Anyone ever get their Master's online?

JessiJane777

My brother is looking into it, but doesn't know anyone who has...He'd like to do it completely online, and would like it to be decently priced.  I've heard of Walden, and Dominican, Scranton and University of Phoenix.  It's for Special Education, and he's looking to open up his options...Any feedback would be great...thank you!

StephNJohn2008

I did Walden. I had a great experience.

Here's my opinion. If you are getting it to change fields/go into a new job, I think you should go to a traditional school. Online masters still aren't held to the same level as one from a traditional university. For me I wasn't changing jobs or fields, it would just allow me to go up in the salary guide, so it wasn't an issue. I did learn a lot and it was a good amount of work each week, but it's still seen as an "easy" option/not respected option in academia, so if he's doing it to change fields it's probably not the best option. In my school many of the teachers, especially the young ones, got their masters through Walden and our administration recognizes it since Walden is accredited. 

anotherNJbride

I got my MAED in Special Ed through University of Phoenix.  It took me 2 years (Jan 08-Dec 09), which included 12 weeks supervised teaching.  It was a lot of work, mostly writing and reading, and a lot of group work as well, which is a pain online.  There was no way I'd have time to sit in a classroom with my schedule the way it was at the time, so I'm glad I did it, but the program definitely is not for everyone. You really have to dedicate time and effort to your classwork, it's not an easy way out.  If you have any specific questions or want more info let me know - anotherNJbride at gmail

ETA - I agree with Stephanie.  I did it to transition from music teacher to special education and was already teaching music at a special ed school (I now teach self-contained ED/BD at that school).  My initial plan was to finish my masters and go back to public school to make more money, but the education field is a mess right now, so I'm happy to stay where I am. 

toatsmagoats

StephNJohn2008:

I did Walden. I had a great experience.

Here's my opinion. If you are getting it to change fields/go into a new job, I think you should go to a traditional school. Online masters still aren't held to the same level as one from a traditional university. For me I wasn't changing jobs or fields, it would just allow me to go up in the salary guide, so it wasn't an issue. I did learn a lot and it was a good amount of work each week, but it's still seen as an "easy" option/not respected option in academia, so if he's doing it to change fields it's probably not the best option. In my school many of the teachers, especially the young ones, got their masters through Walden and our administration recognizes it since Walden is accredited. 

Sorry to butt in, but how is tuition compared to a traditional school?

mrs.jen&dave

my husband got his masters from NJIT and did most of it through online courses. he started with a certificate and was able to enroll as a graduate student without the normal application. everything was online (and almost every class involved group work) except for his calculus class that he took over the summer. almost positive that the cost was the same for online as in person, and he had to pay stupid lab fees even though he didn't use their facilities. lol

MCRM22011

butting in- Rowan University (a real college in southern NJ), has some online degrees (I don"t know if they have special ed however). It is a real college, highly respected (I did my undergrad there), and would look "better" in my humble opinion, than a strictly online school. If Rowan doesn't have spec ed, I would suggest checking into other real colleges - NJIT as previous poster mentioned, WIlliam Paterson, NJ City State,  etc....some of these schools are beginning to have online only programs. 

anotherNJbride

MCRM22011:

butting in- Rowan University (a real college in southern NJ), has some online degrees (I don"t know if they have special ed however). It is a real college, highly respected (I did my undergrad there), and would look "better" in my humble opinion, than a strictly online school. If Rowan doesn't have spec ed, I would suggest checking into other real colleges - NJIT as previous poster mentioned, WIlliam Paterson, NJ City State,  etc....some of these schools are beginning to have online only programs. 

Phoenix is a "real" college - they have a main campus in Arizona and satellite campuses around the country, it's not online only.  My degree is real, accredited, and acknowledged, not fake.  Sorry if I'm a little defensive, but I worked hard for my master's, just because I didn't sit in a class doesn't make it worth less.  And as you pointed out, many "real" colleges are moving to hybrid classes - online degrees will continue to find their way into our society as we become more intertwined with and reliant on technology.