How Do Managers Rate On-line Universities?

pstreck asks: "I've been going to a traditional university part-time for a couple of years now and am finding the pace slow, and classes to be at inconvenient times. So I have been considering transferring to one of the on-line universities like ACCIS or the University of Phoenix. How do you managers look upon a degree from one of these universities?"

Comments

A Degree is...

[Evanrude]

Unless you are looking for a job that requires a Masters or Ph. D. most managers just appreciate the fact that you took the time to go to school. Having a degree demonstrates to them that you can be taught and are willing to learn. Most of the time, where it comes from isn't a critical factor.

Alternatives to the slow pace

[FreshMeat-BWG]

I always felt that the university classes were slow and watered down. As such, I got books on varying topics that interested me and not only read them, but made myself complete real projects with the newly learned skills (not the cheesy example projects in the books). I picked up several skills this way.

The cool part was that when I went to interview for jobs, I had a lot of knowledge on varying subjects in the interview. The interviewers either didn't ask where that information came from or were impressed that I had gained that information from my own personal studies.

Sure, you can probably rush yourself through an online U faster than brick and mortar, but in my case I was better suited to take my time in school and use all of the slow time to expand the breadth of my knowledge.

Just because you didn't learn it by getting a sore rear end in a classroom doesn't mean you can't put it on a resume.

you dont have to spend much time on HW or in class

[stonebeat.org]

UOP claims that you dont have to spend much time on HomeWork, or in Class. It is for people with Busy Schedules.
I didnt know learning was so easy. If you want to learn something, you have to make sacrifice. I remember when I was in school for Computer Science, I spent close to 40+ hours/week for my final project and classes.
I understand that people who have fill-time jobs, and families dont have that kind of time, but as i said earlier, learning requires sacrifice. If you dont have time to take 2-3 classes, just take 1 class/semester at a regular uni.

Think about.

[FreeLinux]

Hello Bob. I hear that you graduated from Harvard/Berkley/MIT/UVA, that's great!

or

Hello Bob. I hear that you graduated from the University of Phoenix online school. Tell me about that. Zzzzzz

Can you do the work?

[awerg]

Currently, I am a project manager and I do not care if you have a degree or not, only if you can actually do what is required for the job. If you are going to define success in education as a degree, then you should graduate from the most impressive University you can. However, in hiring for projects Cert's mean more than a degree. They are tangable and directly apply to the job. I have found that people who invest the time in their education are the same people who will invest the time necessary to learn and complete the tasks assigned to them. But, you can get more milage from attending classroom training on relevant topics than on a degree. It may not be the best thing in the long term, but to get a job today, you must have something that separates you from the rest of the resumes. Just my .02

Depends what they're looking for

[cperciva]

If the manager is looking to sign off on a checklist (position foo needs a masters or higher degree in bar), then online "universities" are wonderful -- they'll give you a piece of paper which allows you to claim that qualification.

If the manager -- or anyone else -- is actually looking for the degree as a sign that you are qualified for a position, having a "degree" from such an institution is only going to hurt you, because it shows that you look for the cheapest and easiest way of getting a piece of paper rather than looking to obtain a real qualification.

You know what people say about MSCEs? This is the academic equivalent.

Even more important:

[base3]

Regional accrediation. If you ever want to go to grad school, or if your employer is savvy about this, the "accredidation" claimed by some schools isn't worth a hill of beans. (ACCIS, in fact, used to be the AICS, which claimed accredidation from the bogus "World Association of Universities and Colleges.")

There is a list of accreditors recognized by the U.S. Department of Education--make sure your school's accreditor is on it, and verify with that accreditor that the it accredits the school--before you spend your first dime.

Also, even though the Distance Education and Training Council (through which AACIS now has accredidation) is a recognized accreditor, a degree earned from an insitution accredided by it will not be as well regarded as one from a school with regional accredidation.

depends on subject

[dh003i]

Some things can be taught well from a distance. For example, mathematics, economics, philosophy, history, computer pgoramming, and so-on and so-forth. Some things, however, can't be taught particularly well from a distance -- like biology and chemistry, which usually require hands-on interaction with professors.

I don't doubt that you can learn more quicker from an online course. The idea that everyone needs to be stuffed up in an auditorium with a lecturer droning on and on to learn anything is as dated as oil-lamps. Real learning isn't achieved by passively sitting back and barely making it through lectures awake. Real learning is done by actively pursuing information that you think is useful and interesting. I learned more about economics in the week it took me to read Human Action than in the 6 weeks it took me to complete a boring and useless introductory economics course at the University of Rochester. Real learning is done by actually thinking about things, not slavish memorization (though memorization is important).

So, basically, I think the idea that online courses aren't as good as live courses is bullshit. If anything, online courses weed out those who can't hack it better, because with an online course, you are completely responsible for taking the initiative. It's very easy to just not do the necessary work when you can schedule it for anytime you want. Quite frankly, I think employers should be impressed by those who set aside their "leisure time" away from work to actually learn something.

Of course, what impresses individual employers will vary. However, a piece of paper from Harvard is just that -- a piece of paper from Harvard. It doesn't prove that you can hack it anywhere. On the other hand, someone without any little certificate may be able to hack it anywhere he pleases; you may have to volunteer to work on a trial basis for free for a week or two, though. Sufficed to say, if you have the knowledge, talent, and work-ethic, employers will recognize that.

State of education

[the Man in Black]

I think it says something about how we as Americans perceive education when we have to look at it from the viewpoint of "Can I get a job with this?". Education is it's own reward, in that it gives you options in life, not just the workplace.

Least that's what I think. Personally, with s omuch of America's workforce working 50-60 hours a week (at least us IT types), it can be an impossibility to go get a post-graduate degree. I hope the idea of online coursework becomes more prevalent for this reason. It will give those of us with the will but not hte time the chance.

Here's the thing

[Profane Motherfucker]

I have forked over a shitload of my hard earned American dollars to bullshit online courses. I speak with authorita.

The thing is, if you give two shits about your learning, save your money and go to a Real school with Real teachers. If you want to get knuckled fucked, don't give a flying fuck about learning anything, and have incredible self-dicipline, then maybe check this crap out.

Crap is being nice too.

Here's how it works: you pay lots of money and don't learn a fucking thing that you can't teach yourself. If Learning to you means reading out of a book and typing answers into a form on a web page, then by all means bend over and lube up -- because this is your ideal education.

Online education flies in the face of thousands of years dating back to the fucking greeks where education is done in a classroom, with interaction, with a learned instructor (usually). There's give and take.

It's a fucking joke and a phony and a fraud, all this online shit.

If two people, with equal credentials, came to me and wanted a job but one had a Real degree and the other some online bullshit degree, the decision is simple.