Online College Degrees, which ones are legit and affordable?

tremere

In the past few months I have been research online college programs on and off. So far the ones that have responded to me are:

University of Massachusetts-Amherst (about 50 miles from me):

* pretty expensive, but I guess that is because they're a University.
* their programs are rigurous, which is what I need and want.

The Art Institute

* the guy admitted that the program wouldn't be right for me, all of their programs require the student to be able to draw (as in a gift for drawing)
* very expensive, what school isn't anymore?

The University of Phoenix

* i have been reading all over the place that they pretty much just hand out degrees, easy grading, soft tests, etc.
* a lot of employers seem to be cautious of The University of Phoenix

University of Maryland (their online college department)

* prohibitively expensive, especially since i'm out-of-state
* programs look very nice

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What online degrees (computer science, game design or programming, accounting & business, etc. .... I like many things) do you all think are:

* rigurous
* will be respected by employers
* affordable ($100-200 per credit hour)
* are highly accredited

Thanks in advance for your input!

2lazybutsmart

I hear a lot of good things about the University of Phoenix Online. I guess all of them are legit; if by legit, you mean accredited. I guess the only difference of course is the damage

Lexxdymondz

The University of Phoenix

* i have been reading all over the place that they pretty much just hand out degrees, easy grading, soft tests, etc.
* a lot of employers seem to be cautious of The University of Phoenix

This is definately not true at all. My mother-in-law just got her masters in business from there and she said the courses were extremely hard, and from what I know the school has a very good reputation.