Online universities good idea, or total waste of time and money?

[Doc Holiday]

So I've started doing a job search in earnest, and am looking at options to finish school as well.  So just out of curiosity anyone have any feedback from attending an online university like Ashford or ASU? are these places legit or a total scam?  

just curious because the availability to take all my classes online would be extremely useful. 

[MadHatter]

We would not even interview someone with a degree from one of the online universities.  But, I am interviewing accountants and financial analysts.  So, I am not sure about other degrees.

[Doc Holiday]

4 minutes ago, MadHatter said:

We would not even interview someone with a degree from one of the online universities.  But, I am interviewing accountants and financial analysts.  So, I am not sure about other degrees.

Ok, any particular reason behind that?  they claim to hold the same accreditation as a regular university, so any particular reason behind that?  and ASU for example is an actual university and not just a company like the others, so do you still ignore ASU for example?  a lot of these questions are just out of curiosity, and If you work for a company in a hiring position you're pretty much the kind of person I want answering these questions.

[Doyle]

The drop out rate is much higher than if you attend in person.  

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

doing an online degree program through a real university is fine

university of phoenix and other for-profit online colleges are 100% scams

[SmokinwithWilly]

My wife was looking at using an online university to get some of the basic credits necessary before she enters law school. The biggest thing that we found is not all of the credits you gain at these online universities actually transfer anywhere else. The degree would end up costing around 15 grand IIRC and was absolutely worthless for entrance into Gonzaga. Gonzaga does offer online courses that do count, and comes pretty close to the same as far as cost, since we are Washington residents. 

[Anybodyhome]

Trump University... oh, wait....

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/432010/trump-university-scam

[pstall]

Im looking at Arizona State. That's my original school i was accepted to out of high school but knew i would have died being the early inspiration for the hangover.

Honestly I'm looking at courses for something so far away from finances it's not funny.

If you can find an accelerated program with a good name school, jump on it.

[PhillyB]

no no no.

only if it's a legit uni that happens to offer an online program as an extra setup. like ECU offers a fully online MBA. that's legit.

if you do devry or capella or u of phoenix or any of those you are an absolute sucker. most of their credits are non-transferable. any chump can pass an online class and learn absolutely nothing as it is, and when you lower the standards of teaching even more it just makes the entire thing a joke. i've seen intermediate-level course rubrics for these programs and they are laughable. my cat could pass them.

if you are serious about going back to school, commit to a place with a classroom and supplement it with online courses from the same institution if you need the flexibility. it will be much harder, but your degree will be worth something, whereas if you go to an online university your degree will be worth nothing.

[Doc Holiday]

6 hours ago, PhillyB said:

no no no.

only if it's a legit uni that happens to offer an online program as an extra setup. like ECU offers a fully online MBA. that's legit.

if you do devry or capella or u of phoenix or any of those you are an absolute sucker. most of their credits are non-transferable. any chump can pass an online class and learn absolutely nothing as it is, and when you lower the standards of teaching even more it just makes the entire thing a joke. i've seen intermediate-level course rubrics for these programs and they are laughable. my cat could pass them.

if you are serious about going back to school, commit to a place with a classroom and supplement it with online courses from the same institution if you need the flexibility. it will be much harder, but your degree will be worth something, whereas if you go to an online university your degree will be worth nothing.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking, but flexibility is a must. and is actually my biggest issue at the moment because I work 2 week swings. aka no consistency at all. 
ECU is literally right up the road for me(like 14 mile drive in one direction and no turns), so may be worth talking to them.

[BettyBangzer]

As others have said, definitely stay away from the online universities. My sister-in-law took out $40,000 in loans to pay for a University of Phoenix "business degree" (and some extra for living expenses) and she still works a poo job that pays less than $30,000 per year. Not a good investment. 

[sharkkiller]

Online courses from an actual University = good idea 

Online courses from a strictly online "University" = send me the money and I will give you a diploma and some links to watch on Youtube

[SOJA]

On 3/10/2016 at 2:06 PM, Doc Holiday said:

So I've started doing a job search in earnest, and am looking at options to finish school as well.  So just out of curiosity anyone have any feedback from attending an online university like Ashford or ASU? are these places legit or a total scam?  

just curious because the availability to take all my classes online would be extremely useful. 

you say finish- where did you start - will the new school accept all, most, or even some of those credits?

Why do you want a degree? Do you absolutely need it to get into the field you want to? 

Taking classes online is useful but it isn't always what's best for you- depending on the field, research is critical and you aren't going to be chatting with any professors about their research after an online class session ends. 

Be careful, don't get a degree jut to get one. First find out what you really, really want to do- then go do whatever it takes to do that. 

[Zaximus]

Let's be honest, these plays like Univs. of Phoenix really need shut down.   The prices and what you get is almost predatory.  I know that the government was looking into how they were tricking vets into using their earned college compensation there.   Those places LOVE vets and using up that money.