Masters Degree Online?

[WesParker]

Does the fire service care where your degree comes from? Lets say I pursue a masters in organizational leadership from Columbia southern online, would I still get the same amount of points as somebody else with the same degree from another college? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much.

[BCLepore]

Yes and No. Here is what I mean. I earned my AS from a community college and my Bachelors and Masters from California State University Long Beach. All were completed online. Nowhere does it say that though. I will say that a degree from a RECOGNIZED school holds more weight than one that is not. Here's what I mean; my degree from CSULB is recognized, a degree from USC is more recognized. One thing with Columbia Southern you need to know is that it is not recognized by the National Fire Academy. You probably want to check with your local HR department is you are going to seek educational reimbursement or bonus pay when you're finished.
Paul Lepore
Division Chief
AspiringFireOfficers.com

[WesParker]

That answered my question perfectly, thank you so much Chief Lepore!

[senatobiafire]

Always stay with a regionally accredited school. They are the most recognized. The nationally accredited schools (Columbia Southern, University of Phoenix, etc.), as Chief Lepore stated, are not really recognized and will not get you into the NFA. There are numerous regionally accredited schools offering masters on line. Good luck.

[krewmoney77]

I completely agree. I work for a major university here in Arizona and work with our MS in Executive Fire Service Leadership program and some of our other public safety programs. We have a lot of firefighters and police officers within the city of Phoenix and other major surrounding cities here that take their undergrad and graduate degree programs online. A lot of state universities are going to online as well. ASU for example, just started doing a lot of their programs online now. There's nothing more accredited and recognized than a state university. Like Senatobiafire said, just to be safe, always go REGIONALLY ACCREDITED. Every school you talk with will say they're accredited by someone or some agency that sounds very prestigious after they break down the acronym to you. It's what they do to get enrollments because they're most likely for-profit and can't afford to meet and maintain the curriculum and requirements that it takes to be regionally accredited. Just about all nationally accredited schools are career based institutions and if you read the fine print, it usually always says "it's unlikely of the transferability of the credits earned to other institutions....". All in all though, look for a regionally accredited school and don't discredit it though because it's online. Sooner or later it's going to be rare for people to go to a campus to attend classes. Good luck though!


Also, FYI - University of Phoenix is regionally accredited. I would never recommend the school though to anyone.

[enginetercera]

Colleagues:

I am looking for feedback from any of you who have or are currently attending any grad school and working or aspiring for a career in the fire service. So far I have received great feedback from the University of Southern California and their public administration program (MPA). Oklahoma State University to my knowledge has an excellent program that mixes research in the fire service and public administration.

If anyone could provide experiences with Grand Canyon University, University of Oklahoma (MPA), CalState Long Beach, or any other, I would be enormously appreciated.

I posted the above on a different thread. I have some classes transferable to any regionally accredited university for a MS and looking for the right program.

Chief Lepore:
what do you think about Cal State Long Beach MS program?

Krewmoney:
can you give me any feedback on Grand Canyon's MS program? I have also heard bad comments about University of Phoenix, but from people working on corporate... what is all that about?

I am currently seriously thinking on Oklahoma State University's MS, however, planning to end my career in the west coast and I don't know if it would weigh in more a local university. OSU is very well recognized among the fire service, and its graduates have tremendously contributed to reasearch and improvements in the fire service.

I appreciate any input.

[philfirerescue]

I am currently seriously thinking on Oklahoma State University's MS, however, planning to end my career in the west coast and I don't know if it would weigh in more a local university. OSU is very well recognized among the fire service, and its graduates have tremendously contributed to reasearch and improvements in the fire service.

I appreciate any input.

How much is the program in Oklahoma? I thought I saw out of state tuition for $18,000 for 14 credit hours.

[krewmoney77]

I think GCU's program is great. I'm 2 courses away from finishing my MPA there. It's AZ's only private university and is a university that is growing extremely fast and moving in the right direction. I work with a lot of students that transfer out of U of P and I know a lot of people that hated working there. I personally think all around it's garbage.

[53fireman]

Anyone have any experience with Anna Maria College? I'm looking into their online MPA program but can't find a whole lot of info in ways of reviews, reputation, etc... thanks

[philfirerescue]

I know a couple people in the program for the masters. They say it is hard work...about $20,000 for the degree.I've heard mixed reviews on the program. They also do an "auto-enroll" so unless you tell them you are taking a semester off, they will sign you up for the next class.

[senatobiafire]

I've just enrolled at Anna Maria to finish my Bachelors. So far they have been excellent to work with. I was at the University of Memphis, but they are doing away with their program, so I had to find other avenues. This seems like a good fit and they do stay on top of things (I get a call from the school one a week to check in). So we will see.

[fire49]

Went through western Illinois university in conjunction with NFA

good program got general four yr with minor in fire admin

Good thing is they take NFA courses as equal to some of the classes needed

[enginetercera]

How much is the program in Oklahoma? I thought I saw out of state tuition for $18,000 for 14 credit hours.

I'll be paying in state tuition so I am not sure about that one. They do have an online calculator that will tell you up to date fees, even as an out-of-state student.

[Flash123]

CSU's degree is now accepted by the NFA. Will this make their degrees more appealing to people? I live in Canada, and 99% of students have no idea what the difference between nation and regional accreditation means, let alone employers. A degree is a degree up here....to most