Online B.S. Computer Science Degree, help.

BluePhoenixHD

Hello, I have decided to pursue a Computer Science degree, online and would like some help/opinions from more experienced people.

Now, I would like for the degree to be around 35k or lower in Tuition Cost.
If there is Proctors, would need to do it through Webcam and Microphone, kind of like ProctorU.

I'm unable to go to a community college to get any credits or the like, seeing as I do not actually have one. Very small town. So that's out, with it WGU.

I have read the Sticky: Master's List of Colleges at the top of the page.
I also live in Kentucky (KY).

Any help is appreciated.

ptilsen

University of Illinois Bachelor Degree in Computer Science Online

veritas_libertas

Franklin University is another choice: Computer Science Online Degrees - Computer Science Program Details

BluePhoenixHD

Thanks! Will check them out, I really appreciate it. College is kind of daunting.

pram

UMUC offers an online CS degree, I'm currently taking it. If you're out of state it would cost way more than 35k however.

Online Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science | UMUC

sheckler

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Franklin University is another choice: Computer Science Online Degrees - Computer Science Program Details

Wow, $511 per credit hour, 128 credits = $65k. That's a lot.

BluePhoenixHD

I actually looked at UMUC, but I live out of state. Kentucky, to be precise. Hoping to find a degree from a nice college. With out taking out so many loans that would cost an arm and leg.

As Sheckler said, Franklin is way up there.

For the Illinois one that was listed, according to this webpage: Tuition, Fees and Assessments for Spring 2014
The tuition for me, being out of state would over $65k as well.

Going to edit my first post / opening post to include what state I am in.

veritas_libertas

I thought I remembered seeting that Kentucky had several online options from state colleges/universities?

BluePhoenixHD

Veritas, they do, just not a great selection, pretty limited actually. That includes all the major colleges such as: University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, Western Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University, NKU, etc. Then going to the smaller ones, such as Moorehead, Berea, Sullivan, etc. So trying to find another alternative.

sheckler

WGU is very cheap and I don't think you have to go to a testing center for tests, but they don't have a CS degree unfortunately. Closest would be general IT with some software classes.

Zartanasaurus

The amount of ABET-accredited, solely online CS degrees is like 1 or 2 colleges. If you're looking for an actual CS degree and ABET accreditation doesn't matter to you, try Thomas Edison State College. Anyone willing to go to WGU should be willing to go there as well. It's only a BA, but you can transfer into any MS program in the country if that's your goal.

I'd be willing to bet you'd have more options with a fully online CS degree completion program. You may not have any community colleges where you live, but there are places to get online 2-year degrees. And from there your options for 4-year programs should increase.

BluePhoenixHD

Zar, so it would be in my best interest to try and get an Associates some where? Then transfer over for a B.S? If so, what online College and degree would be a good starting point for an IT/CS degree?

Sheckler, Yeah, I seen that they do not offer a CS degree. I'm interested in the IT Security, but would rather have a CS so I know more about things.

da_vato

Personally I think you're on the right track wanting to do CS, it will expose you to many things that will help you in your career later. My undergrad is in CS and entered the workforce as helpdesk then moved to Network Engineer the migrated to Infosec. I was able to hit the ground running through every switch because I understand the foundational science. Good luck to you.

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Programs and Majors, Dakota State University, Madison SD ($301.70 credit hour)
Computer Science | Online Computer Science Program ($265 credit hour)

Zartanasaurus

I don't know what's in your best interest.

Just giving you some options you might not be aware of since you had ruled out the idea of going to a community college. Most research I've done is geared around getting the most bang for your buck at the fastest pace possible. Makes sense since the IT cert community is largely based around a self-paced, self-study philosophy.

The general idea is to pick a 4-year college that offers the degree you want online. For CS, that's a lot more rare so you are stuck with only a handful of colleges if you want to do the entire 4 years there. Lots more offer a degree completion program where you transfer in ~60 credits worth of work and do the last 60 there. Most colleges have a residency requirement, so you can't get out of taking at least 30 credits at the university to get a degree (places like Thomas Edison State are the very rare exception). But as you've seen, the cost per credit for out of state universities can be obscenely high. So you have to do some legwork and come up with a plan.

1) Pick a 4-year uni that you'd like to attend.

2) Break out their entire 4-year degree plan into a spreadsheet.

3) See what DANTES/CLEP exams they will accept. These things work out to something like $25/credit. A person of average intelligence, dedicating a reasonable amount of time can knock these out at a pace of at least 1 per week. Mark the classes you can test out of on your spreadsheet and how many testing out credits they accept. The more they accept the better!

4) Start looking for self-paced classes at any US university that offer the other classes. Community colleges will be cheapest. Policies are going to be different at each university, but generally there is a minimum time they will allow you to complete the class as your exams have to be graded. This will usually be in the 3-8 week range. Ideal is a place like Ohio University that offers course credit by exam. You basically pay the fee and take the test. Just like a certification. You can wait the entire 6 months or you can take it in 6 days. University of Arkansas charges $155/credit and you can take the classes in as quickly as 3 weeks. Last time I looked, their classes usually required 3 proctored exams. You should be able to do that at your closest university's testing center for about $50-70 per exam. This pushes the per credit cost to about $225, but that's still cheaper than a lot of other places and you don't have to worry about all the fees for being enrolled. Not the biggest selection of courses, but you can knock out some of those gen ed courses that you can't use CLEP/DANTES for. This part requires the most legwork since you'll be doing a lot of googling and reading of policies. Finding the Math and Science courses required by CS degrees is usually the hard part, but they are out there. Texas State @ San Marcos offers Discrete Math for $227/credit!

5) By now you should hopefully have at least 60 cheap, transferable credits to your preferred university. 90 would be ideal. Enroll at your college, transfer all your credits in and finish up. I helped Mrs Z get her degree in 3 years, and she only scratched the surface of this stuff. Mostly did CLEP/DANTES and transfered in a couple of credits from another university. The best part is, you can try this out pretty cheaply. If you aren't doing well with the CLEP/DANTES stuff, you'll know that self-paced study isn't for you. They are only about $70/test so you aren't out a ton of money if it doesn't work out. If it does work out, great, you're saving a ton of money and not sitting through a 15 semester US History class bored out of your mind. You're gonna forget it all anyway, so what's it matter how you got the credits?

da_vato

Zartanasaurus that is the best laid out approach to obtaining a 4 year degree on a budget that I have ever seen.