The Complete Guide to FINISHING YOUR DEGREE

[Pages:31]The Complete Guide to

FINISHING YOUR DEGREE

What you need to know about selecting a school and going back to college as an adult

An eBook from:

In this eBook

Considering Your Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Role and Importance of Accreditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Transferring Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Determining Your Learning Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Earning Credit for What You Already Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Online Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Importance of Time Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cost Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Introduction

This eBook is designed to help you consider some of the key issues involved with selecting an institution and answer some important questions you may have about coming back to a college or university as an adult or nontraditional student. We hope you find this resource helpful.

About Thomas Edison State University

Thomas Edison State University provides flexible, high-quality, collegiate learning opportunities for self-directed adults. One of New Jersey's 11 senior public institutions of higher education, the University offers associate, bachelor's and master's degrees in more than 100 areas of study. Students earn degrees through a wide variety of rigorous and high-quality academic methods that can be customized to meet their individual needs. The University is a national leader in the assessment of adult learning and a pioneer in the use of educational technologies. The University is home to The John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy. The New Jersey State Library is an affiliate of Thomas Edison State University. Learn more at tesu.edu.

CHAPTER ONE

Considering Your Needs

1

It is never too late to go back to college.

We all have different reasons for wanting to go back to school. For some, it is personal fulfillment or setting an example for your children or co-workers. For others, it is for professional advancement or to acquire new skills and knowledge.

Regardless of why you choose to come back, it is important to think about your needs before you select a college or university.

The Unique Needs of Adult Learners

"When considering a college or university, start with your needs and your " goals.

Most adults face real barriers when it comes to completing a college degree because they cannot easily put their lives on hold to sit in a classroom at a specific time and place.

So, when it comes to finding a college or university, where should you start?

Most colleges and universities are designed to meet the needs of students who attend college full time directly after graduating from high school. Naturally, adults face a completely different set of challenges than younger college students who do not yet have a spouse, children or a full-time job.

In addition, most institutions of higher learning were established around serving a specific geographic region or a specific academic discipline ? not a specific type of student.

Very few institutions of higher learning have been established specifically around the unique needs of adults who are interested in completing an undergraduate or graduate degree. An adult who returns to college is not just an older version of a traditionalage college student. Adults have a variety of needs that most people under the age of 22 cannot imagine, such as mortgages, careers, children and elderly or frail parents.

The answer to this question is easy. Start with you.

To begin, let's consider the following:

Flexibility

If your schedule is demanding, you will need convenience and flexibility.

Is the school you are interested in willing to work around your schedule?

How does the school define flexibility and work around your needs?

Can you transfer credit earned at other institutions that will be accepted by the school?

2

Academic Integrity

You will be investing your time and money into completing your degree, so academic integrity and the school's reputation should be an important factor when selecting a college or university.

What kind of accreditation does the school you are considering have?

How successful are baccalaureate graduates who seek acceptance into graduate programs?

How do its graduates perform on professional assessments required by specific industries?

Learning Options

As an adult, you have likely developed expertise in specific areas and may have acquired college-level knowledge through your job, previous collegiate study or through other experiences.

Is the school you are interested in willing to assess any college-level knowledge you have acquired outside the classroom?

Can the degree be earned without the need to attend classes at a specific time and location?

If the school offers online programs, do you need to log in at a specific time during the week?

Cost

Most adults have multiple fiscal responsibilities, which may include saving or paying for college for their children.

Does the school you are interested in have different tuition plans based on your budget and availability to complete courses?

How does the school's tuition compare to other institutions that offer similar programs?

Does the school offer scholarships for adults who return to college?

Thinking carefully about your needs can help you determine whether those needs are aligned with how an institution operates and, ultimately, whether that school is a good match for you.

3

CHAPTER TWO

Role and Importance of Accreditation

4

What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is an important assessment of institutional quality.

It is about quality assurance and quality improvement. Accreditation is a standardsbased, evidence-based and peer-based review of the quality of higher education institutions and programs. Accreditation is autonomous of federal or state government.

An institution's accreditation determines the school's eligibility for participation in federal and state financial aid programs and plays a critical role in the acceptance and transfer of college credit.

In addition, the federal government requires colleges and universities in the United States to be accredited in order to be eligible for federal grants and many employers often examine an institution's accreditation before deciding to provide tuition assistance to current employees and when evaluating the credentials of prospective employees.

Most state governments require colleges and universities to be accredited when they make state funds available to students or institutions and when they allow students to sit for state licensure examinations in some professional fields.

The three main types of institutional accrediting organizations include:

Regional Accrediting Organizations: these agencies accredit more than 3,000 degree-granting two- and four-year institutions, including most public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities and some for-profit institutions

National Career-Related Accrediting Organizations: these agencies accredit more than 4,000 single-purpose and career-based institutions, including many for-profit schools that offer distance learning programs

National Faith-Based Accrediting Organizations: these agencies accredit more than 450 religiously-affiliated or doctrinally-based institutions

In addition to institutional accrediting organizations, programmatic accrediting organizations accredit more than 22,000 specific programs and academic disciplines, such as nursing, education, engineering, law and medicine.

Types of Accreditations

There are several types of accrediting organizations that accredit educational institutions in the United States and they typically fall into one of two categories: Institutional and Programmatic. Institutional accreditation focuses on the entire college or university and its programs. Programmatic accreditation focuses only on a specific program or academic discipline offered by an institution.

5

What Type of Accreditation Should You Look For?

The type of accreditation you should look for in a college or university depends on your goals and the academic program you plan to enter.

The most recognized and accepted type of accreditation for colleges and universities in the United States is regional accreditation.

If you plan to someday continue your education at the graduate or postgraduate level, earning an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution is a common prerequisite for acceptance into many graduate programs.

If you plan to select a specific academic discipline, like nursing, engineering, medicine or law, you should determine which programmatic accreditations are important to those professions.

Regional accreditation and some programmatic accreditations are key elements used by students, employers, government officials and the general public to know an institution and its programs are independently evaluated to ensure the school meets or exceeds established standards of quality determined by the accrediting body.

To determine whether the school you are considering is regionally accredited, you need to check with the appropriate accrediting body. There are six geographic regions in the U.S. with an agency that regionally accredits colleges and universities:

" Ifthe institution is located in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands,

An institution's accreditation determines the school's

visit the Middle States Commission on Higher Education website at .

eligibility for participation in federal and state

If the institution is located in financial aid programs and

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont, visit the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education website at cihe..

plays a critical role in the

acceptance and transfer of

" college credit.

6

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download