What are the options for completing a degree while working full time?

I left NCSU for a job that I am very happy with. I just want to finish with a degree for the benefit of future advances.

I wouldn’t mind doing a fast-paced program. The last thing I want is to deal with night classes for years.

Fuck that.

If NCSU does not have any good options, which school would be best for me to try and transfer to?

11/29/2005 3:59:04 PM

phoenix

11/29/2005 4:01:19 PM

^ I have heard bad things.

Not only is it $11,000/semester - they are just seen as a "degree factory" and I have heard that employers are ignoring the degrees.

11/29/2005 4:03:13 PM

I have been working 40 hours per week on the night shift for a company in RTP and going to NC State in the morning for five years this spring, which is when I will graduate if all goes well these last few classes.

11/29/2005 6:41:26 PM

I would like to have a faster-track rather than something on the order of years. I know there are faster-track degree programs, I just need to find them.

I work 8-5 and it would be rough to think of having a class before 7:00 am. I have no problem with studying and working on homework and such in the evening but being stuck in a night class 5-nights a week would be a miserable experience.

Are there any NC schools that offer cool programs?

I know someone who did a University of Maryland distance education program and liked it but I would prefer it be an NC school.

11/29/2005 7:06:44 PM

queens college does a faster pace

11/30/2005 12:21:21 AM

Whats your program or field? Theres alot of options in distance education

A portion of my Masters at ECU was online and I found it very manageable

As for U of Phoenix or Walden University or other online universities, you might as well save the cash. They are worthless degrees.

11/30/2005 12:31:05 AM

I am open in terms of field/concentration. I have a technical resume and work in a professional job that I really enjoy but right now the fact that I don't have a degree holds me back. I am going for management and pretty much any degree would be okay. (Most people don't work in the same field their degree is in.) I have been told that something in the liberal arts (communications, poly sci, etc) will be most helpful in the end because I have a strong technical background and resume. I would like to go for an MBA in the end.

It really comes down to which school and what the course offerings are. As long as it is something that will benefit me in the end and the course material keeps my interest then the field is wide open.

11/30/2005 2:15:29 PM

I have no idea what your experiences is, or what your interests are. I need more information than "a technical background" because that could be anything, electronics, computers, CAD drafting, ect. As for communications and poly sci majors, its going to be uber tough to find a job in those. I know three communications majors.

One sells advertising for a tv station, one sells insurance and the other is a manager at Kinko's. It would be my advice to find a course of study that is more specialized and would improve your worth to employers.

11/30/2005 4:04:39 PM

Unfortunately, you can either get a real degree and it take a long time or you can buy some pos degree and get it quickly but no one will take it seriously. Sorry, dems da breaks.

11/30/2005 4:06:43 PM

i'm getting my master's from uncg while working full time. Taking 3-6 hours per semester

11/30/2005 4:38:29 PM

i want to eventually get my MBA but i travel every week just about for work - going to have to do a weekend program probably - not very excited about it - but gotta do what ya gotta do

11/30/2005 4:43:50 PM

Quote :

"One sells advertising for a tv station, one sells insurance and the other is a manager at Kinko's. It would be my advice to find a course of study that is more specialized and would improve your worth to employers."

Most of the people I know who are currently working in the IT field do not have degrees in anything even related to technology. The degrees range from multiplidisciplinary studies (MDS), communications, business, zoology, music and so on. I have been very fortunate to have had a series of systems administration jobs and programming jobs since high school to build up my resume. Since so many people work in fields unrelated to their degrees, I have been told that a technical degree is not critical.

Quote :

"i want to eventually get my MBA but i travel every week just about for work - going to have to do a weekend program probably - not very excited about it - but gotta do what ya gotta do"

Yep - although I hear it is rough I eventually would want to work on an MBA with a weekend program.

[Edited on November 30, 2005 at 4:49 PM. Reason : +]

11/30/2005 4:47:49 PM

yeah i hav ea comp sci degree, but my work right now isn't very technical. i'm doing some web development, but I'm mainly doing work in excel and word.

oh, and the master's i'm getting is liberal studies

11/30/2005 4:48:55 PM

it depends on when you left NCSU and what you already have. you're not going to be able to pull many (if any) bachelor degrees here at NCSU using only night courses unless you've already got some serious hours under your belt (in a reasonable amount of time). at 90 hours, it would still probably take you a little over a year (including both summer sessions) to graduate.

11/30/2005 6:01:55 PM

^ which is why I don't think NCSU is going to be the right option for me.

(And I hate WebAssign /rant)

11/30/2005 6:20:20 PM

I was doin that my entire senior year

11/30/2005 7:56:09 PM

So, is something like Queens College going to be the best choice?

They offer accelerated online programs for not a painful amount of money...

(Someone suggested ECU, I just need to see if they will let me take enough credit hours online, etc.)

12/7/2005 12:33:34 PM

Mount Olive College has some options like this as well, but they only have limited degree programs, and I think it is relatively expensive.

Here's the link to their evening college program. I'm sure there are other schools out there that focus on this market. I'll see if there are additional resources that would be helpful, and will post if I find any.

http://www.moc.edu/request.cfm?Section=locations&PageName=Mount%20Olive%20Evening%20College

12/7/2005 1:14:24 PM

One more resource. Peterson's is a company that produces a lot of resources on colleges and graduate school programs. Their website now has a section on online & continuing education, here's the link. http://www.petersons.com/continuinged_home.asp?path=ce.home

You can find many of their books in Borders, B&N, etc, in the college section. Hope this helps!

12/7/2005 4:21:12 PM

I, for example have just one semester left, including senior design and 3 humanities and a technical elective, before I get my CPE degree...

I go to Cisco next week to start a 9 month stint as a Co-op and do not want to return to state unless I have to (full time) I would rather take the classes part time.

Anyone have any advice? Can I take my humanities at wake tech or durham tech or something? and if so, do they have decent online classes that fill humanities requirements that are easy?

Thanks!

12/7/2005 7:23:30 PM

^ BobbyDigital

12/7/2005 10:02:38 PM