Needing Information About Online Colleges.

One of my closest girlfriends recently graduated from the University of Phoenix and had a great experience. It worked well for her b/c she was able to continue working full-time while completing her degree.

I have a friend that got her Accounting degree from the University of Phoenix. You have to understand that most employers won't give an online degree the same amount of credibility they would a regular school - much like they give more value to a degree from a major school such as Texas as opposed to a smaller or lesser known school. Whether it is right or wrong isn't really up for debate. My friend basically told me that her employer told her she couldn't move up without the degree. So that's why she got it. Once she had the paper in hand, she got promoted. It is amazing how many companies out there have policies against promoting people past a certain level without the degree. A lot of them don't even care what the degree is in! So yes, in that aspect, an online degree will be enough to get you by so long as you prove yourself on the job.

By the way, Walmart is actually a good company to work for with or without a degree. Not sure if you actually work there or if you were just using it as an example, but all those large chain companies have wonderful training programs for employees who work hard and show a desire to move up. I went through one at Target several years ago. If you are at a place like that, you may want to go to your supervisor and ask about how to move up in the company. They will probably tell you to work on the degree also, much like my friend had to, but showing a strong desire to get promoted really helps to get you there.

I don't know about a bachelor's degree, but I know that Texas Tech does have on-line/correspondence courses for high-school and college credit. My son is doing Alg 2 for high-school through them and it's great!

I would highly suggest talking to the people at your local community college. They can help you do any testing necessary to enroll, since you didn't complete high school. Also, most community colleges, TCC for sure, have extensive online programs now. My mother is actually in the process of getting a degree in elementary education, and is able to basically take the first full 2 years worth online, for the same price as going to campus! Then she can transfer to a major university, many of which also have great online programs. No need to pay a fortune for an online specialty university. Feel free to message me for more info, as we did a lot of research before she got started.

As a public school educator and previous educator in the adult private sector, I strongly discourage getting a degree from U of Phoenix. However, TWU is great!

Texas Womens University's degree (whether online or not) will absolutely be regarded by all employers the same as any ACCREDITED university. U of Phoenix is NOT an ACCREDITED university and their classes WILL NOT transfer to other universities or be regarded by other employers as a college degree.

I don't mean to step on your toes here, but I want to make sure that moms that want to further their education are completely aware of all the data before paying or registering for anything involving education which may not transfer later on.

As a former employee in an HR department for a large insurance company, we did not recognize a degree from this university as a Bachelors or Associates Degree. Furthermore, these classes won't transfer into other universities or colleges i.e. CCCCD, UT, UNT, UTA, etc.

CCCCD (and I am sure DCCCD) offers an extensive amount of online courses (I took College Algebra through CCCCD), and they will all transfer and look exactly the same on a transcript as a live class.

Here are some good links:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/online-degree3.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Phoenix

http://uopsucks.com/

I would also add, I would strongly encourage you as to why you are wanting a degree and if it best suits your situation. It sounds so good to people to say that everyone should have a degree, but there a LOT of jobs out there that a degree will only be just another loan payment for. There are a lot of jobs that do require degrees, also, so it depends on what field you are wanting to go into.

Good Luck!!! I would strongly suggest starting with the community colleges.

I think the University of Pheonix is OK. I don't know anyone who has gone there. At lot of the Junior Colleges alo offer classes on-line. I am going to Richland and can do almost my entire degree plan on-line. You will need a GED for either.

I have 2 kids ages 10 and 12. I like you wanted to return to school but I didnt want to have to travel or be away from my house. I searched online and found AIU online. I was enrolled in that for a little over a year. I graduated this past Feburary with an Associate's Degree in Business. I was able to do it all from home and the classes were not that bad. I would recommend this to anyone that wanted to go back and had a family to take care of.

Hi S.,
Well, are you prepared to pay around $20,000.00 for any given course, because thats about how it will run you over a period of the next 10 or 15 years, which is one reason I give up on that one. I am a single Mom and wanted to further my education, but at that price and being single, there is no way I could do that one, and if you end up not paying, they can garnish any wages you might earn in the future and ruin your credit. Perhaps, you might consider one of the local colleges around such as Richland or Eastfield if you have the time, its a whole lot cheaper. I couldnt do that either because I am single and the only support of income we have and have no one to watch my child except my elderly parents and I didnt want to be dragging him around in the middle of the night when classes would end, he would be too tired to get an education himself and try to go to school. Maybe someday I will, but for now, I have to do what I have to do. But the best of luck to you, just dont get caught up in any expensive thing, do your research before you sign ANYTHING......

I teach full time for DCCCD, as well as teaching part time online for Axia College of University of Phoenix. Many of the DCCCD classes are offered online, and they are MUCH cheaper than UOP. At DCCCD, if you are a resident of Dallas County, it's only about $109/class (plus books, which can be just as much) and the classes are guaranteed to transfer to the 4 year colleges in Texas. It's a bit more if you are in one of the other counties. You can also look into CCCCD and TCCCD as well as TWU. The community college of the county you're in is not always the cheapest. I think UOP is more than 10 times that amount per class. If you take online classes at a community college, the fact that they are online doesn't even show up on your transcript.

I believe you need to get your GED first, either for DCCCD or UOP, if you don't have it. For a community college, you don't need the SAT although once you are in, you may need to take some placement tests to see whether you need remedial courses in math or English. Axia College/UOP does not offer remedial classes, however, and does not have that testing; I would NOT consider that an advantage, because it puts unprepared students into regular classes (not that this necessarily applies to you, but sometimes people who drop out need some extra help with skills). The question about a community college is whether they have a 100% online program, which may well not be the case; however, the classes will still transfer to other schools in Texas such as TWU that do have 100% online programs (and that are probably more expensive).

The quality of online classes and programs varies a lot, and with some of the for-profit schools, their degrees are not always taken serious; their credits may not transfer well, either. Buyer beware when dealing with a for-profit school in particular (and a for-profit school like UOP is not considered the same as a private school like Baylor; they are worlds apart).

By the way, if a program advertises a 2 or 4 year degree in less time, it's going to mean a lot of concentrated studies, and you need to think about whether you have time to devote to a concentrated program, depending on your work & family responsibilities. Also, online classes require you to be self-motivated and able to get a lot out of the books on your own. The professor is there to help you and facilitate the class, but if lectures are crucial for you and/or you have weak reading skills, online is not necessarily a good match.

Good luck! I have a lot of students like you. :-) Go for something that's both affordable and convenient, and don't let the possibility of financial aid blind you to the costs of the school.

PLEASE here me on this.... BEWARE of University of Pheonix. I am not saying that your shouldn't attend. I am just saying my husband had a HORRIBLE experience w/them & we are still getting a bill from them.
Make sure you understand what they are charging you.
Make sure you know the procedures for dropping a class.
Make sure you know your credits will transfer or that you can get a job with "their degree".
....all of these things & more that my hubby learned after the fact!!!

I went to Community College & knocked out lots of credits VERY easily & inexpensively. I have never had any Community College act in deceptful ways.... BUT University of Pheonix thrives on it. My husband has acutally had "credit collection agencies for U of Pheonix tell him that they have heard the same deceptive issues from other "ex-students" of the college.

Just my 2 cents - take it for what you want.

I just graduated with a degree online in 2005. They make it sound so good. I will tell you I only went a year, and thank God my granddaughter took care of herself that year. It was intense. I thought I would be able to do it at my speed. Well that was not the case. I went to AIU and heard that was much better and least expensive then Phoenix but I ended up paying about $24,000 or more for that two year degree. They hound you after the 6 months go by. I had 6 loans and the Sallie Mae loan had a 8.5 % interest. I refinanced my home to get out of the mess. I could not find a job at Corporate level and decided to open my home Day Care. I love this. It did make me understand more about the world, and I had unlimited computer tech support which taught me a lot. I had no idea that most jobs want you to have a Bachelor Degree and that would be another 2 years. I also did not know that you can get a Bachelor Degree without getting an Associate Degree. What was nice was I got a two year degree with going to school one year. But it cost me. No tests and we had class projects. I started to go on for the Bach degree and it was a lot harder. In the beginning of the classes I found I had more experiences and better computer skills them a lot, but when I tried to go on to Bach most were way above me in knowledge and it was a lot harder. I also did not have any idea what I was going to do with my degree. I love business and thought that is what I wanted. I may have gone a different route if I had known I would be opening a Day Care. Like more teaching skills. I do not think any of it hurt me, except the financial burden. Also my whole life was dedicated to that year. I never slept, and was dedicated to it. It took me probably more time to do things because of getting tech support. They gave me computer Office XP and I had to install it. Almost a year later I found it had not been installed all the way, which had given me alot of grief. I also did not realize that they were making it easy for us in this one online window, that was giving us web sites to help us with our course. I was doing it on my own. Education is the best thing and reading all and learning everything we can makes us more of value and gives us more confidence.I had six loans some subsidized and some not. Meaning the gov pays something and you pay. In the short of things we pay. Even single moms do not get the help paid for that they should but our immigrants do. I was 58 when I went to College and wish I had done this sooner. I would take all the classes I could on investing and computer skills. I did find the even the professors do not know how to really succeed in life. There were a few that have businesses over seas but most are just teachers. Fun to do and I will never regret it but thank God I got it paid off. G. W

This past December I completed my Bachelor's degree online through Texas Woman's University. I loved the classes they offered and if you qualify for Financial Aid it's really generous. My last semester of classes I had to pay $25.00 towards tuition and then all the costs for books. The only thing though is that it's a lot of reading - but it's really worth it.

Let me first start by saying kodos to you. I am always happy to see people going back to school. With that said let me say that I have spent the last 7 years going to school through the DCCCD (Dallas County Community College District) They are all awesome schools and every single one of them offers online courses. When I first started going to school there I was very poor and was living on my own. (I grew up in a family of 10 kids) So needless to say it was affordable for me to go to school there. Well after I got pregnant with my son I dropped my course load down to 1 class a semester and was still able to keep my finacial aid. It was difficult working and taking care of a newborn and going to school so I quit my job and have been going full time the last 2 years. I complete every single one of my classes online, (Including my PE class) and I graduated last May with my Associates in Early Childhood Education. Also I just wanted to let you know that my husband started the degree work through Pheonix online and we payed a whole lot of money into it to find out that most schools will not take it as a transfer and alot of companies do not see them as an accredited school so I would not go that route. If you have any questions about the DCCCD I would be happy to answer them like I said I went there for 7 years and I am to the point that I could probably tell you just about anything.

Just a little side note. If you left school in the 10th grade did you get your GED? If not I know that the DCCCD offers classes for you to get your GED. I hope this all helps.

S.,

Before you enroll in college, you must have complete high school or completed some sort of equivalency exam. Contact your local community college for more information.

In terms of finances, I would recommend starting with a community college. All degrees require some basic courses (introductory maths, composition, etc.). You can take those courses for a much lower fee (with much more personal attention) at a community college and then transfer those credits to a larger university.

I will echo the sentiments regarding U of Phoenix and the lack of respect toward that institution in the working world.

My father-in-law & his girlfriend have both been taking classes from University of Phoenix for the last few years. She just completed her Bachelors & he will finish next month. They have really enjoyed it. For them almost all of their work was done online but I know they had to physically attend the first & last class of certain subjects. This was done at an area close to where they live. I suggest either giving University of Phoenix a call or shoot them an email to get more info. They are legit though I'm not sure of any of the other online colleges. Good luck & congratulations on your decision to continue your education!