Online schools for my Bachelors (Associates degree, reputation, costs, career)

[8.00 per hour]

I'm 33 years old and don't exactly work a career type of job and I have a Associates degree from Keiser University (google) and I want to know if I should get my bachelors degree online from a school such as Thomas Edison State College or Excelsoir.

I make around 25k a year and I'm struggling like hell in South Florida, I can barely pay my bills.

I need advice.

I can go to FIU but I don't want to graduate at 37 years old with a bachelors degree trying to compete with younger people. Also, gas is another problem since my job is located in Fort Lauderdale (around 50 miles away from the school).

[MissShona]

Ok, I used to live in South Florida...so I can truly feel your pain!

Florida has a pretty extensive public university system however. Broward County Community College has many degrees offered online (if you need pre-requisites for your Bachelors program). Also FAU has many non-traditional students and offer many night classes at quite a few locations including Davie, downtown Ft. Lauderdale and some of BCC's campuses. Plus the tuition is going to be bargain basement compared to what an online university will charge...try $95/credit hour. If you qualify for a Pell Grant and another grant from the state of FL...your tuition for a full-load will be covered.

You can also try another public university in Florida that offers online programs. Look up a school at Southern Regional Education Board (go to "Electronic Campus" and "Academic Common Market" to find programs). Again, since you are a state resident, you will pay in-state tuition. Hey, you may as well see some benefit from living in the sunshine state! Contact the schools first and see how your previous degree will transfer. Even if you need to take some extra classes at community college...it may still be worth it.

Only if this doesn't work out would I suggest going the route of "online schools". There reputation is just not as strong. I also take classes online at West Virginia University and would suggest looking a traditional universities that offer online programs and/or classes any day over online universities. Your final degree does not say where or how you took your classes!

[nitokenshi]

brick and mortar is all I have to say

FIU offers online degrees

[aswedc]

I am a graduate of Thomas Edison State College. Let me know if you have any questions I can answer.

[IBrakeforTailgaters]

I'm not familiar with any of those schools, but I do want to add that I took some classes through the University of Phoenix. Some people question the integrity of these courses. Let me tell you--I worked harder in those UofP classes than I did in my semester-long lecture classes. Why? Because the sessions were 3 weeks and 6 weeks in length...maybe it was the fact that I had so much other stuff on my plate at the time. But those classes challenged me. I made all A's in them, but they were not easy. So don't let anyone tell you that no online degrees carry their weight on them. Hope that reassures you a little!

[sean98125]

My advice is to think about what kind of degree you want to get and how employable you'll be once you have it.

If you have any aptitude at all for health care work, you might consider going in to a field like being a medical imaging tech or even nursing. The pay is good, the jobs are in demand across the country. Most larger hospitals have some sort of tuition reimbursement program to pay at least some of the costs in exchange for an agreement to work there for a year or two after you get your certification.