Online Universities

[lesta311]

Has anyone attended or know someone who attended an online university? I'm considering going back and that would be the route I would like to take. I see there are several offering Criminal Justice degrees in short periods of time. I was curious if anyone had any inside info i.e. decent courses, credit transfer, reasonable prices.....

Also, has anyone obtained an online degree and had any accreditation problems? Please.....Discuss........

[AgentParsons]

Try PCDI.com they offer home study course's and they are accredited.

No matter who yo go through make sure they are an acredited university or it's worthless and a waste of time and money!

[Virginian]

American Military University

Sounds legit and it's both nationally and regionally accredited, which makes it as legit as any college you could attend in person.

[121Traffic]

More specifically, REGIONALLY accredited is what you're looking for, as opposed to the more-prestigious sounding national accredidation.

THE FOLLOWING IS BORROWED FROM RP.NET...the poster, ROS, works at a brick and mortar college in the CJ program as an administrator, and this is good info.

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Accreditation... what does it all mean?

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I get asked this question a lot on another forum (911jobs), so I felt it fair to share it here as well. For those who are not currently enrolled in a CJ program, you may have questions about how to determine if a degree is accredited, and if so, what sort of accreditation it has.

First and most, it is important that a degree that is "accredited" be accredited by a council/agency that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDoEd). If the degree is from a foreign institution, or accredited by any other means (i.e. an agency that is not recognized by the USDoEd), it will likely be at the discretion of the employer as to whether they will accept it or not.

There are two types of accreditations recognized by the U.S., regional accreditation and national accreditation. It may seem because of the title that a national accreditation is higher than a regional accreditation, but the opposite is actually true. Your major state universities, as well as many other smaller universities/colleges and online colleges are regionally accredited by one of six agencies:

*Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education (MSA/CHE) http://www.msche.org/

*New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NEASC-CIHE) http://www.neasc.org/cihe/cihe.htm

*North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The Higher Learning Commission http://www.ncacihe.org/

*Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Colleges and Universities http://www.nwccu.org/

*Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges http://www.sacscoc.org

*Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) The Senior College Commission http://www.wascweb.org/

If a degree is regionally accredited, you can count on it being accepted anywhere for employment purposes. If a degree is nationally accredited, it is accredited by an agency recognized by the USDoEd, but NOT by one of the six regional accrediting agencies listed above. So, what does this mean? Some employers (though they are in the minority) will only accept degrees from regionally accredited schools… no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. Also, many regionally accredited schools will not accept transfer credits from nationally accredited schools (although this is not always the case, it is safe to say that this is the rule rather than the exception). On the contrary, credits from a regionally accredited school will always be transferable to a nationally accredited school.

So, at this point you may be saying to yourself, “I’m going to get a regionally accredited degree since it’s accepted everywhere.” Sounds good, but the difference is often times (although not always) the price. The price of tuition may be more, or less, at either one or the other, but typically speaking, it is probably safe to make a general rule that a nationally accredited school is more likely to be less expensive (per credit hour) than the major state universities (which are regionally accredited). Also, nationally accredited schools will often times admit students under less stringent requirements than regionally accredited schools (these include "career colleges"). That’s certainly not to say that they let anyone and everyone enroll, but many nationally accredited schools are seen as “second chance” colleges for those who aren’t able to matriculate into a regionally accredited school. Additionally, some private institutions may have national accreditation due to the institution being religious in nature. Both types of institutions (those that are regionally accredited and nationally accredited) serve a particular type of student need, and thus in that way, are equally important in educating students.

If anyone has any additional questions or comments in regard to this matter and would like to discuss them with me, shoot me a PM.

Additional Information: CLICK HERE(this is a website for foreign students wanting to seek degrees in the U.S., but the info provided is accurate).

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Diploma Mills

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Since the topic of "diploma mills" often comes up when discussing accreditation, particularly when talking about degrees received "online", here are some important questions one should ask about the degree program(s) they are researching that seem questionable:

If the answers to any of the following questions are “yes,” the degree provider under consideration may be a “mill”:

1. Can degrees be purchased (ex: "Earn a bachelor's degree for only $600!")?

2. Is there a claim of accreditation when there is no evidence of this status?

3. Is there a claim of accreditation from a questionable accrediting organization (i.e. not accredited by a regional or national accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education)?

4. Does the operation lack state or federal licensure or authority to operate?

5. Is little if any attendance required of students, either online or in class?

6. Are few assignments required for students to earn credits?

7. Is a very short period of time required to earn a degree?

8. Are degrees available based solely on experience or resume review (i.e. "Life Experience Degrees")?

9. Are there few requirements for graduation?

10. Does the operation fail to provide any information about a campus or
business location or address and rely only on a post office box or email address?

11. Does the operation fail to provide a list of its faculty and their
qualifications?

12. Does the operation have a name similar to other well-known colleges and universities?

13. Does the operation make claims in its publications for which there is no evidence?

**As an example of what a website for a diploma mill will look like, take a look at this website: http://www.belforduniversity.org. Pay close attention to what they have listed on their accreditation page (no mention of national or regional accreditation and recognition by the U.S. Dept of Education).**

[BEK]

I dont know where you are from but I would check the local colleges, alot are offering more and more online classes. That way if you have a problem you are closer to the school to go and bitch

[x5150x]

I am currently working towards a Bechelor's Degree in Law Enforcement Administration through here:

www.riosalado.edu

My state LESB recognizes them as they are fully accredited.

Let me know what you think.

[bikecop3141]

I will have to second American Military University. I am a third of the way through my Masters there. It is all relatively painless and is great for a cop's schedule. They are also accredited both nationally and regionally.

[Terminator]

I graduated with an on-line degree from Hard Knox University...maybe you've heard of it? They're not accredited, but they've got mad street cred.

[ofc129]

I'll go ahead and give a third vote for AMU. Several of my friends have finished up their degrees there. It's about the only fully online school I would bother with.