Being Accredited

Elegyx

My first post! I'm glad I came across this site and just wanted to get your guys opinion. I have my AS from a local community college and am working full time for a school district right now. Don't have any certs yet and want to finish my bachelors degree. In New Jersey there are 2 schools with BS's in Information Technology, but the thing is there not ABET accredited and I'd have to find time to drive there after work or whenever and finish. Now I found Capella has an ABET accredited BS in IT and it's online so would help with my schedule. Is there a big difference between getting a BS in IT at say Montclair State or NJIT that ISN'T accredited (but probably cheaper than Capella) vs. being accredited and spending a little more in tuition. Thanks for all your responses!

thenjduke

Elegyx,
Take a look at WGU (Western Governors University) I looked at many different schools in NJ as I live here. NJIT is a great school know many went there. I looked into myself but not one for sitting in class. I am almost complete at WGU and I have to say their program is pretty intense. Make sure the school is accredited plain and simple.
Thanks

erpadmin

Elegyx wrote: »

My first post! I'm glad I came across this site and just wanted to get your guys opinion. I have my AS from a local community college and am working full time for a school district right now. Don't have any certs yet and want to finish my bachelors degree. In New Jersey there are 2 schools with BS's in Information Technology, but the thing is there not ABET accredited and I'd have to find time to drive there after work or whenever and finish. Now I found Capella has an ABET accredited BS in IT and it's online so would help with my schedule. Is there a big difference between getting a BS in IT at say Montclair State or NJIT that ISN'T accredited (but probably cheaper than Capella) vs. being accredited and spending a little more in tuition. Thanks for all your responses!

As someone who is from NJ, I can tell you that, if all things being equal, a degree from either Montclair or NJIT (NJIT though being above Montclair) will have a bit more weight than a degree from Capella. I suppose the same could be said if about any other online degree, including WGU.

That's not to say that Capella isn't a good school...but my issue with Capella has always been price. That's why I lump that school in with UoP. For-profit schools scare the crap out of me because I envision them to have the shareholders' interests above the students.

I don't see why ABET accreditation would matter for IT. The engineering part of it would make sense if you were building hardware/software components. But if you're trying to be an admin or something like that, I wouldn't lose any sleep over going to an ABET school. Also, for the price you'd be paying to Capella because it's ABET accredited, I personally feel you'd be better off at either Montclair or NJIT, especially since both offer a lot more in name recognition (especially NJIT.)

NJIT does offer a good portion of the BS in IT degree online, FWIW.

NJIT: Adult Learner : Online Learning

earweed

One of the big things you may want to consider when it comes to if the school is accredited is that a lot of state and federal jobs will require that your degree is from an accredited school. Also if you decide later to go to grad school it could affect your choice of school.

erpadmin

earweed wrote: »

One of the big things you may want to consider when it comes to if the school is accredited is that a lot of state and federal jobs will require that your degree is from an accredited school. Also if you decide later to go to grad school it could affect your choice of school.

EW,

Montclair and NJIT are both accredited state schools (also very well known in the metro-NYC area and in NJIT's case, nationally in engineering circles).

The OP's concern was that they don't offer ABET-accreditation in IT though they do for their other engineering programs (since it's primarily an engineering school and competes with Stevens Institute of Technology, which is a tad bit more pricier than NJIT)

A list of NJIT's accreditation is here:

NJIT: NJIT Online: Fully-accredited Programs

I know that both schools mentioned are AACSB, as I was looking at Montclair's MBA program. However, Montclair was going through changes in the MBA program and I pretty much scratched them from my list (they're going cohort AND a mandatory travel course to some "emerging market" (read: currently poor BUT potentially rich in 10-20 years) country.....).

earweed

OOPS, didn't read closely enough on this before posting. Going to a preferred (high dollar) grad school may be the only real effect. That can be overcome by good grades and high test scores though.

Elegyx

Thanks for the responses! I think that whole ABET thing is getting to me a little, I don't know why exactly either because I doubt it matters when being interviewed? Would love to get some people in here that can explain a bit about ABET and an IT degree and why a school (like NJIT or Montclair) wouldn't be ABET accredited vs. Capella which is.

All 3 offer BS's in IT, but only Capella is accredited, is there some process that schools have to go through?

erpadmin

Elegyx wrote: »

Thanks for the responses! I think that whole ABET thing is getting to me a little, I don't know why exactly either because I doubt it matters when being interviewed? Would love to get some people in here that can explain a bit about ABET and an IT degree and why a school (like NJIT or Montclair) wouldn't be ABET accredited vs. Capella which is.

All 3 offer BS's in IT, but only Capella is accredited, is there some process that schools have to go through?

As someone who's been in IT for 14-15 years, I can tell you that a BS in IT doesn't even matter, let alone a degree in IT that's ABET-accredited. A degree from NJIT will probably get you more phone calls than not though....being ABET-accredited shouldn't even factor into the equation.

And as I said, a good portion of the BS degree can be done online.

Capella is very expensive. But expensive doesn't equate good value all the time.

I can tell you this much. NJIT accepted my WGU degree for graduate study. Also, as a friend of mine told me, employers only care about the last degree you earned. (I would still list WGU on my resume. I'm that proud of it. ) You should consider looking at WGU for a IT degree.

Elegyx

Appreciate the input. I guess my last question (sorry for being repetitive) is why would Capella be accredited, but Montclair State and NJIT aren't. Both schools have had there IT programs for a few years now...

Sorry guys just want to make sure I'm spending my money wisely to get my Bachelors...

earweed

Maybe those other schools just don't see value in pursuing the ABET for their IT programs.

the_Grinch

I'd say they just did it to pump up the price (though what ABET has to do with IT I have no idea). My buddy went to Rowan and was somehow able to get into the IEEE with a Computer Science degree. For what it's worth, my program wasn't ABET accredited and I turned out ok. I'd stay away from the for profits (as others have suggested), many have gotten the rep of being diploma mills, never a good thing when job hunting. I actually almost went to NJIT, they have some solid programs and are fairly well known in the Northeast. Also, one of the few schools with a Masters in Emergency Management and Business Continuity....

erpadmin

Elegyx wrote: »

Thanks for the responses! I think that whole ABET thing is getting to me a little, I don't know why exactly either because I doubt it matters when being interviewed? Would love to get some people in here that can explain a bit about ABET and an IT degree and why a school (like NJIT or Montclair) wouldn't be ABET accredited vs. Capella which is.

I'm just saying that if I sound more partial to NJIT, it's only because I'm gonna go there for my Masters in IS (well, via their graduate certificate program....wanna see if I can hack a Masters.)

Montclair would be a bit cheaper, and the one thing I can tell you from experience (and maybe thenjduke will chime in on this)...the girls there are HOT!! LMAO. No matter when I roll over there, I just see nothing but some sweet action.

In all seriousness, you can't go wrong with either school, so long as you apply yourself and stay focused (much easier to do at NJIT, since they really don't have the hotness factor, though it is right next to Rutgers-Newark, which does have some niceness itself. )

Elegyx

Ha one of my friends went to Montclair so I would visit from time to time and you're right about the girls up there, especially in that whole Clifton area it's like chalk full of them ha .

I appreciate all of the responses. The whole ABET thing got me side-tracked a little so thanks for putting me in the right direction. I'm going to go to apply to NJIT's online BS in IT program and go from there. I just feel that NJIT would look a little better than Capella on my resume....

the_Grinch

Big time teachers college that is why

mcjon77

Unless you are majoring in engineering (.e.g. chemical, electrical, mechanical) ABET accreditation DOES NOT MATTER. When you here about getting an "accredited degree" what people are referring to is REGIONAL ACCREDITATION. Something that all three schools that you mentioned have.

Furthermore, I cannot think of a single scenario in where a degree from Capella would be held in higher regard than a degree from NJIT or Montclair. Capella is a for-profit online university. NJIT is a well respected non-profit public research university. Montclair is a solid non-profit public university. There is a stigma (rightly or wrongly) with going to for-profit schools. While I understand that there may be situations that folks don't have any other options, in your case, there is NO REASON why you should chose to pay more money for a degree from Capella, when Capella is nowhere nearly as well regarded as your other choices.

Elegyx

Great responses from every body on the subject, I appreciate all of the feedback and just want to make sure before I make the decision that in the long run it was the right choice.

Another thing that Capella is offering which I know Montclair doesn't have NJIT I'm going to have to ask them about on Monday is the DOD scholarship that you can apply for where your tuition is paid for.

powerfool

earweed wrote: »

...Also if you decide later to go to grad school it could affect your choice of school.

This.

You may or may not be interested in grad school right now, but that could change later. Keep your options open and go with an accredited institution. I don't mind for-profit schools, per se, but they don't tend to be accredited and their curriculum, depending on the school, just isn't up to snuff.

EDIT: To put it another way, for-profit schools tend to focus on two demographics... those that cannot hack it in school and those that need ultimate flexibility. There are plenty of other schools to that work on flexibility... don't get caught in a group that is thought to be less capable.