Bachelor's Degree...

MAC_Addy

Hello.

I currently work as a computer tech, working partly as a network administrator.
I have a 3 year degree (4 year equivalent in america, i'm from england)

I was wondering, where is the best Online college that I will be able to get a 4 year degree? I would like my current degree to be more recognized.

Thanks,
Jamie

Kaminsky

I'm from the UK too.

What is your current degree?

Have you thought about a Masters ?

moss12

Jamie why the freaking hell do u want to do a degree again ??? , Degree doesnt expire you going to waste time and money I think

JDMurray

When researching online degrees, start with the 100 recommended online universities listed at http://degree.net/

MAC_Addy

I moved to England 3 years ago. Apparently my college degree is "unrecognized"

MAC_Addy

Kaminsky wrote:

I'm from the UK too.

What is your current degree?

Have you thought about a Masters ?

I have foundation in Computing Technology.
First Diploma in Computing Technology..
And National Diploma in Computing Technology.

MAC_Addy

Another question...

...If I go for my degree here, obviously they can take a look over my previous college work. I have read that my compTIA cert's count as some credit hours, but what about microsoft certifications? Do they count as any hours?

JDMurray

Whether a college accepts professional certifications as class credits depends on the individual college or university. There is no national educational standard for translating IT certifications to college credits. IMHO, allowing professional certifications to waive classes is just a marketing device to get people to enroll by promising the ability to get a degree sooner. This appeals to people who are only interested in "the paper" and not in learning.

BigTone

Have you had your degree evaluated by a www.naces.org foreign credit evaluator? If your school was legit and you go through them, there's a chance that they will be able to give an equivilency for you and any employers.

AnthonyJD81

jdmurray wrote:

IMHO, allowing professional certifications to waive classes is just a marketing device to get people to enroll by promising the ability to get a degree sooner. This appeals to people who are only interested in "the paper" and not in learning.

I agree that this is partially true. Consider the idea that many people do not want to waste time and money on classes that will teach them material they already know. By requesting credit for prior learning, you are eliminating the uncessary classes needed to obtain your goal which is the degree.

jamie.english, I went to www.capella.edu (online university in Minneapolis, MN) for my bachelors degree. I also earned an associates from a local community college. Capella does offer the potential for prior learning to be applied towards the program. It will save you some money and time for the hard work in which you have already completed.

For those in the field already that are knowledgable and experienced, the degree is really a key element for career advancement moreso than for additional learning. This is my opinion from speaking with others and reviewing job postings online.

JDMurray

AnthonyJD81 wrote:

Consider the idea that many people do not want to waste time and money on classes that will teach them material they already know. By requesting credit for prior learning, you are eliminating the uncessary classes needed to obtain your goal which is the degree.

You don't necessarily need certifications to waive classes of subjects that you are already an expert. At Capella, you can submit a petition to waive any class for which you can present sufficient education, certification, or professional work experience. This is perfectly valid, just as is transferring credits form other universities. However, for a learning institution to allow everyone that enrolls who has a specific certification to automatically waive the same three, four, or five classes is not the same thing. Capella offers credit for prior learning for having the CCNP, MCSE, CISSP, PMP, and PHR-SPHR certifications, but you must still go through the petition process, and having any of these certs is no guarantee that credit will be granted to you.

AnthonyJD81

Ah yes, I know. I didn't want to get into details here but you are right. They have a petition process which requires you to answer questions and submit writing. Then it goes through review they need to approve it. The bad thing about it is that whether they approve or deny the petition, you must pay $300+ ahead of time =(

JDMurray

AnthonyJD81 wrote:

you must pay $300+ ahead of time =(

The fee for petitioning a Masters-level class has been raised to $500. And the paperwork has been revised to require very thorough documentation of work history, letters of competency from managers, transcripts from other schools, official proof of certifications, etc. I was going to challenge TS5507 (Network Technology), but after reading through the class petition, it looked like you'd need a CCNA and five years of verifiable Cisco-related work experience to get credit. I decided not to risk the $500.

AnthonyJD81

Yeah I have not decided whether to go for my Masters at Capella or somewhere else. I kind of miss that traditional style of learning in a classroom, face-to-face. I just finished by bachelors after going part time for a couple years. I will take a short time off and decide where to go next.

Did you or are you still attending a master's program at Capella? Would you share what your experience was like for the rest of us? Also, did you complete a bachelors there or somewhere else? Thanks!

JDMurray

I received a B.A. from a state university. I decided to go to Capella because none of the universities near me offered a graduate-level InfoSec program (in 2004), I work full-time, and the online learning experience was something that I wanted to try. Capella's credits transfers to traditional universities, so I figured that I had nothing to loose. It turned out to be a nice program and I really like online learning (although I do wish that Capella used more computer-based training materials in their course work).

I see that Capella has started offering a Ph.D. in Information Technology with a concentration in Information Security. I'm trying to decide if that's something I would rather go to a traditional university for. I do miss the face-to-face networking and lab-work with other people in the same profession.