MA English, MA TESOL, etc.

[YankeeDoodle]

I'm finding a lot of great, online grad options, but I'm a bit sketched out by American Public University System's for-profit status. Am I being irrational? What are some good options for an aspiring ESL teacher? I want cheap options.

[rachel83az]

Nothing wrong with for-profit if they have a good reputation.

[YankeeDoodle]

Nothing wrong with for-profit if they have a good reputation.

How can I adequately evaluate that? American Public University system IS regionally accredited through the HLC and totally compliant with SARA, but how do I know it would be respected? I do have a CELTA, which should help establish credibility for whatever other accreditations I get, I suppose.

[rachel83az]

I've not heard anything bad about APU/AMU. They're on the wiki as a source for a bachelors degree.

If you're in the US/Canada, WGU might be a good option. Competency-based degree that's a bit over $3k every 6 months.

[ss20ts]

Non-profit is really a mislabel. Many colleges are making a profit yet they don't pay property taxes and use a ton of services from the communities they're in. They have endowments worth millions. Some non-profit colleges have endowments larger than the annual budget of entire nations. No joke.

[innen_oda]

Nothing wrong with for-profit if they have a good reputation.

How can I adequately evaluate that?

This is a great question! There's no fail-safe method, but one of the ways hiring managers check is by simple internet research. Hiring managers have a lot of applicants and not a lot of time, so not only do we see heaps of unis from all over, we also have little time (or, to be honest, interest) to fully investigate. So you want to think and act like a hiring manager. If you knew nothing about a university and/or a specific degree from a uni, and only had 2 minutes to investigate, what would you do? How thorough would you be? What keywords are you looking for, and what results are you hoping to see (or not see)?

(Unless you've been doing this a while, it'll probably take you more time than what the average hiring manager needs to investigate, but you do NOT want to err on the side of being too thorough. A lot of people here and on the sister board make the mistake, I think, of getting into the nitty gritty of the course content, spending ages comparing specific course offerings, national and international rankings in various categories, etc etc. No hiring manager or employer will spend the time doing this for applicants. We have 100 applicants for 1 job, and multiple jobs to fill. Right now, you're just a name on a bit of paper.)

I have no personal animosity towards ENEB, but there's a reason why I think it's a terrible investment for anyone hoping to use it for career progress. Based on the above, you can probably figure out why.

Also - outside the US, your CELTA can be used for RPL in many TESOL Master degrees, often counting for one or two practicum courses. Just something to think about.

[YankeeDoodle]

Nothing wrong with for-profit if they have a good reputation.

How can I adequately evaluate that?

This is a great question! There's no fail-safe method, but one of the ways hiring managers check is by simple internet research. Hiring managers have a lot of applicants and not a lot of time, so not only do we see heaps of unis from all over, we also have little time (or, to be honest, interest) to fully investigate. So you want to think and act like a hiring manager. If you knew nothing about a university and/or a specific degree from a uni, and only had 2 minutes to investigate, what would you do? How thorough would you be? What keywords are you looking for, and what results are you hoping to see (or not see)?

(Unless you've been doing this a while, it'll probably take you more time than what the average hiring manager needs to investigate, but you do NOT want to err on the side of being too thorough. A lot of people here and on the sister board make the mistake, I think, of getting into the nitty gritty of the course content, spending ages comparing specific course offerings, national and international rankings in various categories, etc etc. No hiring manager or employer will spend the time doing this for applicants. We have 100 applicants for 1 job, and multiple jobs to fill. Right now, you're just a name on a bit of paper.)

I have no personal animosity towards ENEB, but there's a reason why I think it's a terrible investment for anyone hoping to use it for career progress. Based on the above, you can probably figure out why.

Also - outside the US, your CELTA can be used for RPL in many TESOL Master degrees, often counting for one or two practicum courses. Just something to think about.

So, using that logic... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=american+publi...%22b%22%7D

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&...ent=psy-ab


American Public University System looks legit and IS legit; the words "for profit" are probably unimportant here to hiring managers.

[innen_oda]

American Public University System looks legit and IS legit; the words "for profit" are probably unimportant here to hiring managers.

I would tend to concur with all of this.

[bjcheung77]

YankeeDoodle, you should have a list of "schools" that you're interested in and list it here, the reasons, the cost, whatever it is you're comparing. You can then see what suits you more. APUS is a good school, then there is ACE, WGU, that have education, teaching programs. There are Nationally Accredited options as well, if you don't really care about accreditation or if you're international and want an IB endorsed Advanced Education (Masters at U of People). The list goes on, it all depends on your budget, financial situation, what you're really looking for... have a list made and we'll chop it to a point where you can decide for yourself...