<p>I just wanted to know your thoughts about online colleges and for profit colleges? I have looked into them before and it seems that a big theme with these colleges is that you can graduate faster because you skip all the generals courses. </p>
<p>However, it also seems like these schools are more expensive and not looked at as highly by employers (especially in professional fields like accounting, law, and medicine). Are these true assumptions? Should this be a concern for students in those schools? Can't you finish as quickly at a normal 4 year university?</p>
<p>There are many full-accredited online programs that are run by normal not-for-profit colleges and universities. If you need the convenience of a distance ed. program, check with your own home-state public Us and community colleges to find out what they have available. Two programs that have long solid track records and will award you a significant number of credits for CLEP or DANTES exams, and that are generous with credit for previous life/work experience are [UMUC</a> - Homepage](<a href=“http://www.umuc.edu%5DUMUC”>http://www.umuc.edu) and [Penn</a> State | Online Degrees, Online Courses, and Online Certificates offered by Penn State](<a href=“http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/]Penn”>http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/)</p>
<p>If you just want to finish as quickly as possible, and you prefer to take live classes, check out the credit-by-exam and credit for previous experience policies at the public colleges and universities in your state. Different institutions even in the same state will have different policies about that. By choosing your exams carefully, you may be able to use CLEP, DANTES, or other exams to eliminate almost all of your general education requirements.</p>
<p>In my circle I’ve only seen the for profit and online schools work for adults who have already been on the job and just need a degree to check a box to advance. I don’t know of anyone who hires someone new with those degrees - esp in a poor economy with oodles of applicants.</p>
<p>You just need to check the school out carefully. Some do a good job and have good placement rates, others do not. The one for profit school I’m familiar with runs 3 full semesters during the year (including summer) so students can get through more quickly if they go year round.</p>
<p>"In my circle I’ve only seen the for profit and online schools work for adults who have already been on the job and just need a degree to check a box to advance. I don’t know of anyone who hires someone new with those degrees - esp in a poor economy with oodles of applicants. "</p>
<p>I have noticed this as well. And, now doubt, these schools definitely target working adults in their ads.</p>
<p>msmith, for-profit universities are a contradiction in terms. Universities are supposed to operate with academic quality and students as their top priority. For-profit universities operate to generate revenue for shareholders and owners. There is a conflict of interest that is hard to ignore. I doubt you can point a single for-profit university that is respected. Look at any half-decent graduate program and let me know if you find a single graduate from a for-profit university in attendance.</p>
<p>“msmith, for-profit universities are a contradiction in terms. Universities are supposed to operate with academic quality and students as their top priority. For-profit universities operate to generate revenue for shareholders and owners. There is a conflict of interest that is hard to ignore. I doubt you can point a single for-profit university that is respected. Look at any half-decent graduate program and let me know if you find a single graduate from a for-profit university in attendance.” </p>
<p>You’re right. The programs at for profit colleges are definitely not as respected as non-profit universities (for the most part). </p>
<p>However, I have noticed that the for profit colleges are much more student focused.
Regular universities just can’t offer that due to the nature and size of their programs. </p>
<p>Also, regular universities give tenure to professors. Some of these professors have never set foot in the professional world or field in which they teach. Thus, they have no real-world experience. </p>
<p>Their whole lives are surrounded by researching the different areas of their field of study and this sometimes leads to a lacking in teaching their students. This is pretty bogus in my mind due to the amount of money students are paying for tuition. These professors go on being terrible teachers of their subject or area of expertise (which would get any other professional fired), and they can never get fired due to their tenure. </p>
<p>Overall, I agree that four year universities offer a better investment due to their accreditation and their selection of programs. But, I don’t think that accreditation always guarantees the BEST education for the money.</p>
<p>“In my circle I’ve only seen the for profit and online schools work for adults who have already been on the job and just need a degree to check a box to advance. I don’t know of anyone who hires someone new with those degrees - esp in a poor economy with oodles of applicants.”</p>
<p>I think this nails it. Some jobs–often public sector will give raises and promotions based on a degree-any degree from anywhere. So many in that sector get these online degrees–often from dubious sources–and get an nice raise or move up in the job. There was a report that indicated many public sector people from cops to teachers used these diploma mills to get ahead.</p>
<p>And some of the better for-profit schools do a good job of education people in vocational type of careers that require training and a college degree (ex. medical assistant, law enforcement etc.)</p>
<p>It doesn’t, but it sets minimum standards. How high the minimum standards are depends on which accreditation it is.</p>
<p>Regarding for-profit colleges, low graduation rates and high rates of student loan default appear to be more common than at not-for-profit private colleges:</p>
<p>So, perhaps they are a good solution for adults trying to advance their careers. But, they’re not so good an option for new freshmen just coming from high school? </p>
<p>(Of course, this is a HUGE generalization.)</p>
<p>^^^I don’t totally agree – some freshmen are looking to get trained for a more vocational type of job. I you have to look at the person and their situation/goals.</p>
<p>If you are a new freshman just from highschool, you are better off going to a cheap in-state public or community college. These online schools aren’t cheap.</p>
<p>I think the fact that so many of these for-profit schools are popping up all over the place plays a part in the desire to go to a college/uni that is known and has some prestige in your area. I would be a little concerned that if someone goes to some small LAC that isn’t widely known, potential employers may see the name of it and think it is one of those for-profits.</p>
<p>I think that most educated employers will know the small LACs or at the very least someone in personnel could google the school to see what it is. Certainly the grad schools know. In addition, generally the coursework you take would be different as many for-profit schools are very career oriented. While some fine LACs do not have as much name recognition as larger schools, I’ve never heard of a reasonably good LAC being mistaken for a for-profit school.</p>