Good experiences with online masters programs?

[Rake47]

All, young Lt currently considering which online school to acquire my non-mandatory (mandatory) masters degree from. I'm sure plenty of you have good opinions on programs out there. I already have two business degrees, and I'm not necessarily committed to one type of program (just no engineering obviously).

Gratsi

[Duck]

University of Management and Technology. Completely worthless degree with a high school level effort.

[Lord Ratner]

Wait till you're a two-year captain and do the ACSC online masters program

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[slackline]

Don't do it unless you want a real degree. Problem will never solve itself if you guys keep getting degrees anyway...

[Rake47]

I'm not the guy that checks the box just to check the box. The reason I'm asking is because I do actually want a decent degree from a good, reasonable, and military friendly school

[Dupe]

22 minutes ago, DINO said:

... a good, reasonable, and military friendly school

You can pick two of those.

[M2]

American Military University

[bluedevil]

Florida Institute of Technologies (FIT). Their extended studies programs are covered by TA with their wisdom warrior discount. Normally $1200 a credit hour. Pretty legit school.

[Boomer6]

Oklahoma State has some good online programs. They have a good MBA program and a few engineering degrees. Some require GMAT/GRE and some don't.

[mcbush]

I wanted to do an MBA and looked at Oklahoma State too. Wound up going with the U. of Nebraska program in the end. It's pretty well rated and comes in about $200/hr above TA... not a bad price for a respectable degree. 

I'm about halfway through it now. Some days I actually enjoy the work and sometimes I wonder why I'm even bothering. If you've mind up your mind though and definitely want to knock out the Masters now, I'd recommend the program. 

[ThreeHoler]

Wait till you're a two-year captain and do the ACSC online masters program

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This.

[Jaded]

If you can, wait until you're a major select and do the ACSC masters program so you get ACSC credit too.

[Snuggie]

If you want a MPA I would suggest University of Nebraska Omaha. Very military friendly (without the student body being 100% military box checkers), a wide variety of degree concentrations, and from a real school. It's over TA but only not widely so. The University of North Carolina also has a highly ranked MPA degree program but they are live streamed classes done in the evenings and it is very expensive. With my schedule it wouldn't have worked but could be an option if you have a normal M-F job and want a legit degree. 

[Homestar]

Penn State has online programs

https://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/degrees-and-certificates/directory/graduate/master

[bfargin]

Tennessee Technological University has a great MBA program (10 classes - 30 hours) that is accredited and the school is as military friendly as the state allows (not much room for negotiation on state mandated tuition rates). Three of the MBA professors are AF veterans and all of the staff is willing to work around deployments and other job requirements of active military. I work at TTU so drop me a PM if you want additional information.

Edited February 18, 2016 by bfargin
sentence structure

[Rake47]

Has anyone had any experiences that they would specifically NOT recommend a school for? I know tons of people used to do the ERAU thing and I've been told it's gone way down hill in recent years

[slackline]

Basically stay away unless the place started as a brick and mortar school. Otherwise you'll get a degree that won't be worth anything anywhere other than the military.

[M2]

5 hours ago, slackline said:

Basically stay away unless the place started as a brick and mortar school. Otherwise you'll get a degree that won't be worth anything anywhere other than the military.

Disagree, my AMU graduate degree has served me well.  My company even paid for it, despite the fact that I already had one from active duty...

[Termy]

Don't rule out actually doing a real Masters somewhere.  I did the executive MBA from a top 15 business school-every other Friday and Saturday, two weeks a summer, and volunteer exchanges for a week each in Canada, Israel, and China.  Ton of work but totally worth it.  There were 5 of us in the class that were military-one guy deployed and just deferred his studies for a year. I PCS'd halfway through and just commuted for the last year. 

 

[HU&W]

I did mine at Texas A&M (online).  Great degree and experience.  It was, however, quite a bit of work.  With deployments, it took me about five years to complete the two year degree.

[Gunnerlit]

What are your plans after the military?

I am in the Delta State Master of Commercial Aviation. GI-Bill is covering it. 10 classes (30 hours) it is set up to be done in a year with summer classes. All on-line. Largest assignment is a 30 page paper on your choice of subject (aviation related).

[Rake47]

I'm all about keeping all doors open honestly. Unfortunately with my squadron job, flying trip, and deployment schedule (roughly 1-to-1), I doubt I'd be able to make actually going to classes a reality. I'm all about using my time, energy, and money wisely, and keeping all of my options on the table.

[ThreeHoler]

If you want options...your best bet is the ACSC online masters program (OLMP). Very low time requirement and very easy to work into a demanding flying schedule, squadron job, and deploying multiple times a year. It will also cost you zero dollars, unless you decide to buy the course books, and then it will cost you about $80 total.

It will also leave you available to get a good MBA or other MS/MA as desired for post-AF employment.

[MilitaryToFinance]

15 hours ago, ThreeHoler said:

It will also leave you available to get a good MBA or other MS/MA as desired for post-AF employment.

This is so important and I'm glad I'm not the only one harping on this point. If you are checking the box with the easiest masters degree then do it in something pointless, don't get a crappy MBA to check the box. A good MBA can open up so many employment options you might not even be aware of but once you've done a crappy online MBA you have closed that door on yourself. If you can attend a part-time MBA from a legitimate top program that is one thing but an online only MBA is a bad idea in general. I think this tendency to check the box is why the Air Force is so vastly under-represented in terms of veterans at top MBA programs.

[pcola]

Not applicable to the OP, but for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread, I got a MEng (Master of Engineering) through the University of Illinois at Chicago and it was a positive (and difficult) experience.  The major drawbacks are cost (currently at $830/semester hour) and level of effort.  However, if you qualify for the IL Veterans Grant, it will cover all tuition with no need for a TA commitment.  It was no joke, and considering that my last EE course was 10 years prior to starting this degree, I had a significant amount of catching up to do in the math department.  While I didn't have to attend any on-campus events, I did have to have university approved proctors for mid-terms and finals for each class, which was a PITA while deployed.  Classes run concurrent with the on-campus schedule, so they are traditional 16 week fall and spring and 8 week summer classes.  Total required coursework is 36 hours, and each course is 4 hours, so 9 classes.  Typical curricula might consist of 5-6 technical engineering classes, along with 1-2 Engineering law classes and 1-2 Project Management classes.  Personally, I took one class at a time for 9 straight semesters, so it took 3 full years to complete.  Rough, but worth it in the long run since I have a degree I'm proud to put on my resume/wall vs a box filler that I'd rather hide.  

Here's the link:  https://meng.uic.edu/index.htm