I’m looking for an online college for my son. I have come across many. Has anyone tried to get a degree online? Does anyone know anything about Westwood College? How about others? Is this a worthwhile effort (getting a degree online) versus attending a college?
#1 by jshepard17 on July 9th, 2010
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Online colleges can be tricky. There are so many out there. It’s hard to find a legitimate one in the bunch. I actually just graduated from an online college 2 months ago. Be sure the college is regionally accredited. This is very very important. National accredition means nothing.
I attended Thomas Edison State College http://www.tesc.edu completely online and earned by BA in Psychology.
For someone to earn their degree online, it takes a lot, and I mean, a lot of self discipline. You don’t have to attend lectures and the professors will not track you down to turn in assignments. Students are on their own to read the required books, submit the required assignments and take the required examinations. If you have any questions please feel free to email me jshepard@unity.edu!
#2 by RoaringMice on July 9th, 2010
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Generally, online schools have a lot more students drop out than brick and mortar schools. I think it’s because of what the above poster said – you need an extreme amount of self-discipline in order to complete the diploma.
Why are you looking for online schools, rather than brick and mortar? Normally I recommend brick and mortar for everyone unless they physically can not attend a scheduled campus class because of schedule or distance or other factors.
If he must attend online, then I recommend that he look only at schools that have a brick and mortar campus as well, and where their brick and mortar program has a good rep. That will translate into a good rep for their distance program as well.
And accreditation – very, very important! I can’t emphasise that enough.
The first place to start looking for distance learning programs is your own state college system. If they have an online or distance program, he may be able to have the in-state tuition rate, which will save you $$$.
If that’s not an option, some great universities that offer online degrees include:
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
University of Denver
University of Maryland
Duke University
Drexel
Carnegie Mellon
Penn State
Ball State
U Nebraska – Lincoln
Worcester Polytechnic Institute