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.

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

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.