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So my husband has a really great job with a really great company and he's been with the company for 12 years. His schedule is a bit nuts, however, and so when he decided he wanted to go back to school he knew the only way he could do that and still do his job was by doing one of those online schools.
(Also his company gives him $8K/year to use towards college classes, so every year which has gone by that he wasn't using that money he felt he was basically throwing money away, so he decided it was time to start using it.)
OK - so he began his classes this weekend. Immediately, he began feeling like he'd made a horrible mistake.
The first assignment was to post an introduction. The instructor gave a very specific format that they were to use, and certain bits of information that the intro should include.
Also, once all the introductions were posted, you had to write a three paragraph response to at least three other students in the class. (Three responses to three different student introductions.)
So my husband is reading the introductions, and I hear him going, "Oh my god...."..."Oh my god!!!"...and "Oh I cannot believe this...."... and "Are you serious?"
So, my curiosity piqued, he allowed me to read the introductions which were posted by the other students.
OMG!
First, I was struck by the poor quality of writing and lack of any sort of format whatsoever. Had I not known better, I would have thought the introductions were written by 1st or 2nd graders. There were even a few who did not capitalize a single word - not even their own name. Most were written as one long run-on sentence. As in, perhaps 800 words - no periods. No indents, no new paragraphs, nothing. Just a long thread of words (and sometimes the wrong words) describing every dirty detail of their whole lives up to that point. Much more information than they really needed to share. It was awful.
My husband pressed me to really try to read what these people were posting, so I did. I often had to take a section and reread it a few times until the meaning came through... the writing was such a mess...
Oh my gosh. So sad! These people were posting these incredibly sad stories about themselves. Single mothers with four kids who work at McDonald's who are trying to go to school in order to improve their lives. Quite a few had been in the military and now that they were out, they wanted to get a degree so that they could get a civilian job. A few of the students were in their 50's and 60's and were struggling with losing their homes, unemployment, and health issues like cancer and severe diabetes. A couple of them were high school drop-outs, a many ranted anger against their parents.
None of them, to us, honestly seemed like college material. The quality of their writing was the first sign, but their lives were all in some way just disastrous. These people came across as being very unstable.
And this made me a little upset. Not with these people, they think they are going to improve their life by taking these classes.
I began feeling upset with the University.
My husband did not have to take any assessments or do any sort of qualifying in order to "attend" this university. They basically made sure he could pay, and he was given his first class. That should have been a red flag, but he nor I gave it any thought at the time. Neither one of us have ever enrolled in one of these online schools before.
Doesn't it seem like they are taking advantage of these people? These classes cost over $300 per credit! These people most likely applied for and were given school loans. Even if they are able to complete whatever degree program they are enrolled in (and I would seriously doubt that many of these people will be able to), how are they possibly going to have a better like with all that debt to pay back? This school is very expensive!
I'll stop here because I did not intend for this post to be so long. I am curious for others thoughts on this.
I would stay far, far away from these types of for-profit online universities charging several hundred dollars per credit hour. I think your assessment is spot-on, even the most reputable of these "colleges" come off as swindlers.
I think your husband's best bet (and anyone's, for that matter) would be to take classes through a community college. Even if you can't attend in person, many CCs these days offer online classes and usually you don't even have to live in the particular area that the college is located to register. The best part is that these colleges are accredited and they will almost always cost much less than the for-profits (even if you have to pay out-of-county or out-of-state tuition).
There's a huge difference with an on-line for-profit college and a brick and mortar college that offers on-line classes. Berklee is a well respected brick and mortar college, no wonder the classes were good. The OP is talking about colleges like University of Phoenix.
Thanks for the post OP - definitely an eye opener to what those classes are really like. I know our CC offers night time, weekend and online classes and those classes are all guaranteed to transfer into any of the programs at our state universities. Have him check your CC.
Yes, online universities (especially for-profit ones) are generally the worst decision people ever make. However, over the past decade it has become common knowledge that they are not legitimate, so it's puzzling that people still fall for that scam every day.
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You can't make that kind of generalization with experience only at one online school. I know people that have gotten big promotions or better jobs with degrees from one online university, but have also heard stories like yours. Like anything there are good and bad, the buyer needs to do the research before paying.
05-24-2012, 08:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lily2204
Yes, online universities (especially for-profit ones) are generally the worst decision people ever make. However, over the past decade it has become common knowledge that they are not legitimate, so it's puzzling that people still fall for that scam every day.
What's really puzzling is that there are many perfectly good schools that offer online degrees, for less money than the private for-profit diploma mills, yet people still choose to waste huge sums of money on them.
What's really puzzling is that there are many perfectly good schools that offer online degrees, for less money than the private for-profit diploma mills, yet people still choose to waste huge sums of money on them.
I'd imagine that a lot of people cannot get into those good schools.
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