Your Questions About Business Online Degree Programs

Jere answers:

Many employers toss job applications listing an online degree directly into the trash. This is why online students are so paranoid about the dreaded word “online” showing up on their transcript or sheepskin.

Your choice of Bellevue illustrates one of the pitfalls of online education. Bellevue has a poor reputation to start with. Bellevue is a low-quality “completion” school that is not ranked by USN&WR. The school’s Business degrees do not have AACSB accreditation (Bellevue carries the much less prestigious IACBE accreditation).

A degree from Bellevue would embarrass you your entire career, like a bad smell.

Jere answers:

From what I have heard, Kaplan has gotten mostly favorable reviews. With technology becoming more integral in daily life the prominence and acceptance of distance learning programs has increased dramatically. The important thing is just like with any college decision you need to look at several schools and carefully weigh your options. I would do some searches online for associate degrees in business or accounting to find other schools. I found this site that has some of the info you mentioned and a couple other colleges for you to consider.
Http://www.ecollegefinder.org/business-administration-associates-degree.aspx

Jere answers:

Online schools – real ones, not diploma mills – tend to be more expensive than campus based programs, not less. Your least expensive option in terms of any sort of reputable degree is to first go to your local community college, get your associates, and then transfer to one of your state’s public universities to complete your bachelors. You get a lower price on tuition at these schools because you’re from the state.

U of Phoenix is very expensive (nearly as much as Harvard), and some employers really dislike it. It is appropriately accredited, though. It is a real school. It’s just not considered academically very strong, and it’s so famous for being kind of sucky that some employers refuse to hire its graduates.

If you must go to school online, first check to see if any of your state’s community colleges and public universities have online degrees. A lot of them do, and that’s often a relatively inexpensive option. But remember, their online tuition may be more expensive than if you went to the campus based class, so check both before you decide.

In general, you’ll do best re: employment options if you go to a school that is knwon for its campus based programs, and isn’t known either for being online or for-profit. So skip U of Phoenix, Kaplan, Capella, Devry, ITT Tech and things like that. Instead, look at UMass Amherst, U Maryland, Penn State, Northeastern, Bentley, U Florida, Ball State, U Nebraska Kearney, Iowa State, Upper Iowa University, Tiffin University, and the other decent schools that offer online degrees.

In fact, a private school that is reputable that offers online degrees at fairly low cost (compared to most online schools) is Southern New Hampshire University. Nothing wrong with them.

Jere answers:

University of Phoenix is regionally accredited, but it lacks program accreditation. For example, Mississippi State University is regionally accredited but it’s business programs are accredited by the AACSB. This is an additional accreditation over and above regional. This would be considered best. INTEL recently changed it’s employee reimbursement policy to only pay for business degrees that have AACSB accreditation. This is an indication that a University of Phoenix degree isn’t quite considered as good as a degree from most big state universities.

There are plenty of state schools where you can get a BA degree online. They will be considerably cheaper too. University of Phoenix charges $494 per semester credit hour. The schools listed below charge between $130 and $250 per semester credit hour.

Fort Hays State University – http://www.fhsu.edu/virtualcollege/
Peru State University – http://www.peru.edu/offuttafb/degreeprograms/onlinelearning.htm
University of Wyoming – http://outreach.uwyo.edu/ocp/
American Public University – http://www.apu.apus.edu/index.htm
University of Florida – http://www.distancelearning.ufl.edu/degrees.aspx
Mississippi State University – http://www.distance.msstate.edu/

No matter what school you choose, you should always check on accreditation. You can do that at the U.S. Department of Education website at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.asp
At a minimum, you will want regional accreditation by one of the six regional accreditors. Preferrably, you want the program you are in to be accredited also. AACSB for business, ABET for electronics and technology, APA for psychology, etc.

Good luck

Jere answers:

While I didn’t get my degree from online studies, I do know many people who have completed their studies, both undergraduate and graduate studies, through online courses. They all have jobs.

What is important is that the school you choose is a reputable and accredited college or university. Most universities offer online programs and the degrees are no different from the ones received from attending the classes on campus. Again, THEY ARE THE SAME, and they do not mention it on the diploma.

Now if you chose a program from the back of a magazine from something to the effect of “Bubba’s School of Business Management”, then expect to only get laughs when you submit your resume.

Good luck!