Capella University

johnnyg5646

I'm considering going to get my master's degree online through Capella University becuase they are the only graduate program I can get access to that offers a degree in network architecture. Has anyone heard anything about this school? What should I be looking for in accredidations from an online programs?

petedude

OK, this is in response to an old post, but. . .

While opinions on "online" degrees vary here, check closely for this one thing before looking at any other facet of a given school:

Are they regionally accredited?? If not, your chances of going into a post-graduate program or transferring credits are diminished. Large employers who check degrees tend to prefer schools with regional accreditation.

That all being said, I believe one of the moderators has used Capella. . . try the search function above.

oldbarney

Like petedude says, regional accreditation is very important.

Have you looked at other traditional public or private schools in your region for distance education? In my opinion, while a grad degree from schools like University of Phoenix, Capella or Kaplan may be regionally accredited and is advanced study, it just reeks of a highly-commercialized, for-profit education. To me, although many employers and institutions are beginning to accept degrees from the strictly for-profit institutions, a grad degree from a public or well-established private school carries much more weight on a resume or CV. If the degree is from a school in your region, chances are you won't have the "correspondence school" designation following you.

Numerous schools near MA offer CIS grad degrees that can be earned online. For example, Norwich offers an MS in Information Assurance online with limited residency (one week). Harvard Extension has an online graduate certificate in Applied Science and an ALM (one semester residency) that both focus on CIS. Rochester Institute of Technology offers an online MS in Networking and Systems Admin that may be taken completely online, if I'm not mistaken. Tuition for online courses at all these schools, including Harvard, is comparable to Capella. In fact, some Harvard online grad courses are cheaper than Capella.

Look around some more. The for-profit schools are good not only because of convenience and choice, but also for driving the traditional schools to offer increased distance learning options.