Is it possible to 'hide' a degree?

[sarg123]

only 30% of American-born CEO's of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500 attended an elite college

That's interesting, I didn't know that!

I just brought in "Ivy Leagues" as a side point. No-one in my family has gone to one, so it was totally theoretical, honestly, I know nothing more about these colleges than what I read in the papers. I just meant colleges that are better regarded, or whatever. Where I live, Rutgers is considered a fairly good college, and a business degree from Rutgers is very respectable. I am not sure how TESU is regarded, I think it definitely sounds good (State College?), so I'm hoping it's good. It's definitely quite a few steps up from the University of Phoenix - a degree from there wouldn't get me into the front door of ANY company (and believe it or not, it's regionally accredited, I checked) I also know that no degree from any college is a guarantee for success. To be quite honest, as I was studying for the Strategic Management TECEP, I was thinking - what are the chances that Bill Gates or Steve Jobs actually took this course and followed what they said? I would think, probably zero. To make it big in the business world, you need something that cannot be found in any class in college.

I think that sometimes it does matter, though - even if not in the way you mean. I have a friend who went to a "big name" college, and in almost every conversation, she'll make sure to "casually" bring in the name of her alma mater - and she doesn't even work in that field any more! Also, I once used a doctor that I'll admit that the main reason I chose him was that he was a graduate of Harvard Medical School.

To your second point (actually the last point in your full post): I don't think anyone here said they the degrees were "exactly the same.

I have been told by my college advisers, and I think it's true, that it doesn't matter where you go for undergrad if you can get into a "good" graduate school. So, for many purposes, the big three and a B&M are indeed "exactly the same". On my end, I'm not planning on going to graduate school, and some of my friends are very skeptical of the utility of a bachelor's degree from TESU. They certainly feel that their degrees (from B&M's) are "better"... There is certainly a bias from some people about getting a degree online. But... I'm betting that once I get work experience, it won't matter where I went. I wasn't willing to bet $60,000 (the cost of a master's degree) the other way...

[Life Long Learning]

The Big 3 are NOT going against the tidal wave. They were never in that sea from the start. They were founded 50 years ago to not to have a capstone and to let adults transfer in 100%. They were not meant to be California like at all. They were founded to be different and not join the Jones! They are starting to progressively get away from their history and concept.

I am not saying they are not a great deal. They are still a great deal! I 100% love all 3.

I am just being intellectually honest that they are not as progressive as they were.

Yes, you can't transfer in 100% of the credits, but you can still test out of 114/117 credits. Requiring a single course taken there is not insane. I think that they did this because at other schools (most of our UC and CSU system schools here in CA are this way), you now have to take a capstone course. ALL schools are starting to do this. The Big 3 cannot go completely against the tidal wave of there other 9 million college in the US, or else it would be obvious that their degrees weren't up to snuff. So, they've decided, one by one, to go the way of the crowd. It is STILL cheaper and faster than any other college except the competency-based models. They still accept 97.5% of a degree being transferred in - look for another school that will do that. You can still get a bachelor's degree for less than $7500 starting from scratch (and even less if you can utilize Study.com scholarships, affiliate memberships, SL coupons, and take multiple courses from Study.com and SL in a month). This is just crazy cheap! It's almost the same price as our CSU-system schools here in CA were 29 years ago (I paid about $1500/yr at SJSU). It's roughly the cost of a single year there now.

I'm certainly not complaining, even if it's not perfect.

[sanantone]

I agree with SolarKat. There are so many variables to this that it is impossible to make a blanket statement of any sort about any degrees.

Generally speaking, the more prestigious the university, the better your degree. Obviously a degree from an Ivy League is worth a lot more than a degree from a "regular" college. I think the assumption on this forum, however, is that the Ivy League colleges are not on the table, so we'll take them out of the equation for now. A lot depends on your major, so that's part of the equation as well. There are so many degrees from B&M universities that are pretty much useless for finding a job - psychology, sociology, and history are three concentrations that come off the top of my head. So, in those fields, it really doesn't matter where you got your bachelor's. In general, if you're planning on continuing to graduate school, it doesn't either matter too much where your bachelor's is from - so that's another plus for the big three.

It's really best to do your research before you make a decision about this - as sometimes it matters, and sometimes it doesn't.

Personally, I'm hoping that in my case it won't matter too much. I'm hoping to get my degree in Business/Accounting through TESU - I am doing this because, at my age, and with kids/job and other responsibilities, this is the only option that is really available for me. Also, since I am not looking for the traditional anyway, (I'm planning to start working only part-time) it may not matter too much where I got my degree. But I think that there is definitely a bias against online degrees in general, and in my area in particular, so it may work against me once I start looking for a job. A lot will depend on the attitude of the person doing the hiring, I guess.

As for cost... yes, a degree from the big three is really inexpensive, but depending on many factors, a degree through a regular college does not necessarily cost that much either. There are many low cost options such as community colleges, there is FAFSA, and in my state there is TAG, in NY I think it's called TAP, in NJ they have the NJ Stars program, and many colleges give generous scholarships.

Someone mentioned this earlier, but it's worth repeating - if you get into Phi Theta Kappa from community college, you can get very generous transfer scholarships. You don't have to be a genius to get this - community colleges are generally geared toward the average person, so if you are reasonably intelligent, take school seriously and do homework, and study for tests, I think it's not that hard to get. I just applied to an online four year college - I found that I would be able to get a bachelor's degree practically for free! It was really tempting, but I decided I'd rather finish faster and pay a bit more money. I think it will end up costing me about $3500 to finish up with TESU - I'm trying to tell myself that that's really not so much for a degree, but it's $3500 more than I would have to pay if I went to the online college!

Also, as SolarKat mentioned, you are just not going to get the same skill set from the "testing out" method. In the "relatively easy" community college that I just went to, a paper was required for EVERY class, including chemistry. You also had to take some kind of math - and my classes were much harder than ALEKS (you were also actually graded, as opposed to just needing a 70%). It seems like it is possible to graduate from any of the "big three" without EVER having to write a paper. Look, I know that you really don't need that skill for real life (for most people), but if someone like that goes to a regular graduate school, they will be in over their head.

There are SO many scenarios where a big three college degree is a great option - but to say that it's exactly the same as a B&M degree... I would say that really, really depends on what you need the degree for.

I'm going to have to disagree with you. My employer employs thousands of people with bachelors degrees in psychology, sociology, counseling, etc. Those are the preferred degrees for social services. There are always a lot of job openings in criminal justice and social services looking for those degrees; it's just a matter of whether or not people want to apply.

[sanantone]

The Big 3 are NOT going against the tidal wave. They were never in that sea from the start. They were founded 50 years ago to not to have a capstone and to let adults transfer in 100%. They were not meant to be California like at all. They were founded to be different and not join the Jones! They are starting to progressively get away from their history and concept.

I am not saying they are not a great deal. They are still a great deal! I 100% love all 3.

I am just being intellectually honest that they are not as progressive as they were.

They also have to stay accredited. TESU mentioned once (I can't remember what it was for) that they had to change a policy for accreditation purposes.

[RANSOMSOUL]

Value on school in many ways depends on ones story:

If you went to an Ivy league school and now are a multiple 6 figure/7 figure earner, you most likely feel that the cost, resources/alumni played a valuable part to your success.

If you went to an Ivy school and now are not hitting a 6 figure level and even worse, unemployed, I bet Ivy league schools to you suck!!! There's a high probabilty that you have a personal blog and youtube channel screaming about how much of a waste education is!!!

If you went to an unknown school/local school and are a strong earner, the thought of going to an Ivy league school would be a total waste of money. There is a high probability that you have a personal blog and youtube channel screaming that paying for an Ivy League school is a total waste!!!

If you did not go to collage and earn a 6 figure / 7 figure income, college in the modern day just does not make any sense at all unless going for a specialty like doctor, engeneer, teach or personal satisfaction. There is a high probability that you are way too busy to have a blog or youtube channel talking about anything!


Going back to the OP - Earning a degree is hard no matter if it's an Ivy league or Big 3 and I would spend my energy working on accomplishing that goal way before worrying about hiding it.

[dfrecore]

The Big 3 are NOT going against the tidal wave. They were never in that sea from the start. They were founded 50 years ago to not to have a capstone and to let adults transfer in 100%. They were not meant to be California like at all. They were founded to be different and not join the Jones! They are starting to progressively get away from their history and concept.

I am not saying they are not a great deal. They are still a great deal! I 100% love all 3.

I am just being intellectually honest that they are not as progressive as they were.

I think if they need to keep their accreditation, as well as get new accreditation (they just got ACBSP), they have to stay current with what's going on with other schools. And other schools all over the country are requiring capstones. It's just the way it is. They are not purposely trying to go out and NOT be progressive, but they also have other goals.

[sanantone]

I think if they need to keep their accreditation, as well as get new accreditation (they just got ACBSP), they have to stay current with what's going on with other schools. And other schools all over the country are requiring capstones. It's just the way it is. They are not purposely trying to go out and NOT be progressive, but they also have other goals.

One of their goals is helping people get degrees than can lead to employment. Considering that New Jersey gives preferential treatment to AACSB and ACBSP accreditation when it comes to sitting for the CPA exam, then it only makes sense that TESU try to obtain one of those accreditations in order to help their students. It's the same reason why TESU and Excelsior have earned ABET and nursing accreditations. Excelsior has been making it more and more difficult to get into its nursing program because they have to if they want their program to continue to qualify for licensure. Many states are already on the fence and several have made additional requirements for Excelsior graduates.

[sarg123]

One of their goals is helping people get degrees than can lead to employment. Considering that New Jersey gives preferential treatment to AACSB and ACBSP accreditation when it comes to sitting for the CPA exam, then it only makes sense that TESU try to obtain one of those accreditations in order to help their students. It's the same reason why TESU and Excelsior have earned ABET and nursing accreditations. Excelsior has been making it more and more difficult to get into its nursing program because they have to if they want their program to continue to qualify for licensure. Many states are already on the fence and several have made additional requirements for Excelsior graduates.

Actually, I think that the CPA rules are changing as of July 1, and they will no longer give preferential treatment to those colleges. Funny time to change!

[sarg123]

I'm going to have to disagree with you. My employer employs thousands of people with bachelors degrees in psychology, sociology, counseling, etc. Those are the preferred degrees for social services. There are always a lot of job openings in criminal justice and social services looking for those degrees; it's just a matter of whether or not people want to apply.

I had heard that you need a master's for those jobs, at least in my area, but it's possible things have changed over the years.

On the other side of the coin, there seem to be more and more jobs that require a degree - any degree. For example, a friend of mine, who's in her 50's, just STARTED college this year because her job suddenly required a degree. She teaches three year olds, for goodness sake, she has twenty years of experience, and she's great with the kids - and now suddenly she has to learn college level courses... some things just don't make sense.

[sanantone]

Actually, I think that the CPA rules are changing as of July 1, and they will no longer give preferential treatment to those colleges. Funny time to change!

In New Jersey? I believe TESU applied for accreditation in 2015 or 2016.

I had heard that you need a master's for those jobs, at least in my area, but it's possible things have changed over the years.

On the other side of the coin, there seem to be more and more jobs that require a degree - any degree. For example, a friend of mine, who's in her 50's, just STARTED college this year because her job suddenly required a degree. She teaches three year olds, for goodness sake, she has twenty years of experience, and she's great with the kids - and now suddenly she has to learn college level courses... some things just don't make sense.

In Texas (and probably most other states), you don't need a masters degree to become a parole officer or CPS investigator. You don't even need a masters degree in most states to become a substance abuse counselor. You need a masters degree for most social worker jobs; however, there is a license at the baccalaureate level. You also need a masters degree to become a mental health counselor and marriage and family therapist. Most social service jobs don't require a license.