Online Degree?

[DanteSF]

So, while I'm in the service I want to get my degree, specificlly in Criminal Justice. The Air Force will pay 100% tuition, so for once in my life, money is no object ;) I've been looking around at Online Courses and have found a few (Boston University seems to have a nice program.) Does anyone here have any expierence with these types of programs? I'm currently stationed overseas, will that make a difference? Any advice (Including recomended schools) would be welcome.

[Chase]

Congrats on wanting to further your education.

I got my Bachelor's degree at a traditional college, but I'm planning on getting my Master's via an online format. I've heard nothing but good things about Boston University. In fact, that's the school I'll probably end up going with.

Just make sure whatever college you decide on that it is regionally accredited or your degree won't mean much.

Here are a couple previous threads addressing your same question:

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21052&highlight=boston+university

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19772&highlight=boston+university


p.s. Get ready for a number of replies attempting to discourage you from getting your degree in Criminal Justice. These replies will probably also tell you to get your degree in "anything other than Criminal Justice". Don't be discouraged. Study what YOU are interested in. Criminal Justice won't necessarily prepare you for a career in law enforcement any better than any other degree, but it's a whole lot more enjoyable to study something you are actually interested in than something you are not. Good luck!

[L-1]

Take a look at Thomas Edison State College. They are a nationally accredited college that will allow you to complete (if necessary) 100% of your degree requirements through distance learning, portfolio assessment and equivalency testing. They also offer a flat, yearly rate that is very reasonable. They can be found at:

http://www.tesc.edu

[Valor55]

My wife got her Masters on-line except for two courses at a local college. She said it was the hardest schooling she's had. It's not like you can show up for class everyday, make a few comments, and get 10-15% of your grade. Everything she did was writing and it was scrutinized. You either did the work or you didn't. There was no half-way slide by and get credit. The benefits were she was able to do the work when it was convenient. She'd get home from work, have dinner and spend time with me then do two or three hours on the computer before bed. This is obviously very convenient with a cops weird schedule but you have to do the work. There is no sliding by.

She got her Master's in Education from Indiana University. For fun we actually went to graduation so she could meet her professors and the other people she'd been communicating with. I brag my wife's so smart the University gave her a degree the first day she stepped foot on campus --which isn't a lie. :D :rolleyes:

[DanteSF]

Heh.

And if a CJ degree isn't the best road to take, then by all means, let me know what is. I'm always looking for advice from those who have both been there and done that ;) After I finish my time in service, my goal is to join the NYPD, and anything I can do to further that goal, I'll do.

[Mariner]

You may also want to look at University of Pheonix. My brother-in-law and many of my friends working for Austin PD are having no problems. As the people before me stated there will be negative replies. Just do your homework on as many schools as you can. I am at a community college going through their distance learning courses. When I finish my associates, I will finish the rest through U of P. You just have to Cowboy-up and study with the online courses. Don't let the critism get to you and you will do well. With most of the online courses you can communicate with your instructors through e-mail so it is not that bad. Study smart, not hard and good luck to you.

Another thing you need to do is talk to your educational services officer and make sure they will pay for your preferred school. Sometimes the schools only grant pass/fail instead of actual grades. The military may only honor the one that gives letter grades. I found out the hard way when I was in the military. Ask the school about a-schools and training that you have already taken, they may fill in some of your elective requirments. Remember, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

Like Valor55 said go for the degree you would enjoy. The reason for getting a degree is to show the employer your ability to learn.

Mariner

[pkagel]

From what I've seen, a CJ degree is excellent if you are right out of school with no practicle experience to speak of. You have the practicle w/ the USAF so why not go for a business degree and then work on your MBA after your done w/ that. If you've ever looked at the Chiefs most of them have MBA's, at least out here in Cali. Your going to want to move up and move up quick as I'm sure you've noticed, NYPD doesn't pay their officers half of what they deserve. Also, you sound like I did when I got out of the Navy, I wanted to go to LAPD for that glorious top notch department and watching too much Dragnet as a kid I suppose. After spending a lot of cash and money putting myself through a police academy (actually, still going through it) I've come to find out that maybe it was good that I didn't get picked up by them right away. Not every department fits everyone and after working with a lot of LAPD i figured out they don't quite fit the style I have or my attitude hence I am going off to TX as soon as I'm done. Both NYPD and LAPD are top notch departments and the guys are great but just not my style though NYPD would be a closer fit for me than LAPD. Best of luck to you!

Originally posted by DanteSF
Heh.

And if a CJ degree isn't the best road to take, then by all means, let me know what is. I'm always looking for advice from those who have both been there and done that ;) After I finish my time in service, my goal is to join the NYPD, and anything I can do to further that goal, I'll do.

[DanteSF]

Also, you sound like I did when I got out of the Navy, I wanted to go to LAPD for that glorious top notch department and watching too much Dragnet as a kid I suppose.
*sheepish grin*
Yeah, there's little nievte (Behold! I can't spell worth a damn!) in there. Part of this is also a family thing for me. My granddad and my uncles were part of that crew. My dad is the one who moved us to Alabama. It's been a dream of mine for a long time and I have no intention of letting go of it, not yet anyway. But, hey I've got four more years before I have to make a decision, so not to worry for now at least... I DO appreciate the honesty.
As for the on topic ;)
I hadn't considered an MBA. That's...not a bad idea at all. *continues research*

[TPoise]

Beware that some (in fact, I'd say most) online schools are looked down upon in the "real world". Basically, don't expect to get an MBA from U of Phenix and expect to make $250k+ as a CEO. People may not respect you as much if you didn't go to one of the top 40 B-schools. People will say schools don't matter, but trust me, someone that got an MBA from Columbia isn't the same as someone who got an MBA online from UoP.

Other than that, from what i've researched these online schools are harder than traditional school. I'm at a traditional 4-year university now and you can show up to class and get a C- passing grade. However, it's not really possible online.

Regional Accreditation and also membership recognition is important. For example, if you're doing to do nursing, make sure that school is recognized or a member of the national association of whatever-whatever for Nurses.

Also be prepared to see the high-costs. This is no "in-state" tuition for online universities. In fact, it's cheaper for me to get a law degree at a top-40 law school than to get an undergrad degree online. If the military's paying for it I guess you have no problem though.

Traditional schools offer an advantage with true in-class "feel". If you can go to a traditional school, I would suggest that over an online school even if scheduling conflicts occur. Traditional schools will also offer experience opportunities, like internships, co-ops, or research jobs with your professors. Experience+Education is very valuable.

I do encourage you to go to school, whether it be online or traditional classroom setting. Especially in law enforcement it will give you a leg up in going for a job where everybody else only has high school degrees. And a graduate degree will let you go up in the ranks higher than those with just undergrad degrees.

Good luck!

[DanteSF]

Like I said, the Air Force pays 100% tuition reguardless of the school. I would prefer to have a physical classroom, but seeing as I'll be on station in Europe for the next two years, it's not really an option.

[pkagel]

dunno how the AF works but in the Navy they would send instructors out from some of the colleges to go underway with us on the carriers. I would imagine they would have something similar on base in Europe.

[Badgerland]

My views on the University of Phoenix are this. Do you see UCLA or Notre Dame using pop-up ads? Why should a great "university" like U of P have to resort to pop-ups in order to attract students?

Annnnywaaay, a good university with a nice online CJ program is the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. You can find info here: www.uwplatt.edu

Good luck.

[TPoise]

U of P is a for-profit school, UCLA is a public school and Notre Dame is a private school. Thats why they resort to pop-up ads, simply because they work to recruit more people. They already have like 157,000 enrolled students, but it's very cheap for them to recruit more. Just think, over the internet it doesn't really cost them much more to add another student to a class. Whereas traditional schools can only have around 30 in a class before they have to make another class section and pay another teacher for that class.

Anyways, I'm posting here to show some of you an excellent school with an excellent reputation for an online MBA. It's through The Pennsylvania State University (better known as Penn State) which has an excellent reputation for MBA programs. It's $46,000 but if you can get that subsidized by the military or your employer I'd say it's definitely well worth it.

URL for it is: http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/pub/imba/welcome/elb/#

[squad51]

I would check out Concordia University in ST.Paul MN they have an onlibne degree program. I know the chair of the Crimminal Justice school and he is a great guy. Being Former USAF myself I would make sure that you finish your CCAF degree in CJ, test out of as many of those courses as you can. Just my advice ;)

[Airforcop]

Originally posted by DanteSF
Like I said, the Air Force pays 100% tuition reguardless of the school. I would prefer to have a physical classroom, but seeing as I'll be on station in Europe for the next two years, it's not really an option.

This is incorrect. You may want to look at the fine print on the 100% TA offered by the AF. It is 100% TA, up to $750/class. UoP is one of the mose expensive online colleges out there. Unless you sign up under some special program, like I did, each class will cost approx $1050, which is around $300 out of your pocket every 5 weeks. You can use Top Up which will cover the difference out of your GI Bill, but why use if you don't have too?

When I started UOP, I signed up under an agreement where all my undergraduate classes were prorated to $750/class so 100% TA would cover it all. Because of this, I am using UOP to take care of my general education credits (math, english, science, etc...) and do NOT plan to pursue a degree through them. I an awaiting CLEP results for public speaking and that will finish off my Associates in CJ. In the next month I will be starting a Bachelor's program in either CJ or Business Management/Computer Science.

I just wanted to give you a heads up before you commit to something. Online schooling is the wave of the future. Check with some local colleges and I'm sure they will offer online degrees. Also, the education office is there for you, use it!!! They have a huge book of every college in the country with all the degrees. You look up the degree you want, they can look up the colleges that offer it in an online format, as well as tell what accredidation they are in, which is very important.