Bachelor's degree on a budget

[DawnM]

I am aware of that, but I was just curious because of the OP only mentioned those 2 schools as being her only options.

Dawn

This is a matter of the state of CA being totally and completely broke.

 

[luvsJack]

What is WGU please?

Sorry, the pp is correct it is Western Governor's University. It is completely online, decent priced tuition and is regionally accredited. I am in the process of enrolling to get my teaching degree, the teachers college is also accredited by NCATE.

 

[clh2]

I also saw the show about Phoenix University online school. There is NO WAY - and I mean NO WAY would I ever spend money there. NONE. What a rip-off. Totally!

 

[luvsJack]

I also saw the show about Phoenix University online school. There is NO WAY - and I mean NO WAY would I ever spend money there. NONE. What a rip-off. Totally!

I have a coworker that just got her degree from Phoenix. She has found a job in her field but not starting where she should with her degree. She will basically be working her way up to the position (and pay) that most with her degree hold. So, I guess it got her foot in the door and she will be able to advance past where one would be able to without a degree but, otoh, she will be paying back some big loans on very little pay for awhile.

She was taking accounting classes at the same time as I was taking some from the college I work for. I was doing income statements and she was writing essays. Not sure what that was about.

 

[Cooky]

.

 

[disfan07]

where are you in california?

I know that at my community college, it is possible to get you bachelors degree through the university center. It's the same classes that you would take at some of the CSU schools ( I know CSU Bakersfield is one of the schools)

What do you mean by they have completely cut off new applicants?

Do you mean for this fall? If yes than of course they did....deadline was back in novemeber and they make no acceptions for that. They don't accept people after that and they are only selecting a few winter and spring transfers. Unfortunately, this would be a case of you waited too long to decide and you will have to waiat and apply in nov. for next fall.

No CSU or UC schools has completely closed their doors to new applicants. I know people from my CC school who got into CSU Northridge, Cal Poly, and SDSU as well as all UC schools as junior transfers.

 

[Molly Meow]

Thank you all so much for the suggestions! I feel that I have quite a few more options now.

To answer some questions, I'm in the central valley of CA. There's only a couple local schools. I could drive further away to attend a different community college, but our budget and my ancient car don't allow for that.

Some people seemed curious about what is going on with the CSU system. Here's a quote from CSU Mentor, which is the site you use to apply for CSU admission:

"With the $584 million reduction in CSU's 2009-10 budget, CSU is required to reduce overall student enrollment. Because of reduced enrollment spaces for new students, CSU campuses may be required to restrict the application options. Some campuses, however, will continue to receive applications for some admission categories and terms of entrance. Please check the application filing status report for specific information regarding admission application options."

My local CSU is one of the ones that had to "restrict the application options." They did this by not accepting any. We're not sure when they're going to open up again.

Again, thank you all SO much for your help!

 

[magik]

Stay away from schools like University of Phoenix and ITT online. They are nationally, rather than regionally accredited, and way overpriced.

It's very common for more traditional schools to be offering online classes now, as previous posters have mentioned. Dig around until you find a state school (CA or another state) that has the classes you need and tuition you can handle. As far as transferring, you want to find out from the college you want to graduate from if there is a "matriculation agreement" with the other school. This would be to make sure you get all the proper credit as well as ensure that they don't downgrade an "A" to a "B" for example.

CA has traditionally had extremely low tuition for its residents so you may experience a bit of sticker shock.

Since your local schools would probably be cheaper, be persistent but not annoying about checking in with the registrar's office to see what you might be able to get into.

I agree to stay away from University of Phoenix online unless you have no other choice. I am doing an online degree program through a state school, and there's just one class I need that isn't offered online through my school. They preapproved a particular University of Phoenix class for transfer, and the UoP class was the most painful online learning experience of my life. I love my online classes through my normal school, but I hated the UoP course, plus it cost twice as much as what my normal classes cost. There was also a LOT of group work in the UoP course (and most UoP courses from my understanding), which I'm not a fan of, especially when you basically only have 1 week for each assignment, and sometimes there are 2 papers due a week.

If I were in your situation and it really is about budget, I'd keep sticking it out with the local community college and get as many credits as you can there, whether in person or online through them (my local CC has both online and in-person courses), and then transfer to a four year school.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I've also heard good things about WGU ~ I need to go to school!

 

[bcoomer]

I attend American Public University, it is strictly online, but is regionally accredited by the same accreditation as Harvard, Yale etc. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission,North Central Association. It is the cheapest online school I have found only 750 dollars per class, or 250.00 per credit hour. Most of the professors I have had are top notch and teach at other Universities and colleges across the country. It has been a very good experience for me, as I have attended a traditional brick and mortar school and have found the work at APUS to be as challenging if not more challenging than a brick and mortar school. The school is very highly thought of espcially in teh federal government sector as well as most state educational agencies. I am majoring in History and will be finished in December and be fully certified to teach. All of the state educational agencies I have contacted reagrding a teaching liscense have no problem with them. Just something for you to look at.

 

[amylynne01]

I attend American Public University, it is strictly online, but is regionally accredited by the same accreditation as Harvard, Yale etc. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission,North Central Association. It is the cheapest online school I have found only 750 dollars per class, or 250.00 per credit hour. Most of the professors I have had are top notch and teach at other Universities and colleges across the country. It has been a very good experience for me, as I have attended a traditional brick and mortar school and have found the work at APUS to be as challenging if not more challenging than a brick and mortar school. The school is very highly thought of espcially in teh federal government sector as well as most state educational agencies. I am majoring in History and will be finished in December and be fully certified to teach. All of the state educational agencies I have contacted reagrding a teaching liscense have no problem with them. Just something for you to look at.

My husband also attends APU. He was planning on going to Physician's Asst school after he is done with his BS, so he contacted a local school to see if they would accept his degree from an online school like APU. The PA school (Mass College of Pharmacy) said that as long as he has completed a certain list of classes, he is good, and where he got his degree from didn't matter as long as it was regionally accredited.

If a school is regionally accredited, there should be no issue transferring the credits or obtaining employment. That type of accreditation is the most important. Good luck OP!

 

[LovableGluttons]

My DH received his MBA from University of Phoenix and had no difficulty having it accepted by major corporations when he interviewed prior to accepting the current position his is in now. It made him very competitive with other MBAs in his field. Perhaps it is the profession one is using the MBA in that makes it matter where you obtain your degree from?

I initially attending SIU on campus, then finished my RN at a University of Texas campus. I have lived all over the country since leaving Texas and have had no gripes about my degree nor my license in the last 20 years.

Is this a new trend?

During my Master's program, my credits were accepted with no hesitation!

 

[MomtoGKC]

I don't know much about online schools, but if you are going to consider one go get Good Housekeeping first. They have a big article about online schools this month - I couldn't believe some of the things I read. Poor people spending tons of money, being told the school is accredited then when they graduate finding out it wasn't the right type of accredidation. Now they're stuck with no way to get a job and a huge student loan bill. So sad. Other schools trying to practically bully you into signing up (many of the recruiters get bonuses for the amount of students they recruit.)

They did have a section on what to look for in an online school as well.