Could Capella be worth it at this price???

[Tedium]

No, I don't know anything about the quality, sorry. But you're rolling the dice wherever you go. HAU may not be great, UMPI sounds awful for the English Professional Writing concentration. A professor may be out for half of your classes in a B&M course.

My honest guess is that places like Capella, Walden, UoPx aren't that great quality-wise. They are for people that don't have time to devote to a full-time program. They probably have the experience to back them up, but not a degree. Kind of like the Big 3, ya know. That's fine, because you just need the credential to open doors. The actual knowledge your looking for is free-to-all. If you find a cheap, but sub-par degree, snap it up. Supplement it with some free Yale/Harvard/MIT lectures. No one will care as long as you actually gain the knowledge.

[Vle045]

That tuition does not look correct. Is your employer giving you tuition reimbursement? Capella charges tuition and fees for every session. You're also saying MINIMAL not MAXIMUM. So the bare minimum the tuition for the year would be $5200. Don't forget the fees. What's the MAXIMUM? Capella isn't exactly well known for discounts. FlexPath is a CBE program similar to WGU and UMPI.

Yes, they said minimal out of pocket costs, (not minimum).  $5200 a year is the maximum amount I would pay per calendar year.  In the order listed.  So let’s say I could finish in one 12 week term.  My cost would be $2000.  I don’t think I’d work that fast…. So that takes me to $4000 for two terms…. A third gets me to $5250…. The fourth term, only if it ends in the same calendar year, is free.  And that’s where it sparked my interest….  I might be able to pull off a year.   For about half the cost of some of the other schools on my short list.  If I started now, I’d still pay 5200, and the fourth term wouldn’t be free because that takes us in to 2023.  Of course this hinges on all things remaining the same by then. But this program has been in place for several years. I just never asked about it.  If it were closer to $10,000 or more, I wouldn’t bother.  Too many other options.

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That's the yearly tuition reimbursement amount...

Do your work place also belong to union? Do you already have tuition assistance or reimbursement from work?  

I think it's a good deal, if you're able to finish the program, or at least transfer the required courses over to Capella and finish the program.  

For Capella, the only program that interested me was their MEd in Teaching & Learning.  
They actually recently released a new EdD in Educational Leadership for Flexpath...  

Masters Link: https://www.capella.edu/online-degrees/m...-learning/
EdD Link: https://www.capella.edu/online-degrees/e...eadership/

From what I understand, it is a special discount rate that they worked out.  I don’t know how exactly.  But I got the cost breakdown directly from someone at Capella.  So to the best of my understanding, it’s not a reimbursement.  It’s my “minimal out of pocket cost”.   Of course, if I go to enroll and take them up on this and find some sort of bait and switch, I am out!  LOL.   The discount rate is only applicable to certain degrees, which includes the ones I am interested in.

[rachel83az]

Nobody's yet mentioned that Capella doesn't actually allow you to access FlexPath unless you take a number of traditional credits through them. For Bachelor's degrees, that's six or twelve full-price credits before they'll allow you to accelerate. If you're going for a Master's, I suspect it would be the same. Especially for someone with a GPA just low enough as to not qualify for many other Master's programs. For the "academic integrity" or whatever.

Personally, I think it's bait and switch to be like that, but I'm not a school regulator.

[jsd]

Really? What a dumb setup.

[rachel83az]

Really? What a dumb setup.

Yeah, we've had at least one student who was interested in a degree that was only offered through Capella - at least if one were looking for CBE degrees. They applied. Even with a bunch of acceptable transfer credits, they were told that they had to take full-priced credits first. I just don't remember if they would have had to take 2 classes or 4 before being allowed to access FlexPath courses.

[Vle045]

Nobody's yet mentioned that Capella doesn't actually allow you to access FlexPath unless you take a number of traditional credits through them. For Bachelor's degrees, that's six or twelve full-price credits before they'll allow you to accelerate. If you're going for a Master's, I suspect it would be the same. Especially for someone with a GPA just low enough as to not qualify for many other Master's programs. For the "academic integrity" or whatever.

Personally, I think it's bait and switch to be like that, but I'm not a school regulator.

Thanks for mentioning that.  I will be sure to ask that before I make a final decision.

[Tedium]

Nobody's yet mentioned that Capella doesn't actually allow you to access FlexPath unless you take a number of traditional credits through them. For Bachelor's degrees, that's six or twelve full-price credits before they'll allow you to accelerate. If you're going for a Master's, I suspect it would be the same. Especially for someone with a GPA just low enough as to not qualify for many other Master's programs. For the "academic integrity" or whatever.

Personally, I think it's bait and switch to be like that, but I'm not a school regulator.

Did not know. That sounds like an awful idea then, Vle045.

[Flelm]

I have looked at HAU… and considered it.  But my GPA doesn’t meet their requirements.  If I go ahead with the TAMUC degree, maybe that would boost that for me… but the $3,000 deal may be gone by then.  But on the off chance it’s still running at that point, it would be on my list.

I would not let your GPA stop you from applying, if HAU (or any other program) otherwise fits what you want. Let them reject you, don't reject yourself.

I have a pretty crappy GPA (I don't want to calculate my overall GPA, but TESU GPA was like 2.44), and was accepted to Eastern's programs (MBA/Data Science) with a letter of explanation, and to HAU with 2 letters of recommendation.

[SteveFoerster]

My honest guess is that places like Capella, Walden, UoPx aren't that great quality-wise.

I don't think that's fair. I've read a number of accounts from people who were surprised by how much work they had to do to get through those schools, and how their instructors added a lot of value. And on a personal note, two of the best courses I ever took, at any degree level, were at Strayer.

That said, I also think they're all too expensive for what they offer when there are cheaper alternatives out there, and for that reason I can't see recommending any of them. But that's not the same thing. And I wouldn't hesitate to hire someone who'd earned a degree from one of them.

[Vle045]

I decided to follow up and ask more questions. The FlexPath is available from the start for an MBA… if your undergrad GPA is 2.8 or higher. (Mine is not). If your GPA is above a 2.3 (Mine is), then you can submit some stuff for review and potentially get accepted to FlexPath right away. The pricing is only for the Flexpath. It is a specific deal they worked out with the company for specific degrees. The Guided Path is only a 10% discount (which would not be a good enough deal for me to bother with them). In order to finish in a year, I would have to be able to do 3 courses per 12 week term. So that’s the big question for that part.

First, can I get FlexPath from the start? Second, can I do 3 courses in 12 weeks?

I suppose if I do a term at TAMUC this summer, it could answer those questions. First, I’d know how much I got done in a 7 week term. Second, I’d know my grades. If I bomb out, then I could scrap the whole idea and go back to my Coursera and Sophia and just keep learning for learning’s sake.

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Oh… or…. Instead of TAMUC, I can do the ASU graduate certificate. Then I’d have some graduate level work and possibly some transferable credits if they fit in to the program at all.