I agree with JannSoddy – major universities only. Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc… none of those minor universities. (sarcasm)

DeVry is a legitimate school with programs equal to those of other schools in the same class. They also aren’t “an online college” nor is UoP as both (and most others people label as “online”) have real campus locations too.

What they are is proprietary and for-profit and some people seem to take issue with a school making money. (although all schools make money and some of the publics are very expensive indeed)

Research in the past two years (real academic research) indicates that employers DO NOT think lowly of online education and in some cases online is felt to be superior. Research is also showing that online classes are harder and the students are learning more. (this doesn’t mean all online schools are good) (this is where I get thumbs down – didn’t mean to confuse people with facts here, it’s ok just go with your emotions and some hearsay….)

What employers base their decision on is the reputation of the school. That reputation is built largely on the reputation of the graduates. The question becomes not whether the degree is “online” (Harvard and UMass offer degrees online now) but instead, what is the reputation of the school (online or not).

I’ve never studied at DeVry. I have taken online classes. The online classes are harder in general than those in the seat. In some cases they are incredibly harder. The issue is 1) you don’t have 1:1 contact with the professor and 2) the assessment is usually by writing a paper and not by taking a multiple guess test.

If you’re motivated and can keep yourself on task, online is great. If you need someone to remind you when your assignments are due, you’ll not survive online.

All of that said: Almost every major university (and most small ones) in the US offer classes online now. Many offer degrees wholly online. This is the way education is going to be delivered. It just makes sense for many fields – I don’t need to go to some building across town to hear Prof. Jone’s lecture on colonial history anymore – it can be streamed to my PC.

There are plenty of online options for you. The proprietary are valid if that’s what you want. State U is valid if that’s what you want. The best colleges in the world are there for you if that’s what you want. Make sure you look around at your options.

And to all of those who think online = bad; you’re missing the boat! I recall hearing not long ago that online shopping is bad and people won’t do that either….

No it is not. It is over priced by alot and there are quite a few hidden costs involved. Let me tell you me experience. I have a degree from a well established university else where but decided I wanted to take a few computer class simple for the sake of learning. I was giving the amount one class and all the supplies would come to which was about $1900. I started taking the class and soon realized they were simply charging me to effectively read a book. There was no lecturing or materials that proved any useful other than the book they supplied which they charged me separately for. I made the decision that this was not worth my time, as I wasn’t actually learning anything and I dropped the class. I then went to go pay my $1900 to the school. When they ran the numbers and it turns out my $1900 went to $2200 due to “some supplies and other administration things.” I tried to pay this off but they said it was going to be 45 more days befor they could make sure they had it calculated right. I waited. In the mean time I checked my financial aid and it said I owed $3795 for the single class I took at Devry. I was anger and called Devry and of course it took four days and I must have talk to half the staff befor they got me to someone who could answer my question. The answer it turns out was that the $3795 was correct for my financial aid and I also owed them about $1400 for fees directly to the university. Which was a total of $5195 for a class that taught me less then a Popular Science Magazine.

I’ve heard that Devry U is one of those ‘online schools’ which are for-profit along with University of Phoenix, Kaplan U, Strayer U and Kaiser U and that employers don’t really find those programs reputable. And one would think that the rep should have known if they have an ‘early decision’ policy or not, and perhaps it should put up a red flag to be extremely wary. I would stick with a major college or university.

For US colleges and universities: www.utexas.edu/world/univ

I am currently a student at DeVry University. I am almost in my last semester and have experienced both online only and on site courses. I recommend it ONLY if you know what you want to do with your life. This school is not for people who are still ‘undecided’. What quetsions do you have?

**ps, for all those that think that DV is a tech-school, I’m sorry to dissapoint you guys, but it’s not, anymore. Its a Private University (publicly traded on the stock market (symbol: DV)) with a much more consenrated and accelerated program which allows you to graduate faster, because there no distractions. After DV, I am going to FIU to get my MBA and PhD and my credits all roll over…

As far as accreditation goes…

A search at this US Department of Education website: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.asp shows that Devry University is accredited by a nationally recognized accreditation organization, the same accrediting agency as Arizona State University.