Online Colleges

[Bill the Cat]

I am 5 months away from graduating from a 4 year online college. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but i get constant ribbing from my coworkers who are attending brick and mortar colleges. They call my college a "Diploma Mill" and other derogatory comments. I'd like to post a poll to see what the TWeb user community thinks about them.

Thanks
Bill

[TheAnalogman]

I think some are just fine. For example, the University of Illinois (where I attended) now has some online programs.

[Crow]

I put some of them are better than others.

Some reek of being diploma mills.

Some are online classes offered by brick and mortar colleges, and again, some of those are better than others.

[Bill the Cat]

Here's mine:

www.kaplan.edu

[themuzicman]

What people need to look for is proper accreditation, preferably from the same folks who give the brick and mortar universities their validity.

Michael

[TheAnalogman]

What people need to look for is proper accreditation, preferably from the same folks who give the brick and mortar universities their validity.

Michael

Exactly, except I would delete the word "preferably"

[lao tzu]

Bill, if you're looking for the prestige of a college degree, an online college won't fill your needs. If you're simply interested in an education, you don't need a college at all.

The advantages to brick and mortar colleges lie in the ability to interact with students and faculty. A great professor can make all the difference, as can a great study group. If you really want to know how well your education at Kaplan measures up, take the GRE or the GMAT.

As ever, Jesse

[Philosophickle]

Kaplan is one of the top producers of GRE study materials, so it wouldn't surprise me if they taught with those tests in mind.

[lao tzu]

I don't think that's the same Kaplan, Gigglz.

ETA: Or maybe not.

http://www.kaplan.com/

[Philosophickle]

Looks like they are the same: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaplan%2C_Inc.

[Soyeong]

When some teachers just teach by reading the power point slides that come with the text book and you are self-motivated, then you might as well take that class online. However, I've taken an online class that I really could have used having a class for. I've also run into some problem with having homework graded improperly, so I've learned to avoid online classes from my college.

[Philosophickle]

Teachers with tenure can be awful.

[lao tzu]

Teachers denied tenure can be manipulated ... Liberty University, for example.

[Philosophickle]

It can be bad either way. But teachers tend to pack it in once tenure is achieved, which sucks for the student.

[lao tzu]

It can be bad either way. But teachers tend to pack it in once tenure is achieved, which sucks for the student.

At the secondary school level, I might even tend to agree, but it's much tougher for that to happen in a university setting. You can't get tenure at a reputable school without a track record of publications, and once you're on that treadmill, tenure doesn't really matter. Professors don't make huge bucks, they get paid in respect. If you're not contributing to the journals, you don't get any.