Online Schools

[Nomad]

I am looking into getting a degree, but I simply cannot get away from what I am doing right now as the financial benefits are simply incomparable to anything I could make as a fresh baked college graduate.

I have been looking into the University of Phoenix, but found that they have been sued for some form of financial misconduct. Anyone here have any experiences with them, positive or negative?

Also, for those of you who did it while working full-time, do you feel like you have achieved anything financially out of it? A degree is nice and all, but I can't afford to leave everything sitting here for three years just to go to school. There needs to be a financial incentive.

Opinions are wanted. Graduates POST!

[Gordo173]

Dude statistics will say that the degree is worth something like 10% or more income per annum. Personally, it's opened some doors and had no effect on others. I think the bottom line in todays economy is what do you want to do with it? and What discipline will you be pursueing? Mine was Agriculture so that was basically a waste of time since I wasnt going to work in the Agribusiness field, but it did result in my being able to go to OCS and all that led to. In the civilian marketplace it always put me in the running for mid management jobs and not until I got the Masters was I able to step up further. Then again there were a few jobs I would have liked to have gotten were I was told I was over qualified? So, it's like I've told you before its all what you want to make of it, Bud. Frankly I dont see too many Pimps out there with college degrees but heh I could be wrong :D
Love Ya

[Darksaga]

1Q: I am looking into getting a degree, but I simply cannot get away from what I am doing right now as the financial benefits are simply incomparable to anything I could make as a fresh baked college graduate.

2Q: I have been looking into the University of Phoenix, but found that they have been sued for some form of financial misconduct. Anyone here have any experiences with them, positive or negative?

3Q: Also, for those of you who did it while working full-time, do you feel like you have achieved anything financially out of it? A degree is nice and all, but I can't afford to leave everything sitting here for three years just to go to school. There needs to be a financial incentive.

Opinions are wanted. Graduates POST!

Ranger Matador275,

1A: With a BA/BS is roughly 10% more than a HS diploma right off the bat. With a BA/BS you will have more earning potential, promotions etc than with a HS diploma. Approximatley 33% of the population have under grad degrees. About 5% have grad degrees and roughly 1.5% have doctorates.

With a MA/MS you would be looking at an addition 10-15% in starting earnings over and above having a BA/BS on average. This is all field dependent. For instance a Master degree in Business Administration could be 20-40% more than the average possibly more if you specialize in a tough field like economics or finance. Also the higher the degree often there is a more competitive job market.

Ph.D's and other doctoral programs are even more field and specialization dependent.

Dept of Labor or Health and Human Services should have specific data. I used to have all the statistics on hand including a comparative of life expectancy with education level. The SOB in all of this is having a career in Sales and that field is usually ignored by the staticians as it is the exception to the earnings rule.

2A: University of Pheonix is very expensive and the quality of services vary from campus to campus. Some are very good and provide a high quality product others will just take a persons money and pass them through. I would suggest considering other options but that is just my humbe opinion.

3A: I did my MS while working 35+ hours a week. It was very difficult but all the classes were in the evening at a traditional school (not on-line). I had to schedule time to study and write papers and keep to that schedule.

I am pursuing a MA on-line right now and it is much harder than the traditional class room style. A part of traditional style learning is that there is a collaborative effort to achieve the goal meaning students study together, work on projects together, develop team work and an understanding of differing views and options regarding subjects. On-line classes vary in intensity. Some you have to be on-line for the lecture. Others you need to read the book and pass the test. What ever on-line classes you decide to do make sure that the institution is accredited.

Basically what you need to do is what you started with here, alot of research.

If I you have any questions or if I can be a resource please PM me.

[Towedjmpr]

VA has stopped supporting the University of Phoenix online. (for VOCREHAB)

They suck ass. I graduated in Dec.

[Nomad]

Thanks for the opinions so far....here is a link to a school that was recommended to me by a friend I worked with in the box.

http://www.cupim.org/

One of my main concerns is that since I have paid very dearly in taxes i.o.t. become a CA state citizen, I would like to use that to my advantage. How do the schools handle things with the GI Bill? Is it a painful process?

Please let me know what you think and if you think it is even worth going for it.

All the guys and gals that PM'd me - Thanks a lot!

[Darksaga]

What I found was using the GI bill was very easy. Each school should have a Veterans Representative on campus that you can work through.

[RGR_Dan]

Are ya gonna try and do that from the box? I have found that most reputable schools require you to take the exams at their locations. The ones that don't require that are really just a slip of paper that ya paid alot of money for. Alot of LEO use this program to compensate for our jacked up schedules. My plan was to take core classes online and then transfer to a good school for the upper level courses. Most of the credits for online schools are not transferable to legit universities.

[Cat]

One of my main concerns is that since I have paid very dearly in taxes i.o.t. become a CA state citizen, I would like to use that to my advantage. How do the schools handle things with the GI Bill? Is it a painful process?

It's painless RgrMatador275, like Darksaga said, each school has a VA rep on campus or should. Each semester you'll have to fill out a form listing the classes you are going to take. This is really simple to do. I would take a few minutes between classes and walk over and fill it out.

I had to meet with my regional VA counselor each semester. Sometimes I had to mail out my grades to him because my school forgot. But, for the most part, once you get set-up for a school...it's easy.

[Rock Island Ranger]

Those who dont have degrees say they dont need it, they are doing fine, those who have them may not think it did them any good but they damned sure wouldnt give them back.

Tell you what Cow Murderer....I know several dozen people with degrees in stupid shit like Hotel Management, Sociology, Math, History, Science, ect....who work in sales. Degree? Never used except to get the door open.

You are a well spoekn man, write well, communicate well, and have a high "I". (Intuition) To make the money you make now, sales is where you are heading. Yea I know, you dont want to sell....nobody does. But, somebody sells weapons to the military, guns and all of the cool shit you use. Somebody sold your company the vehicles they drive in the desert, somebody sold the food you eat....bottom line....selling is what I do and I wouldnt do ANYTHING else. Need help, ask. PM's welcome.

[Nomad]

I am all about Sales. Actually except for the Security work that I have done, I always was working Sales. guess it runs in the family. My mother is a career saleswoman and could sell water to a well. I do pretty good myself and your point is 100% valid about equipment and everything else in life. If you need smething, you are going to have to buy it from someone.

Oh yeah, before I forget what you said Pastor, did I smell a job offer?

[Rock Island Ranger]

I am all about Sales. Actually except for the Security work that I have done, I always was working Sales. guess it runs in the family. My mother is a career saleswoman and could sell water to a well. I do pretty good myself and your point is 100% valid about equipment and everything else in life. If you need smething, you are going to have to buy it from someone.

Oh yeah, before I forget what you said Pastor, did I smell a job offer?

Dont know, Brother. But I would hook a brother up before I would let an old woman cross the street.

[Nomad]

My confidence in you just went up 5 points

[Nija]

Matador,

I totally agree with Abell on this one. Out of all the professions that one can have the sales industry by far has the best pay incentives. Especially if they have ‘pay for performance’ or a sliding commission scale. Bust your chops and the pay will be there. It is not very hard to out perform most of your competitors. Most are lazy and have no idea what it means to ‘drive on to the ranger objective’. In this case it would be money. You can continue to earn the say type of income that you are making know. It may sound impossible at first but trust me it can be done.

[LLVI_Guy]

Ranger Matador275,

To echo what others have already informed you, I had no problem with using my GI Bill or utilizing VA services.

I would also suggest, since you are here in the People's Republic, considering community college which we have here in abundance (and a number of which are rated highly nationwide).

I knocked out my lower division coursework at a fraction of the costs (although tuition has gone up considerably, it's still miniscule when compared to "4"-year schools) at El Camino College in Torrance, which has one of the highest transfer rates to the UC and other systems. The schedules at CC's are usually flexible enough that you're able to attend even fulltime and still work a fulltime job (IMHO, attending in person is much to be preferred over online enrollment if at all possible).

I was able to knock out alot of coursework at ECC before transferring over to UCLA and concentrate entirely on my major.