Kaplan University

jrdnoland

Is anyone attending or planning to attend Kaplan University? I've been looking at online colleges to get some sort of software engineering degree from. Phoenix is the closest in course work but the highest in costs.

Kaplan looks pretty good.

I've been talking to and looking at Western governers also, but am not sure if their software courses would be adequate to really do application development. They focus on Java and Perl without touching VB, C#, C or C++.

Can you become an adequate software develpoer with just Java and Perl? WGU is the most cost effective of the three; but I'm not sure.

Any opinions?

Thanks!

sidsanders

depends on what an employers want. you could work in a java only env.

in my view the answer is no. you dont want to confine yourself into one thing when so many of these langs are used and can flow into each other. consider a java program that calls c libs, which call c++ libs which talk to a cobol program, with a .net gui as well. awful, though i see oddball calling scanrios a lot. it sure would help to be able to understand what the heck is going on. not required at all, though it helps you stick out.

jrdnoland

sidsanders wrote: »

depends on what an employers want. you could work in a java only env.

in my view the answer is no. you dont want to confine yourself into one thing when so many of these langs are used and can flow into each other. consider a java program that calls c libs, which call c++ libs which talk to a cobol program, with a .net gui as well. awful, though i see oddball calling scanrios a lot. it sure would help to be able to understand what the heck is going on. not required at all, though it helps you stick out.

Thanks, Sid - that's what I'm thinking also. I asked WGU if they were considering adding a few more languages to their software portion, but they haven't replied yet.

Zartanasaurus

What's the argument for going to one these online colleges for basically a CS degree (and taking 180 credits while you're at it)? I understand people who go there for networking or Microsoft related stuff, but not programming.

jrdnoland

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

What's the argument for going to one these online colleges for basically a CS degree (and taking 180 credits while you're at it)? I understand people who go there for networking or Microsoft related stuff, but not programming.

For me it comes down to time management. I just don't have the time to go to a traditional college at this point. The online classes allow me to work and study as my schedule allows.

Zartanasaurus

jrdnoland wrote: »

For me it comes down to time management. I just don't have the time to go to a traditional college at this point. The online classes allow me to work and study as my schedule allows.

I should've been more specific. I meant online degrees from traditional colleges. Many of them have online campuses now. 10 years from now, the UoP's will be a thing of the past when all the major colleges are offering online/mostly online degrees.

I found a site for your state to search colleges that offer online degrees. Search for Degrees

Do you know anything about Franklin University? Looks like they offer an online CS program and are based in Ohio. Might carry more weight where you live.

Penn St. offers an online IT degree also.

My first choice would be to look for smaller state universities before I went the expensive Kaplan route. There are several colleges near me that offer online bachelor's degrees for $25k - $35K. Something to look into before you shell out $65k to a college someone in HR never heard of and might **** your resume in the trash.

veritas_libertas

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

10 years from now, the UoP's will be a thing of the past when all the major colleges are offering online/mostly online degrees.

I would like to think that you are right about this. Time will tell.

jrdnoland

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

I should've been more specific. I meant online degrees from traditional colleges. Many of them have online campuses now. 10 years from now, the UoP's will be a thing of the past when all the major colleges are offering online/mostly online degrees.

I found a site for your state to search colleges that offer online degrees. Search for Degrees

Do you know anything about Franklin University? Looks like they offer an online CS program and are based in Ohio. Might carry more weight where you live.

Penn St. offers an online IT degree also.

My first choice would be to look for smaller state universities before I went the expensive Kaplan route. There are several colleges near me that offer online bachelor's degrees for $25k - $35K. Something to look into before you shell out $65k to a college someone in HR never heard of and might **** your resume in the trash.

Thanks for the clarification. I will look at what you provided. I've checked into a few of the local colleges and they offer some classes online but not all, you still end up spending time on campus; something I can't afford to do right now.

I've heard good things about Kaplan from my HR and from some of the local universities, I think they are pretty well respected. 65K is not a realistic number either, it will cost me more like 36K.

Zartanasaurus

jrdnoland wrote: »

I've heard good things about Kaplan from my HR and from some of the local universities, I think they are pretty well respected. 65K is not a realistic number either, it will cost me more like 36K.

On the website I saw for Kaplan, it said something about 180 credits @ $300 a pop. I just skimmed it, so I may be wrong.

Good luck either way.

jrdnoland

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

On the website I saw for Kaplan, it said something about 180 credits @ $300 a pop. I just skimmed it, so I may be wrong.

Good luck either way.

I just looked at Penn State and Franklin; Kaplan is more than Franklin and about the same as Penn State.

I will follow up with Franklin and see what their IT or Computer Science degrees include.

Thanks for the leads!

Bl8ckr0uter

jrdnoland wrote: »

I just looked at Penn State and Franklin; Kaplan is more than Franklin and about the same as Penn State.

I will follow up with Franklin and see what their IT or Computer Science degrees include.

Thanks for the leads!

Let me know how that goes. I plan to start at Franklin next year for an BS in IT. If you do go, I would like to know what your experience is with the program.

Franklin has a program called the CCA (community college alliance) where you can get major time off your degree by taking some classes at a community college (even more so than a normal xfer student). It may be something you want to consider if you are coming from a community college (like me ). here is the url for more info http://alliance.franklin.edu/

billscott92787

My wife and I had a horrible experience with Kaplan. Their financial aid was terrible, make sure it is something that you definitely want to finish. My wife decided the program wasn't for her within their guidelines and dropped out, if it was within 15 days of the course starting you got refunded 100% and weren't held responsible to pay anything. She dropped within 10 days, they still charged us about 40-50% of the tuition price, even though they got paid and reimbursed. We are still paying on it now. They never seemed organized and never could explain "why" we ended up still having to pay it. I honestly wouldn't recommend them to anyone at all. But, some people may have good experiences with them.

jrdnoland

billscott92787 wrote: »

My wife and I had a horrible experience with Kaplan. Their financial aid was terrible, make sure it is something that you definitely want to finish. My wife decided the program wasn't for her within their guidelines and dropped out, if it was within 15 days of the course starting you got refunded 100% and weren't held responsible to pay anything. She dropped within 10 days, they still charged us about 40-50% of the tuition price, even though they got paid and reimbursed. We are still paying on it now. They never seemed organized and never could explain "why" we ended up still having to pay it. I honestly wouldn't recommend them to anyone at all. But, some people may have good experiences with them.

Thanks for the info; financial aid problems are one I hear a lot about with a lot of the schools.

Did you document all the information and talk with the actual bank(s) that provided the funds? Seems like they should have been able to resolve this?

Has anyone found a totally online school that has been good in all areas?

jrdnoland

I'm still looking and digging into more online schools, so far:

U of Phoenix - best program for software engineering, but I ruled them out because of they way the enrolement advisor was acting and other horror stories I've heard about them.

Kaplan - still in the running.

CTU - similar approach as WGU, similar issues.

WGU - Probably not, looks like an interesting program but the choice of programming languages is too narrow.

Capella - Still looking at.

Franklin - waiting for them to call.

Penn State - program looks great, great school, probably out because they are too expensive.

Any other worth looking at for software engineering programs?

shednik

Any reason you can't goto a community college in your area if you want to stay cheap? I finished my bachelors by takes 2-3 online classes and 1-2 night classes a week while working full time. there are a ton of schools out there that are all online but in my opinion nothing beats getting your degree from a traditional school with the extra options such as online classes, or classes that are a mix of online and in class. I took a course where we met 6 times and the rest was online. I really enjoyed that one, but I would definitely recommend starts at a community college if you're looking to stay cheaper. Its not going to be easy to make time but I think a well known school in your area will go alot further than a school like kaplan personally.

EDIT: I also wanted to add that just because WGU doesn't have a course on every language doesn't make the program not as good, I would rather master 2 languages then know a little in everything where i can't be proficient in any.

veritas_libertas

shednik wrote: »

Any reason you can't goto a community college in your area if you want to stay cheap? I finished my bachelors by takes 2-3 online classes and 1-2 night classes a week while working full time. there are a ton of schools out there that are all online but in my opinion nothing beats getting your degree from a traditional school with the extra options such as online classes, or classes that are a mix of online and in class. I took a course where we met 6 times and the rest was online. I really enjoyed that one, but I would definitely recommend starts at a community college if you're looking to stay cheaper. Its not going to be easy to make time but I think a well known school in your area will go alot further than a school like kaplan personally.

EDIT: I also wanted to add that just because WGU doesn't have a course on every language doesn't make the program not as good, I would rather master 2 languages then know a little in everything where i can't be proficient in any.

I agree, if nothing else works out than WGU is still a good choice. Java is a good language know, and you can still learn the others later on your own.

jrdnoland

shednik wrote: »

Any reason you can't goto a community college in your area if you want to stay cheap? I finished my bachelors by takes 2-3 online classes and 1-2 night classes a week while working full time. there are a ton of schools out there that are all online but in my opinion nothing beats getting your degree from a traditional school with the extra options such as online classes, or classes that are a mix of online and in class. I took a course where we met 6 times and the rest was online. I really enjoyed that one, but I would definitely recommend starts at a community college if you're looking to stay cheaper. Its not going to be easy to make time but I think a well known school in your area will go alot further than a school like kaplan personally.

EDIT: I also wanted to add that just because WGU doesn't have a course on every language doesn't make the program not as good, I would rather master 2 languages then know a little in everything where i can't be proficient in any.

I don't want to spend time in classes, want to study when it fits my schedule. I already have two associates and 3/4 of a bachelors the "Traditional" way.

Turgon

billscott92787 wrote: »

My wife and I had a horrible experience with Kaplan. Their financial aid was terrible, make sure it is something that you definitely want to finish. My wife decided the program wasn't for her within their guidelines and dropped out, if it was within 15 days of the course starting you got refunded 100% and weren't held responsible to pay anything. She dropped within 10 days, they still charged us about 40-50% of the tuition price, even though they got paid and reimbursed. We are still paying on it now. They never seemed organized and never could explain "why" we ended up still having to pay it. I honestly wouldn't recommend them to anyone at all. But, some people may have good experiences with them.

Sorry to hear that. That just sounds plain wrong Bill. If you have it in writing that you get a 100% refund should you not consider taking it further legally?

shednik

jrdnoland wrote: »

I don't want to spend time in classes, want to study when it fits my schedule. I already have two associates and 3/4 of a bachelors the "Traditional" way.

Then whats a few more classes, i'm not saying take them all in class. I wouldn't have finished as fast all I'm saying is I think a local school will bring you alot more then somewhere like WGU, UoP, etc...what types of classes do you have left? 50% of my IT classes were offered online at some point in the year.

jrdnoland

shednik wrote: »

Then whats a few more classes, i'm not saying take them all in class. I wouldn't have finished as fast all I'm saying is I think a local school will bring you alot more then somewhere like WGU, UoP, etc...what types of classes do you have left? 50% of my IT classes were offered online at some point in the year.

my bachelors was in chemistry
my 1st associates was in medical lab
my 2nd associates was in computer science

I'll still need the higher level cs stuff to get a bs in computer science. Most of the class I'll need are not provided online at my local schools.

I work 8 -12 hours a day it varies and have a family to take care of; I can't afford to spend time in classes, I do most of my studying when everyone else is sleeping.

Local colleges are the best I agree, but they just don't work for everyone.

Hyper-Me

One of the larger things to consider is a return on the money you are investing into a degree.

Do you really think that an employer cares where your degree is from? Some might, but the majority wont even know the difference.

I will be transferring in about 60-70% of my degree from a past associates and my certs for WGU, so i will be spending 3-6k in total to get a BS in Network Engineering.

Not too shabby, I think.

shednik

jrdnoland wrote: »

my bachelors was in chemistry
my 1st associates was in medical lab
my 2nd associates was in computer science

I'll still need the higher level cs stuff to get a bs in computer science. Most of the class I'll need are not provided online at my local schools.

I work 8 -12 hours a day it varies and have a family to take care of; I can't afford to spend time in classes, I do most of my studying when everyone else is sleeping.

Local colleges are the best I agree, but they just don't work for everyone.

With those degrees why are you wanting to work on a bachelors(unless i misread your post)? I think you'd be much better suited for a masters then at this point. I feel you on the difficulty on attending classes with a job and a family...I'm doing the same for my masters. If it wasn't for my boss being so adamant about me getting a degree at my school I would be at an online program as well. I have 2 little boys and a wife in school right now, I weighed things out and now will still be the best time for me to finish my masters as well because I'm only going to get busier as they get older. Since you have a BS already I strongly urge to look at this school http://scis.nova.edu it weren't for my ultra supporting boss this is where I would be. I may actually get the MS in CS just because I like the program if I find the time, but honestly get a masters at this point it will be more beneficial then another BS. Just my 2 cents I'm younger but I have seen an MS get you much farther then multiple BS degrees will. Best of luck in whatever you chose!

jrdnoland

shednik wrote: »

With those degrees why are you wanting to work on a bachelors(unless i misread your post)? I think you'd be much better suited for a masters then at this point. I feel you on the difficulty on attending classes with a job and a family...I'm doing the same for my masters. If it wasn't for my boss being so adamant about me getting a degree at my school I would be at an online program as well. I have 2 little boys and a wife in school right now, I weighed things out and now will still be the best time for me to finish my masters as well because I'm only going to get busier as they get older. Since you have a BS already I strongly urge to look at this school NSU Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences it weren't for my ultra supporting boss this is where I would be. I may actually get the MS in CS just because I like the program if I find the time, but honestly get a masters at this point it will be more beneficial then another BS. Just my 2 cents I'm younger but I have seen an MS get you much farther then multiple BS degrees will. Best of luck in whatever you chose!

My chemistry is 3/4 finished (I had that in a previous thread). My associates in computer science was strong in programming languages but not much in project management and other requirements for a software engineering degree.

I will probably go on to get a masters but I need to get the BS first, I don't think it will take me too long; but I still need to do it online.

Also, I don't want to get my BS in Chemistry, I did R&D research for 15 years and parts of that actually lead me into learning programing and interfacing chemical analytical equipment.

skrpune

jrdnoland wrote: »

My chemistry is 3/4 finished (I had that in a previous thread). My associates in computer science was strong in programming languages but not much in project management and other requirements for a software engineering degree.

I will probably go on to get a masters but I need to get the BS first, I don't think it will take me too long; but I still need to do it online.

Also, I don't want to get my BS in Chemistry, I did R&D research for 15 years and parts of that actually lead me into learning programing and interfacing chemical analytical equipment.

If you've got some programming under your belt and already have a BS, then you can go right into a masters program. I've got a BS in geology, so I just took a couple prereq classes as a second bachelors student and then applied to the masters program. I didn't have any programming background, so I took discrete structures & programming I/II and now this semester I'm working on masters classes and my last prereq. If your associates in CS already had programming, then you might be able to jump right on into masters level stuff or maybe just one or two prereq's. You can save yourself some time and money, and unless the specific school you're looking at is very strict with its requirements, there's no need to get a BS in computer science before you go for a masters in it.

jrdnoland

skrpune wrote: »

If you've got some programming under your belt and already have a BS, then you can go right into a masters program. I've got a BS in geology, so I just took a couple prereq classes as a second bachelors student and then applied to the masters program. I didn't have any programming background, so I took discrete structures & programming I/II and now this semester I'm working on masters classes and my last prereq. If your associates in CS already had programming, then you might be able to jump right on into masters level stuff or maybe just one or two prereq's. You can save yourself some time and money, and unless the specific school you're looking at is very strict with its requirements, there's no need to get a BS in computer science before you go for a masters in it.

I have 3/4 of my work done towards a BS in Chemistry; never finished the degree. That still leaves me with 7 years of college, but I still need to get a bachelors in IT first.

billscott92787

Honestly,


I wouldn't even pay for the tuition to go if you are trying to do programming. I mean why take 180 total credits, just to learn programming? Unless you are going to be getting a degree (4 year) for doing it. I would just learn it on your own or take a post secondary course or something like that. You would say yourself a lot of money. But, it all depends on what you are getting out of going? Is it a bachelors? I have noticed that any program from Kaplan, even if it is just a certificate program, they make you go for other unnecessary courses so they can milk you.

jrdnoland

billscott92787 wrote: »

Honestly,


I wouldn't even pay for the tuition to go if you are trying to do programming. I mean why take 180 total credits, just to learn programming? Unless you are going to be getting a degree (4 year) for doing it. I would just learn it on your own or take a post secondary course or something like that. You would say yourself a lot of money. But, it all depends on what you are getting out of going? Is it a bachelors? I have noticed that any program from Kaplan, even if it is just a certificate program, they make you go for other unnecessary courses so they can milk you.

You do get a bachelors degree when you're finished. I'm planning on going into what they call an advanced start IT degree.

That assumes that I end up choosing Kaplan, I'm still looking at schools.

veritas_libertas

jrdnoland wrote: »

You do get a bachelors degree when you're finished. I'm planning on going into what they call an advanced start IT degree.

That assumes that I end up choosing Kaplan, I'm still looking at schools.

I actually just got off the phone with WGU. I am trying to decide what my next move is for my Bachelor degree. I prefer in person, but that option is looking impossible at this point. I love talking to WGU because they don't push anything and they are very honest. I have never had WGU lie to me.

jrdnoland

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I actually just got off the phone with WGU. I am trying to decide what my next move is for my Bachelor degree. I prefer in person, but that option is looking impossible at this point. I love talking to WGU because they don't push anything and they are very honest. I have never had WGU lie to me.

It's a difficult decision. The fact that the degree is based around getting the certs is both good and bad.

I was talking to Sione at WGU, he was nice but didn't really understand the program in depth.

I read some stuff on Techexams that got me thinking about the cert only approach.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/microsoft-developers-certifications/44359-help-me-decide-getting-developers-certificate.html#post324550

See what you think.

Met44

jrdnoland wrote:

Can you become an adequate software develpoer with just Java and Perl?

Any opinions?

A former coworker once gave me this piece of advice on programming as he was teaching himself Perl to use on a project, coming out of a background in embedded C and assembly: you learn how to program only once; after that, you simply learn to speak a new language.

Knowing Perl won't help you divine the syntax of a C construct if you've never looked at C, but knowing programming concepts and good programming practices will help you in any language you learn. Loops are loops, you just write them differently.

So, you can certainly become a good programmer knowing only Perl and/or Java. You probably won't get a job developing VB.NET applications having never used it, but that doesn't mean you could not be a "good programmer"; you're just not a VB.NET programmer. Just because you might not speak Japanese does not mean you are a poor linguist.

jrdnoland

Met44 wrote: »

A former coworker once gave me this piece of advice on programming as he was teaching himself Perl to use on a project, coming out of a background in embedded C and assembly: you learn how to program only once; after that, you simply learn to speak a new language.

Knowing Perl won't help you divine the syntax of a C construct if you've never looked at C, but knowing programming concepts and good programming practices will help you in any language you learn. Loops are loops, you just write them differently.

So, you can certainly become a good programmer knowing only Perl and/or Java. You probably won't get a job developing VB.NET applications having never used it, but that doesn't mean you could not be a "good programmer"; you're just not a VB.NET programmer. Just because you might not speak Japanese does not mean you are a poor linguist.

I agree with what you're saying; the problem is getting a job after you get the degree. If you're not familiar with a particular programming language and that's what the job market is demanding, then you don't get the job. I think I'd be better able to meet the market demand with vb.net, c#, c++, and java rather than just java and perl.