What's your opinion of Online Universities such as American Military University, etc.?

I am 2 classes away from my associates degree in this fabulous college. They take the GI Bill Stafford loan. I practically had no job. No car didn't think I would make it but I rented a computer then I just applied to this college and took online classes. The staff are great man! The staff even hand signed a christmas card to me...that's a personal touch. The classes come in 12 and 6 week accelerated classes that happen 2 days a week ( required to attend at least one and watch recording to obtain class codes randomly to prove you watch). The instructors are amazing, they are professors and teachers that care and do I great job. If you start to falter they offer free online tutoring classes. 90% of the college are military, some currently overseas, and they do all the work for GI Bills, and all other forms of Education assistance They make the process easy as well as I set Stafford loans and grants like the Pell Grant. They even stress the severity of taking out and student debt. They started a program "100% free tuition" that makes it possible for military to have no outta pocket expense or need to take out loans! This is the most amazing college. I'll be attending through my masters. Look up American Business and Technology University folks!

Its great that you are finishing college. I am finishing mine as well. Online schools are good and serve there purpose as well as traditional campuses. To deteremine if one is better than the other depends on what you are seeking and your learning curve. While its true the schools you named online don't compare to the schools you named for residential study it isn't because they are online. That is like comparing Virginia and Howard to Harvard and Yale. It is a different tier of school. Each university can offer you a good education in specific fields of study. Online schools require a greater discipline (in my opinion) than traditional because you are soley responsible for accomplishing everything required without the assistance of a classroom setting or a professor to address any immediate concerns. The benefit of online classes is you can work ahead and pace yourself(You can actually complete most of the work by the middle of the course except test). I take a mixture of both. Since you are pursuing a science degree may want to look for a school that is noted for that type of degree (ex. University of Texas AM is noted for agriculture). In the area I live in Kaplan is noted for Nursing, Criminal Justice and Education.

I've heard the same thing. My cousin's wife works in a government office and said she would choose an applicant that went to a brick and mortar over an equally qualified applicant whom attended online university. i fail to understand this reasoning as well.

I appreciate everyone's comments and feedback. I'm a web developer looking for a degree in Information Technology Management. I'm looking to advance in govt service, as well as personal satisfaction in getting my degree.

PV2 (Join to see) First, you need to decide why you need the degree. If the school you are looking at meets your needs, and is accredited, than it works; being accredited is key. I would agree, having hired many for GS jobs... the school does matter. Big name schools carry more weight than the straight online types. But, many big name schools have online programs too.

Depends on your reasoning for going. I went to AMU because it was feasible to do while deployed. I received two degrees and it was paid through my finances and TA. Now, I have the full weight of the 9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon programs behind me. I am going to a school that costs 45k a year with no worries.

As far as hiring managers, I didn't even have one blink when I stated where my education came from. There are many types of snobs out there and education-based ones are can be the worst. If you find yourself applying to a place that cares about Harvard vs. your degree, you might be applying to the wrong place.

Hope that helps!

I think it depends on your field of study whether to go online or resident. I can only use myself as an example. I received my BS in Construction Management as a resident student from a reputable university. I am currently pursuing an online MBA in Project Management from Liberty University which I feel will keep me competitive amongst other professionals in my field. This online degree coupled with my experience in construction should hold weight if I were to get out and find a job in the industry.

I have to weigh in on this as a new member of RP; but one who has multiple degrees (Excelsior, Phoenix, Keller) -- all from distance learning/online colleges and universities. I also do quite a bit of hiring these days as a VP and Division Director of a Defense Contractor.
Someone else mentioned the most important piece of advise (IMO): you are responsible for your education and you will get out of it what you decide. I can almost guarantee that there are at least as many "idiots" attending (or skipping) and teaching classes in brick & mortar schools as online.
A degree from a prestigious University is a great thing, no doubt, but having a degree from there does not always equal success. If a hiring manager stops and starts at the education section of your resume based on what school your degree is from, I think it's time for a new hiring manager. Your experience, your skills, your certifications, and references are much more important to me than where you received your degree. Add to the fact that you're showing a great deal of what I'm looking for just by getting your degree while (presumably) working full time.
I think that being enlisted for 25 years, I may look at this a little differently. I had the honor of working next to some of the most incredible individuals who didn't have degrees. Today, I look more at the whole person and I don't think I could tell you which school a single person in my organization attended. I will caveat that with the fact that when hiring I immediately give some extra points to a graduate of one of the Service Academies. I'm sure they have their share of knobs too, but overall, they are truly among the best we have to offer.
Good luck in your education -- just keep after it and get as much as you can from it.

My experience on both sides of the hiring process in corporate America has been that:
- Some jobs "require" a degree... and in order to get past the 1st step HR screening process you have to have one... it doesn't matter where it's from.
- If you can make it past that first step, it's all about how you present yourself, and what your track record is... all degrees are out the window and forgotten.

- Some PEOPLE (usually in small companies) favor someone who went to their Alma Mater, but always look for talent first.

- People are only impressed with a "pedigree" from an Ivy league school for the first 30 seconds... after that it's all about "what can you DO".


I don't have a degree... but I seem to be able to negotiate a higher salary than my peers (that have a degree) in the same position... maybe it's because learning things the hard way has led to my willingness to work harder than they do.

Look for accreditation and such. I received my Bachelors from American Military University. As part of the American Public University System setup it's regionally accredited (which, from my readings then, was the one people looked for). University of Phoenix and some others, at least before, weren't accredited so people were arguably throwing money away.
I think the classes were pretty good that I was in, and was nice being with so many military/military-affiliated folks. The class discussions were typically interesting and frank. I'm not worried about people doubting the quality of the degree if they have a clue what they're talking about. Early online university setups looking to make a quick buck regardless of the value of the product paid for made a bad name for online schools in general, but it's getting better.
This is especially becoming more the case as more 'brick & mortar' schools are introducing online courses/degrees. Several public universities and some private offer online (and some on-base) classes to military, but the degree is still from that school. UCCS here (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs) has a Masters of Engineering degree specializing in Space Operations I'm interested in. It's a bit heavy on the math and physics side of things and they only offer it online, and would be a degree from that school like any other.
Anyone who rejects a degree off-hand simply because it's an online school/course is really out of touch these days, and I might go so far as to lodge a complaint if there was enough evidence if there's no other reason than their opinion (accreditation, wrong field, etc).
Do your homework in regards to accreditation, look for something that has a program you want and fits you, and go for it.