Will online degrees ever reach high status in the US? 11

[EngineerDave]

Will the online degree replace the traditional university degree with regards to engineering? There are several online degrees available now from places, including engineering masters degrees.

Here is what I see as the limitations of such a degree now:

1) Lack of hands-on classes, such as labs
2) Lack of name recognition bias (would you hire a grad of an online university or an established brick and mortar university)
3) Exam proctoring. Would all the exams now be open book?
4) Accreditation issues.

On the plus side, this would help many working professionals continue their education.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I personally have some with the videotape masters program that a company I work with offered. But I found that to be a watered down degree to serve the purposes of the automotive company I worked for.

 

[zdas04]

I'm convinced that the ROI for my Masters was zero tangible dollars. I did it "for the fun of it" and I'll be persuing my PhD for the same reason.

In most fields of Engineering, advanced degrees are PR or (possibly) something to differentiate your resume from the rest of the stack. You don't need them for qualifications or for advancement (Tulum, my guess is that your fourth point is exactly wrong. I would bet a lot that most of those supervisors will either have stopped at a BS or will have gotten their MBA. People who work towards advanced technical degrees don't tend to be the same ones who suck their way to the top).

My company paid for my Masters, and they provided extravagant assistance on my thesis (it helped that the topic was among the biggest areas of uncertainty that we saw in gas measurement). They had no problem with me going to the library during working hours, and my staff (I was in a supervisor job then) was very careful to schedule big meetings during school breaks and other times that they were confident I'd be there. You couldn't have asked for a better environment. Even with all that I spent considerably more than the 800 hours mentioned above working on course material nights and weekends. My wife was really great about it and my 2 small kids went to bed early (and I was able to work after they were in bed).

Getting an advanced degree while working full time is not a task to enter into lightly. Nor is is one to enter with the thought of immediate advancement and more money. When I got the degree, my boss took the group out to lunch to celebrate, but that was the limit of the "rewards" from the company.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The Plural of "anecdote" is not "data"

 

[tulum]

My fourth point was merely to state the fact that times are changing.

30 years ago a college degree was at the peak of education. Now a Bsc has become the norm...(depending). However, here in Ontario the professional engineers of Ontario have discussed more than once the idea that to get your P.Eng status in the future an Msc will be mandatory.

I was not suggesting they would be CEO's or high powered exec's... just merely that an Msc will soon become the norm/lowest degree.

So David, my guess is that my fourth point is exactly right.

 

[Auriferous]

Being in the process of working toward a strictly on-line master's, I may be a bit biased. I wanted to say, though, that while NO degree is a substitute for actual experience (I've known people with a high school education rival PhD's in physics), there is a place for the on-line degree, especially in the area of engineering I'm studying, namely project management. There is no thesis required, but there is one capstone exam, in person, at the end of the program. Since there is no technical lab or hands on work directly related to the program, most of the classes focus on applying the principles to your existing job. Case studies, interviews, and in depth analysis of issues related to my work not only provide a way for me to become more involved in the management of the company, but also illustrate the actual applications (or lack thereof) of the "fashionable" management theories of the day.

I think that some form of continuing education is of primary importance, especially for licensed P.E.'s. If I can work at home, with my kids bouncing around (i.e., I can still interact with them), then that's time well spent. They know that I have homework to do, but that doesn't stop me from being with my family while I do it.

Will there be an overabundance of on-line master's degrees in the future? Perhaps, but that is the role of accreditation. In my case, the program is accredited by ABET, and it's as valid as any other degree. I think that based on those standards, an accredited on-line degree can be as valuable to your career as a brick-and-mortar one; but maybe neither is appropriate in every case.

More power to anyone who takes the time and makes the effort to continue to learn, whether or not it's required by your state board. If you want it just to have another set of initial after your name and you put in a half-baked effort, the on-line degree will be almost worthless; you won't retain the information anyway. But if it directly applies to your work and experience, it's valuable insight and management training.

 

[Tobalcane]

Auriferous,

I thought ABET does not accredit Master programs, just the undergrad programs?

Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane

 

[tulum]

Tobalcane,

You are half right.. most professors even think that ABET only accredits undergrad programs...I thought this was the case as well... here are the facts straight from the horses mouth (ABET)...

"It is the current policy of the to accredit only one program within a discipline for each university. The University may choose this program but it is normally an entry level program. Although many universities seek accreditation for their higher level programs the frequency is far less than those that seek entry level program accreditation. "

Regards,
TULUM

 

[28021973]

I do a degree ..then try and get a job..

I do an apprenticeship in a job..gain vast amounts of experience..then do an online degree...

who would you employ........!


Doesnt matter where the degree is earned...only the person who earns it..!

 

[Tobalcane]

Tulum,

With that said, then would it make sense that the only online degree that should be legitimate would be an online degree that was accredit by ABET?


Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane

 

[tulum]

Tobalcane,

Yes...but the confusion can be found as follows.

If you want to take a graduate degree in Mechanical engineering. You could choose either:

a) a school with an ABET accredited Graduate program, or
b) a school with an ABET accredeted Undergraduate program,

Although only one program is ABET accredited, the whole school of Mech engineering would be ABET accredited by association, and therfore either would be fine.

Regards,
TULUM

 

[oceanamber]

Although not exactly an online degree the U.K. does have the Open University or O.U.

The O.U. degrees can be tailored to suit your circumstances and workload but the bottom line is you need to put in a lot of hard work and time to get your degree. With the right profile of courses the degrees are acredited and accepted by many of the professional institutes such as the I.E.E. (institute of electrical engineers)

Many of the O.U. courses have manadatory summer schools where you live in a local university for a week and use their labs/facilities.

Home experiment kits - well my first posting included a dual beam oscilloscope, bread boards, components, computer software and all manner of things.

Unfortunately this good work is trashed by the numpties who offer degrees on the internet for £10. (and the numpties who buy them)

The O.U. is probably the largest university in the U.K. and has proved itself on many occasions.

 

[pmkPE]

"NUMPTIES?"

 

[GregLocock]

numpty Noun. A fool, idiot. Also spelt numbty and numptie. [Orig. Scottish]

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/n.htm

Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[EngineerDave]

One thing I greatly salute about the attempts of online education is the fact that there are people who would never set foot on a university again due to time and family pressure, who are expanding their education with online degrees.

I have obtained my first and soon to be second masters the traditional way by going to classes on campus. I do appreciate the change in environment they provide. In fact I recently left my job to focus on finishing my second masters degree which will place me in a brand new field.

It was very difficult to work and continue my masters. I did it for a period of a year and a half until it became impractical to finish the degree without attending school full-time during the day due to the very hands-on nature of the programs completion.