NO. There is no other answer to your question if you're seeking one that is respectable. Don't let people tell you otherwise, and don't waste your money. Do you really want the same degree as an inmate? You don't need it. Save your money.

Look for portfolio credits, too: you can often get credit for "life experience," which can give you a head start. I've heard good things about UMBC/UMUC also.

It's not how you earn your degree it is where you earn it.

Surveys of employers show that they accept and respect online degrees if they come from regionally accredited online schools that have a brick and mortar legacy. Sites like GetEducated.com list more than 1,000 online masters from schools like the University of Illinois Online, the University of Massachusetts, Dakota State University, Indiana University. For research on this theme of employer acceptance of online degrees there is a good video: http://www.geteducated.com/videos/online-vs-traditional-education-quality

For the record who ever told you to use CLEP exams for your masters gave you bad advice.
The CLEP exams only cover lower level freshman and sophomore bachelor degree credits.

You know now days almost all working employees are doing their master degree through distance learning or online education. I have seen lot of US and UK universities are providing distances learning in different courses. I think its one of the good opportunity for employees and students who completing their degrees.

Agree with the pp's about accreditation, bricks-and-morter, etc. Go to a school that is good for your field and has online ed. I'm fairly certain that MIT has some good online classes, but don't know which level.

Anonymous wrote:
She has been doing it for a few months now and her test scores are higher than any test scores she has ever taken.

As if that's a point in the school's favor!

I can understand where you are coming from only because I wasn’t sure about the online programs myself until my daughter became interested in them.

My daughter is getting her rn to bsn Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Unitek College. So far from what I have seen it’s a wonderful program that even though is online she can still get answers to questions she has. I like it because it’s online so she can still work to help pay off some of the tuition!

Again I can understand and was very skeptical at first but we attended an Information Session that basically lays the class out and tells you what you will learn, how you will learn it, what is expected, what you need to do, how you can clock in, etc. It’s all technically tracked so you are being monitored.

She has been doing it for a few months now and her test scores are higher than any test scores she has ever taken.

I am very impressed and almost want to say that the online learning makes you pay attention better, actually understand what you are learning since you can go over it and over it as many times as you like.

I would highly recommend and suggest to you an online program that takes an interest in the student like this one does.

I would stick with not for profit type schools - actual real colleges and unversities that have online programs. UMC has a big one and its been around for 10+yrs now.

Universty of Phoneix isn't all that bad - its been around for 10+ yrs also and I think if I had to pick a for profit I would pick that one over some of the others.

Also, if the new career involves the sciences in any way - nursing, etc - I think you would be better off going with actual classroom learning for most of it.

You might also look into CLEPing some courses to fulfill requirements cheaply. That's what I did to get a recent master's. CLEP stands for College Level Examination Program. For $100, you can take a test to obtain (at many schools) undergraduate credits. It's definitely the most educational bang for the buck. I took, and passed, College Level Math, Algebra, Geography, Psychology, and General Science, which satisfied almost all of the undergraduate credits I needed to obtain a master's in education (my undergraduate degree was in English, and almost all the other courses I took were in French or Art History).

I also took several courses at a local community college (statistics, computer science). These were much cheaper than comparable courses offered by the University of Phoenix.

I don't recommend doing your master's level courses in education online. You learn more from your face-to-face interaction with your peers and professors (and in the classroom) than from reading or studying independently.

OP, what degree / field are you looking at?

Only enroll in an accredited program. Online or off.

I would look for one that is "distance learning", which usually involves concentrated on campus periods (like a weekend or series of weekends) combined with on line portions. These tend to be offered by reputable schools. I know Univ of FL has an MBA program with this model, GW has some programs that use this model.

It may also depend what field you are going in to and what emphasis is placed on credentials. In my field the quality of the school counts. In other fields it may be more about certification.

Programs that are part of a brick and mortar school are 100% fine and are not looked down upon. The landscape has chnaged a lot in the past 20 years, companies realize that and are fine with it. If they are so stuck on the brick and mortar then it probalby isn't a company that is adjsuting well to technology and the changing landscape of being a parent and working etc.

UMBC offers degrees that are largely (maybe totally?) online. Since it's affiliated with UMD, it's respectable as far as I know (My aunt got her MBA that way and got great new because of it).

I am thinking about a career change, and the new career would involve some college level classes/possibly a masters degree. I've heard that places like Univ of Phoenix, etc. are not looked upon with a lot of, how shall I say, esteem, and I was wondering if that is true of all online colleges or just some. What about bricks and mortar universities that also offer online degrees? Just trying to get a feel for how these degrees are perceived by employers etc.