simmons (all in Abilene)offer online classes as well as most junior colleges (Cisco Jr College is where she got her assoc).

The only draw back is that most have already started their 1st summer semester (this week from what I understand) but you may still be able to enroll for a couple more days.

I also know that going through a traditional school is A LOT cheaper than the others that are advertised online and are strictly online.

Good Luck!

I went to AIU and got an Associate Degree in Business. But do not let them talk you into more then what you want. I was continually up a creek when I could not find a job and they said they would help you there. It cost me a lot and I had to refinance my home to pay it off. I had a gal in my class that went to Pheniox who said they were nore expensive and our program was better. I got upgrades to my pc at the time were worth about $600. I loved doing it and wanted to go on but the cost and it consumed my time. Also going into a Bach program was really harder. When I started the only thing that was hard for me was learning the pc and found out after a yr that I had not totally downloaded my programs. I did it the hard way then realized they even give you sites to look up as I did it manually. I did well and could have done better had I known the pc but learned a lot glad I did and proud to be the only one of my family with a degree. Good Luck G. W

I am currently taking several online courses at Texas Womans University is Denton. I have also taking online courses at TCC and at UTA. TCC has excellent choices but most of my test had to be taken on campus. TWU has been wonderful so far (I have been there about a year).

Good Luck!!!
A.

Just make sure that you are using a school with credits that will transfer to a real university if you were to try to apply them to a higher degree. Many people don't think about that and find out they went to school online for two years for nothing. Best of Luck, sure wish I had the time to do this as well!

I'm not sure where you're located or what level of business courses you're taking, but Vernon College (in Vernon, TX) offers several online classes - freshman and sophomore level - a WHOLE LOT CHEAPER than any of the 'online' colleges.

S.

I have been taking Business courses online through University of Phoenix since January and I have been satisfied. I would definitely recommend them to you.

The online colleges (Phoenix, etc) have a bad reputation with employers. I would recommend NCTC (North Central Texas College) in Corinth or UNT, which both have a large selection of online classes. UNT's WebCT online courses are very user friendly as are NCTC's Angel online. I prefer the format of UNT's WebCT. Good luck.

I can tell you I have recently enrolled to start my online masters program. I can tell you of all the universities I looked into, the Univ of Phoneix is the most expensive one out there. I think if you do a google search for whatever class you are interested in you will find some that are much cheaper, but get the same end result. Good luck. I don't know where you live, but I ended up choosing the Univeristy of Texas @ Tyler.

Check out Texas A & M - Commerce ... a good school with a good business study. They have some online courses ... have no experience with their online studies personally but know they offer them. Good advice from the person who noted that most colleges offer online so check nearby ones out. Also, a degree from a Texas school may look better on your resume ...
Grandma GiGi

I am going to Ashford University and I am loving it. They helped with financial aid and all. Very nice people and I am getting my Bacholers in Business. http://www.ashford.edu/home/ should check it out

I am also currently looking at online colleges. I'm trying to decide on several. They are Kaplan, Bryant & Stratton, Pheonix,Keiser, & AIU (American Intercontential University). These all seem to be good & a hard decision. Hope this might help you in some options at least.

I just completed the accelerated adult business program with LeTourneau University (main campus is in Longview, but they also have satellite campus' and online degree programs). I personally attended ground courses in Bedford, but they have a wonderful online program as well (I was able to take one of my electives online to fulfill all my requirements). LeTourneau also has a great reputation concerning the quality of their business program and their instructors are amazing. Additionally, this school was founded by a Christian so each class is started with a devotional prior to getting into the subject matter (online courses are slightly different, but the instructors provide devotional material for each "class").

Check out the local colleges for online classes Also try Dallas County Community College, they have wonderful online classes. I have taken over 15 classes from this college. The classes are less expensive than Devry and University of Pheniox and not as imtimidating as the classes from these universities.

I just want to send some caution your way. If ever intend on getting a degree from a college or university please make sure whatever classes you take now are from an accredited school. I work for DCCCD and have had problems with transcripts coming from places like Devry, but never from universities UTs system, and other established/accredited colleges nationwide and online. And while money can be an issue as well as time, make sure they offer some type of financial aid through the Federal system or their own scholarships. Your choices are endless, I have just heard of problems with students trying to transfer some course work from devry and everest and other unaccredited schools. Good luck and God bless. A.

I would recommend Dallas County Community College. I am a mother of two young children (10 & 6), work full time and go to school full time. All my classes are online, which is the only way I can go to college right know. The price is great. I will finish my Bachelors at Texas A&M Commerce(with all online courses) and the great thing is that I will attend DCCCD for 3 years and only attend Texas A&M for 1 year.I will graduate with a Bachelors in Applied Arts & Science(BAAS).

C. S,
I have taken several courses from a place called PCDI (Professional Career Development Institute). You can check with them and see if they have what you are looking for. It is out of Norcross, Ga. I think it is Ashford College but I am not really sure, I only know it as PCDI. You only need to go to pcdi.com and it should come up. If you have any questions you can e-mail me if you like. Hope this helps you. It is also affordable in monthly payments which is good. Talk later and good luck.
God bless, M. D.

My husband is taking classes at Liberty University through their distanc3e learning program and really enjoys it. He is going to be able to do his entire degree online. Also I take classes through my local community college and they have a community of cc's that offer their classes to anyone at any other cc in texas, The website is vct.org if you want to check it out. Good luck!