Bachelor's degree online?

mxfever · Jan 20, 2011

Anyone every pursued a bachelor?s degree online? I currently have a General Associates but I seem to be stuck. All of the jobs that I apply for require a bachelor?s degree. I?m trying to get into a test engineer/application engineer position and prospective employers skip right over my resume since I?m not ?educated?. Never mind that I?ve worked in a research and development lab for more than 5 years.

I see a lot of ads for University of Phoenix. What I?m wondering though is how employers would view a degree from an online school. I?m the breadwinner in our family with 20 month old twins so it?s impossible for me to quit work and go to school.

Any advice?

avenger79 · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

I can only speak for our company. Phoenix degree won't get you in the door here. they will recognize it for a promotion but grudgingly and only if there is no one of equal quals with a "real" degree.

That said are you interested in relocating? wis is pretty similar to mich.

I'll send you a PM

mxfever · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

avenger79 said:
I can only speak for our company. Phoenix degree won't get you in the door here. they will recognize it for a promotion but grudgingly and only if there is no one of equal quals with a "real" degree.

That said are you interested in relocating? wis is pretty similar to mich.

I'll send you a PM

That is exactly what I was afraid of. I sent you a PM with a couple more questions

Bubba1235 said:
Most companies I know of would not accept it as a "real degree". Have you looked into night classes? It may take a little longer but it will get you there.

I have thought about night classes. I don't want to bore with a pitty story but it would be really hard with the kids the age they are. Especially on my wife. It sounds like I might need to just tough it out.

tswiczko · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

mxfever said:
I have thought about night classes. I don't want to bore with a pitty story but it would be really hard with the kids the age they are. Especially on my wife. It sounds like I might need to just tough it out.

It will never be easy, and there will always be a reason to put it off. It would be best to start now and do only 1 or 2 classes a semester till you have more time take more classes.

Waiting will get you nothing. Thats just my 2 cents.

avenger79 · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

bad part is, it's never easy and most companies expect you to continue your education even after you have a degree.

QC · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Bubba1235 said:
The second is to write a well thought out and respectful letter to your CEO explaining you are trying to better yourself in the skills and knowledge the company wants.

A word of caution on this one . . . I might do that only if I had my supervisor/manager's approval. You don't want to make him/her look bad and it could totally backfire on you if the CEO just forwards your note to the guy/gal that told you no

Bob_VT · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

QC said:
A word of caution on this one . . . I might do that only if I had my supervisor/manager's approval. You don't want to make him/her look bad and it could totally backfire on you if the CEO just forwards your note to the guy/gal that told you no

Bubba1235 said:
I don't know that I would seek permission, but I would certainly let them know of my intent before doing it.

Chain of Command

mxfever · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Bubba1235 said:
Not being mean here at all, or at least not my intent but it's never going to get easier. As the little ones grow their time demands on you and the wife grow right with them. I went back at 30ish and had to take a class one at a time in the beginning. As I learned to juggle things better I took 2 or 3 at a time depending on what they were.

You might want to look at financial assistance for adult ed. as there are a number of programs out there including child care costs. Ask the university for help finding them.

The other thing I would do immediately is sit down and talk to your supervisor and HR department. If its a decent company and wants to see their people improve their skills and knowledge, they'll find a way to help (like time off for classes with pay or allowing you to work weekends, 4 10 hour work days, etc.). If they say there is nothing they can do, you have a couple options. The obvious one is to recognize the company for what it is and decide how much of your life you want to invest in them. The second is to write a well thought out and respectful letter to your CEO explaining you are trying to better yourself in the skills and knowledge the company wants. I still say, even in this economy, any CEO worth his salt is willing to invest in good people that want to grow and take on more responsibilty in the company. Good people are still dang hard to come by!

The first real step though is deciding to do it, after that its a matter of "if there is a will there is a way". (Even if the way is the tough way.)

That's just it Bubba. The company is going down hill fast and I want out before I end up in the unemployment line. I've had a goal now to send a resume a week for a while now. All the positions I apply for require a bachelor's degree but I apply anyway. I talked with someone I know that works at a company I applied with and they said I was a prime candidate until the Chief Engineer started talking to others and they said "we paid for our education, why would you hire someone that hasn't" and I was tossed to the side. That is how all this started. I thought maybe an online school would be a little easier. I'm in my 30's so I'm just going to have to do the night class thing. Still having 30 working years left and I better do it now and be able to provide the best for my family in the years to come.

nlain · Jan 20, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Where I work there are 2 ladies that want to better themselves, they found financial aid, they are starting in a local technical school, a lot of the classes are online and some are instructor led classes in a classroom. They both take some time off from work to go to the classroom and do some of the online at work when they can. Check into your local schools and see what is offered and how much you can do online, it may surprise you what can be done. Good luck to you.

dlindeblad · Jan 21, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Two things. Online only/distance learning college degrees are not worth the paper they are written on. U of P is going to lose their accreditation soon from what I have read.

Secondly, It may cause some hardship, but look into a good University. Find federal grants and/or scholarships offered for ethnicity or religious affiliation if they apply. Most Universities offer online classes. They good thing about these are that they allow you to be able to do some at work or at home with the family around, and the end degree still comes from the renowned University. I avoided online classes when attending the University of Michigan, but after I tried one I was hooked. Never got less than an A on an online course.

JB · Jan 21, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

This is a really sore spot for me.

Most "continuing education" to acquire credentials is merely getting academic credit for what you have already learned by non-traditional means. That academic credit is worthless to degree worshiping companies unless all credits are transferrable to major, traditional universities.

It is unfortunate. . . .no, bigotted. . .that some employers don't really seem to care what you can do or when/where you learned how, so long as you have the correct paper.

Don't waste your time collecting credits/degrees that are not valued in your industry. Go find an employer that is results oriented, and who wants to know your track record.

An amusing side to this topic: In a course on education philosophy three of the six required reading items were either written by or included contributions by. . . yeah, JB.

ezmobee · Jan 21, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Like you I had an associates degree and wanted to get my bachelors. In addition to the "stigma" concerns about an online degree, I also felt that I lacked the discipline to really apply myself to it if I didn't have to ever physically attend classes. I found a program at a local private college that was referred to as an "accelerated degree program". It was catered to adults returning to school who already had an associates or who had some significant college coursework under their belt. The classes were 5 or 6 weeks long and met twice a week from 6-9. I felt it was totally doable. I was able to take sometime up to three classes a semester (consecutively, not simultaneously) and finished in a little over 2 years. Well worth it. A LOT of schools are offering similar programs. Something to look into. My degree is in no way noted as being any different from someone who went there for 4 years out of high school.

mxfever · Jan 21, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Thanks everyone for the input! I've talked it over with the wife and I'm going to pursue going to our local community college then transfer. I thought the online school's sounded to good to be true. I'm also meeting with HR to discuss reimbursement for continuing education. Not holding my breath but anything would help!

mxfever · Jan 24, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

I wanted to give everyone an update. I met with my manager this morning and discussed further education. He said that he wasn't sure if the company would reimburse classes due to budget cuts. Not real happy with this discussion I walked over to HR and sat down with the director. I explained my situation. She said the company WILL reimburse depending on GPA. 3.0 - 4.0 100% 2.0 - 2.9 50% Time to get signed up for classes. I just got the wind back in my sails!

ezmobee · Jan 24, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

What's the annual cap on reimbursement?

mxfever · Jan 24, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

The annual cap is $5250.00

ezmobee · Jan 24, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Dude, that is WAY above industry average. Congrats. A lot of places have some BS useless amount like $2k. TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF IT!!! That's what I had also. Of course courses are more expensive now, but that's still pretty great.

waterinthefuel · Jan 24, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

I totally agree dude, that's awesome!! Definitely go for it. If your company is willing to suck up the cost of your education, I say have fun! Just be prepared to do some serious work, as a bachelors degree is nothing to laugh at.

mxfever · Jan 25, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Well what seems to be true usually is. After chasing a flock of geese I have to have a form filled out by my supervisor stating I am approved for tuition reimbursement before I sign up for classes. So I'm right back where I started. I'm supposed to have a meeting with the chief engineer to "discuss my options" later this week. Hopefully they will grease this squeaky wheel and just sign the paper!

ezmobee · Jan 25, 2011

Re: Bachelor's degree online?

Hopefully you don't have one of those turd managers that takes it upon themselves to "save" company money that isn't theirs anyway to save. Been there done that. Hopefully the approval is just to make sure your coursework is going to be relevant to make sure they aren't paying for underwater basket weaving or something.

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