How do you feel about your online college?

[TrailRunr]

I have 20+ years of IT experience with 15 years to go until retirement. I also have a previous BA degree from a public Ivy. Skills and experience trumps all paper including IT certifications and degrees. Nevertheless, a BA in CS is necessary to get past HR for the last promotional technical position I can go for or the next managerial position. Unlike some here, I'm not doing this for personal enrichment. I'm doing it to advance my career. I already know the degree works because I used it to recently get that promotion to the last technical position with an "expected graduation date." With just 15 years left in the workplace, spending 4-8 years part-time to earn a traditional BA CS degree is not happening. This time around, I'm not getting much of an education with my second BA with a few exceptions. From beginning to end, it will take me just 9 months to earn 60 credits needed for my program (80+ credits when you add credits that don't count in the program). Honestly, I learn a whole lot more from noncredit MOOCs. Most of the homework is pointless busywork, and the amount of work isn't that much anyway. The liberal arts capstone at TESU is a waste of time and money, and I spent the minimum amount of time necessary to get an A. I did not even bother to buy the required textbooks. Instead, I used RMP to look for the easiest mentor. None of the few courses where I'm learning anything are discussed here. I'm learning a foreign language in-person at the local community college to learn rather than to rack up credits. I also don't have much need for a good alumni network anymore since I've been networking for many years on my own. My employer pays for a good chunk of the tuition I've spent. My employer doesn't know Thomas Edison State University is any different the locally respected San Jose State University. They don't know it's an online degree, and I'm not volunteering that information. I know that was a lot of rambling, but I hope that helps.

You didn't mention your age or background, but I think folks fresh out of high school should seriously consider a more traditional path involving community college and an affordable traditional 4-year school. I learned far less for my 2nd degree than my first.