"Big 3" degree value?

[McNulty_CM]

I can certainly understand the "use the online degree as a pathway to getting your Masters" arguement... but I was just asking about the 4 year degree on it's own

Understanding that you were talking about a "4-year degree", do you mean Bachelors? with the methods available, it need not be a 4-year process. It can easily be a 2-year endeavor, or less. This would give you an additional 2 years to achieve a Masters from a B&M that, I assure you, would look much better than that traditional Bachelors you were initially talking about. Even a DL Masters, would be a bigger foot in the door for you than the other guy's well-respected Bachelors. I think that this is the point that many of the posters are trying to make. Use the CLEPs, DSSTs, and other DL methods to get through the foundation faster so you can step up to the top of the pile and NOT have to compete against all of the other traditional learners.