Furthering one's education

[Bill Morris]

Hi Folks,

  Here is what I have done:

1. Seriously starting working on my degree at 35. Worked night shifts 
    as a Computer Operator at North Carolina State University and
attended
    classes at Wake Technical Community College full-time days for two
years
    to get a dual AAS in Networking Technology and Helpdesk & Support
Technology.

    No children and understanding working wife made this possible.

2. Landed a job also on North Carolina State University as a Computer
    Consultant I with my AAS degrees. 

3. With new job, wished to improve myself and better advancement
potential.

4. Enrolled in North Carolina Wesleyan University Adult Degree Program.
Both
    years transferred. Their advanced adult program has 5, 8 and 12
week 
    courses depending on the content. Classes normally met 1 night a
week 
    for 4 hours. I believe the restriction is 2 classes at one time. I
took 
    four 5 week courses one semester. Two the first half and two the
second 
    half. That meant going to class two days a week for a total of 8
hours plus
    the out of class time, but it resulted in 12 credit hours in one
semester.
    Graduated with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems. 

    http://www.ncwc.edu/Adult/index.html 

5. I'm a gluten for punishment so I applied to Regis University in
Denver,
    Colorado and I am currently enrolled in their School for
Professional Studies 
    working on my Master of Science in Computer Information Technology.

    My concentrations are Systems Engineering and Software
Engineering.
    All of my classes are online ending with a Senior Project. I
believe they 
    also have online Undergraduate courses.

    http://www.regis.edu/regis.asp?sctn=sr&p1=sps

   Hope this helps some.

Bill Morris

Bill Morris (bill_morris at ncsu.edu)
Operations and Systems Analyst
Network Services
Enterprise Technology Services & Support
North Carolina State University
Campus Box 7231
14 Peele Hall
10 Watauga Club Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27695-7231

>>> riffer at vaxer.net 5/26/2005 10:57 AM >>>

I've currently got an A.S. degree and have been planning for sometime
to
get a bacholers (along with some useful certifications).

Now I'm faced with a quandry. I work full-time, as does my wife. We
have a
2 year old girl who goes to daycare. So not only are my time resources
tight, so are the economic ones. I've researched and it looks like
getting
into State will require enrolling as an undergrad, or even a "lifetime
learning" student. I'm not expecting to get a degree immediately but
don't
look forward to the degree dragging out for 10 years or more.

So here's my question(s):

	o Anyone else been in this boat, or similar? What'd you do?
	o Are the degrees from on-line universities like Phoenix or
Strayer generally given the same weight as "real" degrees?
	o Would it be better to prioritize my time/money towards
certificates and professional training?


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#     riffer at vaxer.net - Jeff The Riffer - Drifter... - Homo
Postmortemus     #
# Disclaimer: I am not a number, I am a free man, and my thoughts are
my own. #
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