Opinions Please!

[spazz]

Johanna,

Spazz's statement is probably true in certain specific situations which require the completion of an on-the-ground undergraduate degree (science subjects come to mind). But for the most part and with all things being considered equal, a regionally accredited degree from Excelsior is no less and no more valuable than a regionally accredited degree from another school.

It is a regionally accredited degree. Period! As such, there is no reason to expect that employers and graduate schools would discriminate against an Excelsior degree, providing that all other requirements have been met satisfactorily. This is bourne out by the countless number of Excelsior graduates who have continued on to RA masters and doctorate programs, and those who have been able to gain employment, promotion, and/or increase their pay grade based on possession of an RA degree from Excelsior.

To pass any of the college-level equivalency exams, you must prove that you are AT THE VERY LEAST as knowledgeable as an average Bricks and Mortar student who takes the corresponding class. If anything, testing out shows that you are able to take the initiative, able to research and study independently, work well under pressure, be determined, be organized, and be absolutely focussed and self-motivated. All these qualities augur well for graduate work and/or advancement in employment.

There is discrimination and snobbery in all facets of academia. So it is almost certain that any given student would encounter it, in certain circumstances.

A state school may discriminate against non-state schools. An ivy-league school may discriminate against a non-ivy-league school. A B&M school may discriminate against a distance learning school, American schools may discriminate against foreign schools, and so on.

But to claim outright, and without qualification, that an "Excelsior degree is not worth as much as a degree from a traditional school" is probably not a wholly accurate assessment.

As others have correctly recommended, it is wise to do your research before coming to any decisions or conclusions either way.

Hope that helps,
Snazzlefrag

I think no matter what they are going to discriminate unless of course the majority of the admissions also have degrees from online, which is very unlikely.

I work at a state university as a research assistant and many of my colleagues also feel that you cannot get the proper education from online/distance learning. Now as Snazzlefrag was saying, there are obviously more specialized results, I was just giving you a general idea. But for some degrees it would not matter where you got it from, the degree that comes to mind here is liberal arts. To me this degree, just says I have a degree, etc. It is not specialized, but if you get a more specialized degree, you're competing with everyone else’s degree program.

For graduate school, there are limited places, even if you're going to a school that is not very good. Again, depending what degree you're going for you are probably competing with 70% of the students who come from accredited programs. I am not talking about regionally accredited, everyone and their mother is regionally accredited. I am talking about the actual program accreditation. This is what the admissions and even employers look at.

Even if you stay the course of your online learning for whatever reason, it is still better to have a degree from online then to not have a degree at all. You just have to weigh the cost and benefits of obtaining one online vs. traditionally. Which I am sure you have

Generally speaking, any online/distance learning degree is not worth as much as any traditional degree. The only counter example to this would be if the board of directors for admissions all came from that same online college.

It is a simple principle, if you come from a tier two school like WPI, RIT, etc then your degree is worth more then a degree from a state school and if you come from a world class school like Stanford, Upenn and Yale then your degree is obviously worth more then someone who graduated from a tier two schools.

Here is what I like to call the food chain of college education. Generally speaking this is practically always true.

Online/Distance Learning -> State schools -> Tier Two schools -> World Class Schools

Hope this helps!!