[Nowak]

I'm considering looking into an accredited distance learning program ,the open university which is reasonably well ranked and probably the least shitty course one can do online. My concern is how employers in the EU/EEA/CH look at ''digital'' degrees. It's not too cheap either so lots of consideration must be taken. I want better prospects when I finish it.


Here's a link on a very popular student forum someone started


https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthr...?t=2140012


Here's the main page


http://www.openuniversity.edu/why-the-ou

[kinjutsu]

In my experience i wouldn't bother with any type of online education degree. Unless you plan on getting the entire degree with that place.
I had a very expensive and complicated issue with distance learning a few years ago.
I had originally planned to do online courses while i worked and then transition into full-time studying at a university within my city. After approx 1.5s of online classes i go to apply at my local university and find out that they only recognized 3 of the 9 courses that i did online. In total i spent over $5000 and sacrificed a lot when i thought it would be worth it. I spoke with the online university and they claimed ignorance.

After some detective work i learned...

It turns out that post secondary colleges and universities change course requirements frequently and do not update other competing schools very often. (I discovered this after talking to admin from a few schools in my area)

Online universities and physical schools lie through their teeth to get your money. When i confronted both schools about the issues i was having they basically said i should take more classes with them because other school is outdated/terrible etc...

Do not listen to the counselors.
Do your own research to make sure whatever you want to study is what you're actually studying. (Sometimes they will offer you classes that you don't necessarily need for your degree to inflate the participation numbers. Or you end up taking 2 classes that cover the same requirement when you only needed to take one)

[GlobalMan]

The University of London distance program is very good, been around for over 100 years, and good value. There is no difference in the degree or transcripts between their distance programs and traditional programs.

Courses

[kinjutsu]

(11-23-2016 05:49 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

The University of London distance program is very good, been around for over 100 years, and good value. There is no difference in the degree or transcripts between their distance programs and traditional programs.

Courses

How do other universities view their programs though? It's all fine if you're getting the courses all from the same school but that's rarely ever the case.

[Nowak]

(11-24-2016 02:44 PM)kinjutsu Wrote:  

(11-23-2016 05:49 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

The University of London distance program is very good, been around for over 100 years, and good value. There is no difference in the degree or transcripts between their distance programs and traditional programs.

Courses

How do other universities view their programs though? It's all fine if you're getting the courses all from the same school but that's rarely ever the case.

Looking more into this myself,thought someone on the forum might know something I don't given all the location independent types . They are ranked somewhat highly and their business school has the triple crown ranking. It would only come down to snootiness on the other universities end.


http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolran...ess-school

[DriftWood]

The Open University in the UK has a very good reputation, and their degrees have the same accreditation as any other UK university. They aren't completely online either, you can go to face-to-face tutorials hosted at local universities as well. I know of people who have gone on to postgraduate programs at the likes of Oxford and Cambridge or had new employment opportunities. I'm not sure how they are perceived in other countries.

[JonboyUK]

I am currently doing an MSc from the University of London Royal Holloway) and I would rate it as excellent.

I really don't see why people bother with actually "going" to University anymore and ending up with mountains of debt when there is a very viable alternative (my opinion of course).

It can be tricky fitting it around a job, but if you want it enough...
The set-up of the particular course I am in is very well thought out and the online resources are great and of course, you get the reading materials etc but with the internet, there is no excuse for not reading around your subject, unlike the library that I had to camp in when I did my degree!

J

[polar]

For credit classes via University of North Dakota has the cheapest I have found for all-online classes that aren't tied to a weekly schedule (you can take up to 9 months to complete a course).

[Jetset]

I am familiar with SUNY Empire State College. Overall, I found the quality of instruction to be very good and comparable to other State University of New York institutions. I don't know how it's received in Europe, but in the United States, SUNY is generally viewed positively as public universities go and there is a lot of networking.

I believe Penn State and University of Illinois have some respectable complete degree programs, as well.

[Hypno]

in the u.s., these are not highly regarded but they do satisfy "minimum requirements." for example, if you are an educator and you complete a masters, you might be eligible for a bump in pay because the regulations look only at whether you have a masters degree, not the quality of the school that granted it.

so they can be useful if you understand their limits.

[Ski pro]

My business partner is doing something with the OU. He's been at it for years and years now. Presumably he will finish at some point and have a piece of paper that tells him that it's all worth it.

Agree with the posters above, he's done most of it online but he's had to go physically to the campus to finish certain things off.