ncsa-discussion Digest, Vol 21, Issue 8

[Susan Spoddig]

Jeff --

Pertinent to your vital questions:

	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?

I haven't been in this boat, but several of my friends have.  So have some 
of the people I've hired.

So I'll be blunt.  You get a huge short-term bang-for-your-buck from 
professional training and certs in areas you have experience in. ( But the 
ROI can be small, so calculate carefully!!!)

I'll re-emphasize. Areas you have experience in. Short term.

This will buy you a decent step up in salary for about 24 months. After that 
it becomes stale, and you will not see additional $ increases. You'll just 
sit at whatever rate you become til Hell freezes over. And if you are like 
most IT people, your job will prolly change firms every 2-5 years.  So after 
that, you get to ride your experience bus.  Which is a crap shoot, and 
totally up to you what you make of it.

On line degrees -- depends on the manager/individual. Some people just see, 
Oh- OK, he has a BA or BS. Others look at the online colleges and think 
"You've GOT to be kidding". Community & local colleges have a better 
reception.

Another option is North Carolina c College out in RTP. More reasonable $$, 
designed hour-wise for working/kid folks, and the program demand is 
different.

Good luck!

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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 07:57:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jeff The Riffer <riffer at vaxer.net>
Subject: Furthering one's education

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    
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# Disclaimer: I am not a number, I am a free man, and my thoughts are my 
own. #
# GCS$ d-- H++ s:++ !g p+ au0 a31 w+ v?(*) C++ UA P? L 3 E---- N++ K- W-- M+ 
V#
# po--- Y+ t+ 5+ !j R G' tv b+ D++ B--- e+ u--- h--- f+ r+++ n- y+++*        
  #



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_______________________________________________



Sue Spoddig

Net Goddess (yeah, I trip over my robe sometimes, but remember Goddesses 
have the power to let you live in an eternal migrating puddle of goo, so be 
nice to me! )