S/O why are online degrees useless?

[Anonymous]

I'm a SAHM to 2 young kids so an online program works best for me. I'm about to transfer my community college credits over to UMUC. I checked and it is a credited school. I'm about to invest a lot of money in going to school there - will it be for nothing?

[Anonymous]

Because there's no way for an employer to tell that you actually learned anything.

Because many of the programs are really crappy, so you actually don't learn anything.

[Anonymous]

I don't think they are, but it does depend a little on your degree. For example - I wouldn't get a science related degree online.

I am doing a certificate program currently completely online that will then get me certified through my professional organization. I do reading assignments then take tests and quizzes online. There are 2 tests I have to take in person somewhere, and the only place I found in the area that would proctor the exams in person was NOVA.

I know my friend's husband got his master's degree online, too - he was military and it was a school in michigan. UMUC is actually pretty well known - I see no issue with this.

[Anonymous]

Is UMUC considered an "online school"??

It's the University of Maryland University College.

[Anonymous]

If we are telling you they are crap and we consider them a joke - why would you pay (because online is not an investment) so much money?
Also us brick and motor folks think you are lazy. I had plenty of friends in college and law school who were parents (some single), worked, and attended school.

[Anonymous]

I'm an elementary school principal and have received over a hundred resumes in the last few weeks. The online degree resumes go to the circular file.

[Anonymous]

Because they are not respected by employers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is UMUC considered an "online school"??

It's the University of Maryland University College.

Maybe not, but my program is one of their online programs

[Anonymous]

UMUC does NOT count as an online college degree. This is not what people (DCUM's) are referring to here online. They are referring to schools such as Strayer, Everest, etc.....

[Anonymous]

Some brands are deemed more valuable than others (Harvard over Strayer). But why does it matter really? Education seems like it's becoming more of a commodity. The brands are meaningless when it is not based on merit and intelligence. And grades meaningless with grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Why they're not respected?

[Anonymous]

I think the distinction is for profit/non profit. Historically the for profits exploited distance learning first. I took an online class (granted it was Internet software dev) as part of my full time research MS at VT. Duke has a distance MBA now. Online is somewhat loosing its stigma but I would still stick to the non profit schools and not advertise you are doing distance learning.

[Anonymous]

I believe UMUC is not for profit

[Anonymous]

Jumping in here, I'm considering Drexel University. The have a campus but also offer online programs with the same curriculum and same instructors as on-campus.

[Anonymous]

As an educator, I believe for an absolute fact that there is no way to replicate the classroom experience, at least not with today's technology. The in-person experience is a far superior education. It can of course be complemented by some online component but if that's the primary thing I just don't believe the students learn as much. Obviously a fantastic online professor could do better than a horrible in-person professor, but assuming apples to apples online is nowhere near as good. Taking a college course in person is an experience that enriches you. Taking it online is just a series of assignments.