What do you know about certain online colleges? i.e. AIU university and University of Phoenix?
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I am taking classes through Mt. Sierra's Graphic Design program and I love it. As others mentioned on here, time management is a huge factor.
Their classes are set up in 4 - 11 weeks long terms each year. Each week you download a PDF document from the site that has all your assignments listed for the week, required reading and lecture notes. You also have a discussion forum that you need to post to each topic twice during the week (once before Thursday and another time before Sunday) and there are usually 2-3 topics each week. In some classes you have videos of the assignments being done that you can follow along with. A huge benefit to this is you can pause, go back and even weeks later watch the videos again if you need refreshing. Generally all your assignments are due at the end of the week (weeks go Monday to Sunday).
I also have a BA from a state university in a similar program. I personally feel that I have had a much better experience with the online classes than on campus. I also feel like I have learned more with online classes than on campus because it is almost impossible to coast. You are so much more involved in the learning process. While there are time restrictions, you are also learning at your own pace and convenience. The professors are immensely helpful as well as understanding (not to mention highly qualified) and the class sizes are small.
If you are looking for a program where you are face to face with people, online might not be the best. But if you are like me and have a crazy work schedule, live in a rural area and find that you need a lot of flexability, online might work for you. You do have to really be a self-starter and on top of things, but this is also a learned skill. I am the worst procrastinator but taking online classes is teaching me better time management and I have excellent grades and have also learned skills that assist me in the workplace.
If you do decide that online is best for you, really ask a lot of questions. I found that the college site on about.com had great pointers and they have a list of questions that you should ask admissions representatives. By the time I signed up for my classes, I felt very confident in my decision.
Good luck with your search!
While these schools do give you the education you may be looking for, they are 'for profit' companies (unlike regular universities), are very expensive, and in general are not highly regarded by people as giving you a strong education and "real" degree.
I don't have any firsthand experience with AIU or University of Phoenix, but I've heard mixed reviews of colleges such as those. I'm currently taking online classes through my community college. I prefer the online setting and have found that my college is much more reasonably priced.
The only drawback for me is time management. I have to really keep on top of everything and make sure that I don't fall behind because once you do it is very hard to catch back up.
I too am weighting my options on both of these schools. I don't know much about AIU but I have two friends that graduated from University of Phoenix (on in Marketing and the other in Web Design). They had positive things to say about the school but that it is difficult because you are on your own schedule and have to really keep up with your work. Best of luck to you, I totally know what you are dealing with at this time.
HERE IS YOUR ANSWER
As a former student, I know it is terrible. Intel for one will not hire UOP graduates, they dont consider it a quality Univ.
Look at the following places
www.uopsucks.com
www.RipOffReport.com (search UOP)
Then simply search yahoo or google for "UOP sucks"
I lost about 6K dollars going there for roughly 4 classes. I finally had my can full when my last teacher simply took off for 2 weeks. (the class was 5 weeks total.)
Its a terrible place, and a waste of your money. Look for other places online, and then yahoo or google search the name of the university followed by "sucks." From here you can see the good and bad.
Too many websites devoted to why UOP sucks should be a hint.
Walden seems like a better place to me. The drawbacks are the increased hours to complete classes, and possibly the higher prices. Walden charges 800 a class, while UOP charges 1400.
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