Augusta U Online - $7-8k Masters Degrees!!!

[Jonathan Whatley]

Supposed to be coming out with a PhD in Intelligence and Cyber Security in concert with the Army. But no word if it will be available online.

The program’s hybrid-online instructional method will feature a mixture of mostly synchronous courses with some asynchronous options, opening the program to interested applicants nationwide, particularly those already in the workforce. This expands its potential reach to the entire nation, including all DoD sites, bases and federal agencies.

AU to launch new PhD in Intelligence, Defense, and Cybersecurity Policy (Milledge Austin, JAGWire [Augusta University], August 14, 2024)

[allvia]

2. Masters Public Administration (36 Credits) -  $236/credit - $8,496.00 total
https://www.augusta.edu/online/master-of...ration.php

And it is a NASPAA accredited Master of Public Administration (MPA). Making it a very good price point for a MPA degree.

[FireMedic_Philosopher]

The Intel and Cyber program Director appears to be a straight academic. No real world experience in the Army or industry from what I can see on his Linked In page. Not saying it is a disqualifier, just that I am going to question the real world experience of the faculty.

[sanantone]

Most tenure-track professors at traditional universities have little to no real world experience. They went to school at a time when there were few or no online doctoral programs, so you went straight from a bachelor's to a PhD program or from a bachelor's to a master's and then to a PhD. If you waited to return to doctoral studies later in life with a spouse and kids, you would be living in poverty.

With that said, in research-oriented fields, research is your real world experience. This mostly applies to the liberal arts, which are primarily theoretical: humanities, social science, mathematics, and natural science.

[Pats20]

Nice find. Also a top 200 university.

[wow]

MA Intelligence and Security Studies says it is 30 credits for the Technical concentration (https://www.augusta.edu/online/master-of...tudies.php) and 36 for the others (https://catalog.augusta.edu/preview_prog...urnto=5526).

[FireMedic_Philosopher]

MA Intelligence and Security Studies says it is 30 credits for the Technical concentration (https://www.augusta.edu/online/master-of...tudies.php) and 36 for the others (https://catalog.augusta.edu/preview_prog...urnto=5526).

If I did my math right, if you include the tuition plus mandatory online fees (393 per credit), each of these degrees ends up between 18,000 and 24,500 depending on if it is a 30 or 36 hour program.

That is no better than the local state schools for me. The MPA actually ends up being almost 8 grand more expensive.

YMMV

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Make sure to check on the fees! The tuition is great but oof the fees:

*An additional Online Learning Fee of $393 is required for each semester you are enrolled. This equates Online Learning Fees per total program of $786 for 10-15 credit hour certificates, $1,572 for 27-36 credit hour programs, and $1,965 for 37-45 credit hour programs.

I could be wrong, but I thought the fees were PER CREDIT HOUR not per semester.

[ss20ts]

MA Intelligence and Security Studies says it is 30 credits for the Technical concentration (https://www.augusta.edu/online/master-of...tudies.php) and 36 for the others (https://catalog.augusta.edu/preview_prog...urnto=5526).

If I did my math right, if you include the tuition plus mandatory online fees (393 per credit), each of these degrees ends up between 18,000 and 24,500 depending on if it is a 30 or 36 hour program.

That is no better than the local state schools for me. The MPA actually ends up being almost 8 grand more expensive.

YMMV

---

Make sure to check on the fees! The tuition is great but oof the fees:

*An additional Online Learning Fee of $393 is required for each semester you are enrolled. This equates Online Learning Fees per total program of $786 for 10-15 credit hour certificates, $1,572 for 27-36 credit hour programs, and $1,965 for 37-45 credit hour programs.

I could be wrong, but I thought the fees were PER CREDIT HOUR not per semester.

Their website says per semester. It says per semester right there in black and white. That was copied and pasted directly from the website.

[FireMedic_Philosopher]

If that is the case, then I apologize.

[FireMedic_Philosopher]

I reached out to the Intelligence program director. The $236 quote for the MA in Intelligence, (and likely the MPA, and the other masters) is only for in-state students or active duty military stationed in Georgia.

Out-of-state grad students pay $822/hour tuition

https://www.augusta.edu/tuition/graduate.php
-click Pamplin College of Arts, scroll down -

Only the specific programs listed on the eTuition webpage have tuition rates that do not make a distinction based on residency.

That means a single class for a non-Georgia resident in one of these Masters is almost 3 grand once you add the online student fee.

The 30 hour MA in Intelligence/cyber security for example would be over 24,000 in tuition alone.

Also, the PhD will be a hybrid program and is also $822/HR or just under $50,000 plus fees.

In either case, none of them are in my budget.