Colleges or Universities with online Information Technology degree programs

Deladan

I'm looking at low cost methods of obtaining my bachelor's degree. I already have an associates in applied science information technology, so any program that will allow me to use part or all of that would be great. Exploring my options at the moment while I get my business leadership certificate over the summer. 

Tekk

I reallly don't have many good experiences with online schools. My old company approved tuition reimbursement for Colorado Tech Online, and it seemed to be the lesser of the evils. 

If you live anywhere near a college, I advise not going the online route. I got a BA and MIS while going to U of M and I did about 80% of it online. It's very easy to manipulate your classes, even if they are not making offerings for a particular credit online like math. Take it somewhere else that does offer it online (like Wayne State) and transfer the credits into another school. 

Deladan

I live near ECU it's about 30 minutes away from my house, it's also the the one that I'd need my CCENT for. It really is the best degree option for me considering it'll eat nearly all of my associates degree and it's completely online. I'm just not certified lol. 

Tekk

ECU....in Ada?

Either way, jump on the CCENT. Don't dick around, it's very easy to get. I'll see if I can dig up a few resources and throw them up on Dropbox for you.

Deladan

East Carolina University. 

Achilles

I've heard good things about ASU's online program from Starbuck employees.  If I took a less traditional way through undergrad and needed a degree later one for career goals, I'd be a barista for a few years while taking online classes.  No idea if any school does a better job or not for preparing students for IT however.

Exelethril

Coursera has a few free courses from several universities that you can use to get additional certifications. I'm using them to supplement my mathematics degree so I joined a few out of interest.

Airmed

Most of the colleges in my state (Washington) offer full or partial online coursework. A large number of "traditional" classes still use some form of online interactions, like group discussions and such being done on a discussion board run by the instructor. "Hybrid" classes can be a good way to go -- through a traditional college/university -- if you have need of flexible scheduling. Usually, most of your homework and lectures will be found online with only labs or exams being done in the classroom. I highly recommend avoiding schools that "live" online.

Rispok

I strongly advise taking courses in class rather than online.

Tael

Online degrees are mostly a money pit.

If you're trying to get certified for something, online resources are a fine way of doing it (and you can probably find sufficient resources for free for any of the common certifications).

If you're trying to get a BA/S, an online degree will cost you money and end up worth almost nothing in most cases. BAs are only as valuable for employment as employers think they are and most employers do not think at all highly of online degree programs (often for good reason). Potential employers don't just look at your CV, see you have a BA, and call it a day - they look at where you got it. If they see either a school they've never heard of or an online degree program, they're likely to discount it completely (hell, it might even be working against you). A lot of online degree programs are shamelessly exploitative of their students too, with predatory lending and very little actual support of any kind or concern for your development.

As a practical matter, it's also legitimately difficult to learn more-complicated, less-procedural things online as compared to in a classroom. It can work fine for extremely technical, procedure-oriented stuff, but anything more complicated or nuanced is truthfully very hard to teach, and consequently hard to learn, in an online course. There is a reason that online courses don't garner the same respect as classroom courses.

If you're going to do an online degree of any kind - and others in this thread are right in cautioning strongly against it - at the very least look for an online program offered by a traditional school that you've actually heard of. There are a few that will do almost entirely online stuff, and a hybrid program like Airmed described might be your best option if you can swing the occasional visit to the campus for class.

Deladan

I should have made myself clearer when I posted this. I'm more or less looking for colleges with programs like this. 

http://www.ecu.edu/cs-tecs/techsystems/upload/BSIT_ICT_flyer_14.pdf

I'm not talking about completely online colleges, I'm talking about colleges and universities with online degree programs. 

Taraza

I'd probably just google Universities with online degrees in CIS and then contact them with more information. 

Deladan

I've been doing that with the Universities in North Carolina. I've had a couple universities tell me that my education is too technical for their degree programs. Like the UNC Pembroke has an Interdisciplinary Studies degree, with a focus on applied Information Technology. I send my transcript to them and then the head of the program called me. "This program is related to information technology, but with the classes you've already taken you'd be more of a fit for our Computer Science program."  They don't offer their computer science program online. 

Exelethril

Deladan said:

I've been doing that with the Universities in North Carolina. I've had a couple universities tell me that my education is too technical for their degree programs. Like the UNC Pembroke has an Interdisciplinary Studies degree, with a focus on applied Information Technology. I send my transcript to them and then the head of the program called me. "This program is related to information technology, but with the classes you've already taken you'd be more of a fit for our Computer Science program."  They don't offer their computer science program online. 

It might be worth the investment of taking their CS program on-campus then. Then again, it's super easy to fall into student debt in America, which could be crippling if you don't succeed.

Find out what the total cost of completing that program is, along with future job prospects, that university's reputation among employers, etc. It's a gamble.