Online Masters Programs...Seeking Input...

[bens197]

My wife and I have been discussing future plans and setting a goal of when to retire.  My job allows me the opportunity to leave in 12 years and I am looking at plans following my FD career.  4 years ago last month there was a fatal car crash that we arrived first on scene.  Sparing the details, it has been living and occupying space in my head on an almost weekly basis.  

A few months ago there was this recurring thought in my head, why not pursue a masters in mental health counseling?  I did some brief research and found some local colleges that offer a two year MA.  Online-only schools are also available and are very flexible / friendly for a full-time employee/parent/someone who wants to further their education without putting life on hold.

Have any of you earned your post-grad degrees online?  Any thoughts or feedback would be welcomed.

 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I had several people that worked for me or with me that continued their education on line. They either got their Associates, Bachelors, or Masters. What most employers look for is the degree and not where it came from. With COVID-19 this is becoming a very popular way to further your education. My son was going to an engineering college and they sent him home for on line classes. I basically told him to just transfer over to an on line school and save yourself the money. There was no benefit to staying where he was since you were on line anyway. Even the Labs were weird. You just watched the teacher do the work on line and took notes. 

I would say to go for the on line and you can do it at your own pace.  

[edingc]

29 minutes ago, bens197 said:

My wife and I have been discussing future plans and setting a goal of when to retire.  My job allows me the opportunity to leave in 12 years and I am looking at plans following my FD career.  4 years ago last month there was a fatal car crash that we arrived first on scene.  Sparing the details, it has been living and occupying space in my head on an almost weekly basis.  

A few months ago there was this recurring thought in my head, why not pursue a masters in mental health counseling?  I did some brief research and found some local colleges that offer a two year MA.  Online-only schools are also available and are very flexible / friendly for a full-time employee/parent/someone who wants to further their education without putting life on hold.

Have any of you earned your post-grad degrees online?  Any thoughts or feedback would be welcomed.

 

I'm not a fully online Masters student, but thanks to COVID I've now taken something like 15 of my required credit hours online. My caveat to my experience is that the school at which I'm taking the classes was not an online school prior to COVID and had barely dipped its toes into the online class format prior.

For a working adult, I thoroughly enjoy the online, asynchronous classes I've taken. I've also taken online, synchronous courses where we were required to be in a Zoom meeting at a specific time each week. They were far less enjoyable because I'm not particularly good at blocking out distractions at home. I much preferred the asynchronous classes where I could pause the lecture, or play it back at slightly higher speeds, etc. Much more conducive to a busy schedule.

As long as these online-only schools have been doing it for a while, I think you'll be just fine with course quality. Obviously, rushing to put everything online did no favors to faculty, but the quality of my online courses has been less than stellar. It's obvious many of my professors have not taught online before, so there are definite struggles in regards to effectively communicating topics sometimes. However, they all have been very receptive to meeting virtually with students if needed, so that's been a big help.

[bens197]

5 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

I had several people that worked for me or with me that continued their education on line. They either got their Associates, Bachelors, or Masters.

What most employers look for is the degree and not where it came from.

 

Thanks Tom!...this is the validation that I was looking for.  When I earned my Bachelor's one thing that stood out was unless you're pursuing a specific job at a specific location, most undergrad degrees were just that, undergrad.  I did not know if this was specific to Masters programs as well.

 

[bens197]

3 minutes ago, edingc said:

I'm not a fully online Masters student, but thanks to COVID I've now taken something like 15 of my required credit hours online. My caveat to my experience is that the school at which I'm taking the classes was not an online school prior to COVID and had barely dipped its toes into the online class format prior.

For a working adult, I thoroughly enjoy the online, asynchronous classes I've taken. I've also taken online, synchronous courses where we were required to be in a Zoom meeting at a specific time each week. They were far less enjoyable because I'm not particularly good at blocking out distractions at home. I much preferred the asynchronous classes where I could pause the lecture, or play it back at slightly higher speeds, etc. Much more conducive to a busy schedule.

As long as these online-only schools have been doing it for a while, I think you'll be just fine with course quality. Obviously, rushing to put everything online did no favors to faculty, but the quality of my online courses has been less than stellar. It's obvious many of my professors have not taught online before, so there are definite struggles in regards to effectively communicating topics sometimes. However, they all have been very receptive to meeting virtually with students if needed, so that's been a big help.

And that's the benefit...working and raising a daughter means flexibility is paramount.

The only online programs I have taken were during Paramedic school for the third semester in 2009.  Frankly, all I remember was that style of learning worked better for me for the reasons you mentioned...Fewer distractions...it forces you to engage.  Thanks

 

[russtopherb]

I got my MBA fully online through a university that's a whopping 10 mins away from me  I loved the schedule flexibility of being able to take classes after work, get homework done on my own time, etc. Online programs tend to be geared towards folks who work during the day, so classes are at nights and on weekends. Or they're video assignments that you can do based on your availability. 

On the downside, some things that were tougher for me to grasp like statistics was compounded by being in an online class and not having the ability to sit directly in front of the professor or hang back after class. But that was very minor in comparison to all of the plusses. 

Like noted above, when I've looked at resumes when hiring, I never once said "was this in person or online?" I just looked at the school and the degree. That's it. 

[bens197]

10 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

I got my MBA fully online through a university that's a whopping 10 mins away from me  I loved the schedule flexibility of being able to take classes after work, get homework done on my own time, etc. Online programs tend to be geared towards folks who work during the day, so classes are at nights and on weekends. Or they're video assignments that you can do based on your availability. 

On the downside, some things that were tougher for me to grasp like statistics was compounded by being in an online class and not having the ability to sit directly in front of the professor or hang back after class. But that was very minor in comparison to all of the plusses. 

Like noted above, when I've looked at resumes when hiring, I never once said "was this in person or online?" I just looked at the school and the degree. That's it. 

Thanks...I am noticing a trend here, you guys are fans of this style of education. 

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

All good insight. I didn’t do a masters but my bachelors I did fully in school and then hybrid and the last semester was covid so fully online.

my personnel preference was hybrid. I was going in 1 time per week on tuesdays at night. Rest was online. Was kind of the best of both worlds IMO. Any issues you had the ability to be there to ask and get help but also not the hectic going in all the time.

My wife is going for her MA and started last fall. If you are going to do fully online just be cautious of course load. She struggled because she really loaded up on classes. 
 

You know how you learn best so really your call for me hybrid was that nice happy medium. Good luck and continuing education is an awesome decision 

[Shankster]

I am set to start my graduate degree (dual enrolled) this summer.... online.  Undergraduate has been all online, and it does offer a lot of flexibility.  I end up doing most of my work on the weekends, but that is because I am a slacker.