Thread: Going back to school

So. 15 years ago I left college early because, well, besides knowing everything and being, at the time, a severely indifferent student, I was offered a job. 15 years later, I've worked hard to move myself to a really nice place in my chosen career (specifically, non-profit development, in my case, at a high end art museum in Dallas.)

However, I still don't have my degree.

I'm thinking of going back to college, and have been doing some research in that direction.

I really don't want to do the generic University of Pheonix type thing, especially since so many of the people I work with have pretty prestigious degrees from some pretty nifty places.

I'm thinking about Boston University's Undergraduate Degree Completion Program (it's all online). It's 2 1/2 years, and fairly pricey (student loans - yikes!) but the degree comes from BU. Not BU Online, or anything like that, but from BU.

Here's the course description and program details, if anyone is interested. (I'm looking at you specifically, artist formerly known as Atticus.)

Online Undergraduate Degree Completion Program -- Boston University

Thing is, like I said, it's expensive. Like more than my entire degree would have cost if I'd finished it expensive. Anybody with student loan experience? I don't even know what's available for an almost 40 year old.

Thoughts?

As for financial aid, you should still be eligible or federal loans, it looks like up to $12,500/year. But it's a loan: Applying for Federal Direct Loans I don't know much more than that.

The quality of on-line instruction is really up and down. Frankly, it has a lot to do with the nature of your major. English doesn't translate well on line because creating a community of readers/learners (which is an English class at its best) is really an in-person sort of phenomenon. But business administration and similar degrees seem to translate reasonably well. Accrediting agencies are taking special note of on-line programs, with special rules governing their accreditation.

You should investigate how recently this on-line program was accredited and what the school has done to make sure that their on line program is rigorous and valid, with the same standards and expectations, as the on-campus version. Boston University is fairly prestigeous, but lots of universities are creating on line programs mostly to make money. They may, for example, use the same sort of syllabus in both versions, but they may hire someone from off campus (or even the other side of the world) to teach the on line course. What are the qualifications of their on line teachers? If their on-line course is accredited, they have to have gone through assessment of learning goals, student performance, student satisfaction, etc. You might try to find out more about the program that way.

That's a start. Remember also that just because a program on line is run by a university you respect, they may run the on-line programs completely differently. Those programs have to be accredited, but that only means they've passed minimum standards of quality. If they are really good, they should have some means of convincing you.

Okay, just looking at the faculty and the program of study, looks like they really have put together a very general sort of major aimed at degree completers. "Liberal Studies" is usually a very general course of study and often lacks the kind of focus and intensity that a more specifically disciplinary major would. You were a geography major, right? That requires a number of upper division courses concentrated on indepth knowledge and skill in geography. You learn the discipline thoroughly, including the particular purposes and means of acquiring knowledge in the field. The problem with a very general sort of major is that you get the units you need to graduate, but you would lack a real sense of one discipline.

The faculty looks decent, and I like the fact that they've named the individual faculty who teach each course. I notice that each one teaches just one course, which means they are probably doing it for extra pay beyond their regular work. Some look to be regular faculty, others appear to be former graduate students at BU. Too many own graduates teaching in a program tends to be a negative.

The real question is whether this is what you want to study. My own suggestion would be to look for a program with a regular major, one you wouldn't mind concentrating on for a while. But this program is selling convenience. If the courses sound like an interesting combination to you, and if you would like to learn from texts, recorded lectures, interactive on-line chats, and never actually meeting your teacher or your fellow students, this might be for you.

Just like any other business, universities can sell on price, quality, and convenience--but they can't usually provide all three. This one is selling convenience and (to a certain extent) quality. When you're done, you'll have a piece of paper with your name on it that says Boston University--but they can't provide the same experience through the computer that you would get in person.