Distance Education - Pros and Cons?

xvrd asks: "I'm Swiss and got an Associates Degree in the US. Now (back in Switzerland) I'm thinking about getting a Bachelor Degree. Going back to the US on a student visa is not an option for several reasons and the programs offered in Switzerland either don't offer the flexibility I want or the classes I'm looking for. After some research I found some online colleges that looked trustworthy and offered interesting programs (Kaplan would even let me transfer all my credits). I've looked into the following colleges: Kaplan Colleges, University of Phoenix Online, and the University of Maryland University College. Before enrolling anywhere I'd like to ask the Slashdot community about their thoughts on Online Education. Any experiences you want to share? How does HR look at Degrees completed entirely online?"

Comments

Depends

[lindsayt]

It depends entirely on what you're doing with the degree. I can tell you right now that as a PhD student at a big school, it's not the type of degree but the institution that granted it. In other words, somebody with a BA from a good school is more regarded in academia than someone with an MA from a bad school.

The unfortunate thing is, none of the correspondence/online degrees are from highly regarded schools yet. This is changing slowly - some good schools are beginning to teach online and correspondence courses, but none of them allow an entire degree program that way.

If you're a working stiff looking for a degree for pay/promotion reasons, then probably any would be good but Kaplan is probably the least desirable. However, if you plan ever to go on in academia or really expect your degree to be worth more than just a one-time pay raise, you may consider the investment of a traditional degree.

Re:Depends

[SarcasticTester]

Additional to all this, if you are looking for a bit of a student experience but cannot go to the US (or do not want to go there, that was my problem) there are many highly regarded Universities in Europe as well. I probably is worth your while to try to go to an esteemed university somewhere in Europe instead of doing an online one.
One of the many benefits I found is that it really boosts your network of colleagues over the world which may come in handy in many ways (like finding a new job and helping you out with problems during your thesis etc.)
So I would definitely go for a real university instead of a virtual one.

be careful

[jeffy124]

it's probably best to choose a school that also has a traditional brick & mortar component.

The Maryland school mentioned might be affiliated with UMD -- but it's not clear whether they're two different schools or not. U of Phoenix is like the Internet equivalent of DeVry. I see commercials on TV for both, and they look like clones and use similar pitches. As for Kaplan, I've only ever heard of them back in high school for SAT prep materials, which are typically useless, IMO.