Athabasca University

[chen0289]

recognized and accredited, you can even get OSAP for it.... but don't expect any respect from employers

[blizzah]

How the blue hell is U of A not a real university?

It beat out most of the Ontario schools save Waterloo and Toronto in the comprehensive list in this year's Macleans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Alberta

I think he meant U of A as in Athabasca which is online, not Alberta, which is a proper university.

[i-mac]

I have taken 3 courses with Athabasca: ACCT351, ACCT352, ACCT356. And I am just about to start TAXX301.

In my experience, they are HARDER than the courses I have taken in class for my BComm at Guelph and a semester taking advanced business courses at Laurier. You have to be disciplined to keep on top of the material, and the exams are quite challenging.

If you do a whole degree through them, you can play up the whole self motivated, discipled, did the whole degree by myself thing at interviews.

The largest thing you are missing is the soft skills that you learn in class. Discussions with professors and classmates, presentations, working in groups etc are all very important to learn and I gained a lot from this exposure.

If you have good work experience, and can demonstrate that you have these skills then you should be ok.

[nalababe]

recognized and accredited, you can even get OSAP for it.... but don't expect any respect from employers

FOr the most part, in our industry (Pharma/Medical Devices), no MBA is not particularly respected unless they have an abundance of industry experience.

As an aside, my Uncle was a CEO for a hospital network in England. They routinely hired from the Athebasca similar Open Univeristy...why? Because is showed that they were able to learn in a much more challenging environment. The same does hold here as well..

FWIW, once you have more than a few years experience, performance on the job and not univeristy attended becomes more important for most people.

[cyrene]

Now this is only what I would think of a degree from AU if I'm the employer: I wouldn't respect the degree less if there is a good reason why it is done at an online university instead of a traditional one. Good reasons being things like working full-time, raising small children, caretaker of a family member, etc. Actually, it is admirable that they are continuing education while fulfilling other full-time duties. Some not-so-good reasons would be "afraid of people", "dislike team work", "hate strict deadlines". If the history is just "2008-2011 Athabasca University so-and-so program" and not much else going on during that time period but maybe some low-end 10 hr/wk pt job, I'd wonder why this person choose to study at home by themselves all the time (especially if there's a brick and mortar university close to their location of residence).

[pablonutribar]

Now this is only what I would think of a degree from AU if I'm the employer: I wouldn't respect the degree less if there is a good reason why it is done at an online university instead of a traditional one. Good reasons being things like working full-time, raising small children, caretaker of a family member, etc. Actually, it is admirable that they are continuing education while fulfilling other full-time duties. Some not-so-good reasons would be "afraid of people", "dislike team work", "hate strict deadlines". If the history is just "2008-2011 Athabasca University so-and-so program" and not much else going on during that time period but maybe some low-end 10 hr/wk pt job, I'd wonder why this person choose to study at home by themselves all the time (especially if there's a brick and mortar university close to their location of residence).

I'm just about finished my Accounting degree from AU. The quality of education is equal to anything you receive elsewhere. You do miss the networking and social opportunities present in regular university business programs, however. Having attended regular university, I had to ask myself why I would want to attend lectures where the profs generally don't give a rat's arse: they blab for an hour and then tell you to go read chapter ... at the end of class. Why not cut out the middle man? I can sleep plenty at home - I don't need to do it in boring accounting lectures. If someone attended AU to avoid people, that will likely become readily apparent during an interview, and there are plenty of anti-social idiots who attend regular classes as well. Looking at it from a different perspective, those who successful attend AU generally have to have a great deal of self-motivation and possibly time-management/planning skills. Have you ever taken a course at AU? Most people who I talk with admit they could never motivate themselves enough to actually do the work; that is, without the hand-holding and structure provided by regular universities they would be unable to get anything done. Does that not say something about students who attend AU? There are some drawbacks to online education, but I think you should open your mind and think ouside the box just a little more.

[nalababe]

I know that when we hire, we could care less about the actual university someone attended. Performance, presentation, personality...these are the criteria that we use in hiring...

...the actual university is rarely considered.

[slavutich]

My brother had told me that one of his college teachers had gotten his MBA through Athabasca and that I should look into it. Being very skeptical of certain types of places he told me that it was legit. Looked through online forums and found nothing negative about it save for this website.
One thing that set off the bells and whistles was that they do NOT require the assessment of a high school transcript. Having attended a traditional, stone and mortar university, completion of high school was an absolute must and having certain credits was also a must. Now this is the clincher. all of those FAKE schools we have in Canada as in "private career colleges" that scream "get your diploma/degree in 6 months with us" ALSO do not require a HS transcript. Hmm! The good thing is that it is public and NOT private. And the financial times had its MBA ranked in its top 75(whatever that means) Another point of interest, unbeknownst to me, the united states had their own version of FAKE university. DeVry which everyone knows is a clone of CDI, has many people infuriated(check ripoff report etc) and Phoenix which is more of the same. So now all of these Private hockey-jokey places are hiding under the moniker of University and college so us unsuspecting people give them a huge lump-sum of money and get not career in return. I'm thinking, is Athabasca Canada's attempt at DeVry and Phoenix? I sure hope not as Id NEVER go to either of those PRIVATE places, Id just as soon go to CDI or Everest "college".
Ive emailed my local "traditional" university to ask if they recognize the credits if someone chose to transfer and what the reasoning behind the lack of need for a hs transcript is and what significance it has. It could disqualify the University from many things. So far the research has been good but since we are spending money and time here we need reassurance of some kind. Im not looking to go head to head with some superstar university grad, I think, like many here, we want to put in hard work, get the skill set we need and get a career we want to work with. Not too much to ask, but all of these criminal institutions put up barriers and lie.
Do employers recognize the degree and do universities recognize the courses/degree????!!! At my age going back to university with my job is out of the question and it would feel awkward. And from experience going to class is NOT all that. Heck, in my program at least it didnt mean squat. I think society and the elders that hire people in corporations went through traditional brick and mortar colleges and universities and anything other than that confuses them. Its lame but in 2008 there are still so many closed minds. So before I enroll Im researching the publics view of Athabasca, it seems the better pick of most of these types of school but I could be wrong and I really dont wanna be wrong in this case,lol. All of the blow hards talking smack about Athabasca seem to have no proof of its inadequacy so I wont go on their negative comments but some in depth research is still a must.
Chris

[slavutich]

I have recently emailed numerous professionals on the topic of Athabasca. Universities across Canada and next employers. I will post my findings on what opinion they have of an Athabasca grad. Ranting and raving on forums is one thing, ACTUAL responses from professionals is another.
Chris

[Little Dragon]

i'm interested to hear your findings.

[Wanker]

I see nothing wrong with a degree from Athabasca. I need a degree to complete my accounting designation and a degree from Athabasca completes this requirement. I have been out of school for a while, work full-time and I have a family to care for so Athabasca works for me.

Honestly, when you have been in the workforce for awhile no one cares what school you attended or what grades you got. As long as you have that piece of paper saying you a degree. At least this has been my experience.

As far as proofing you completed high school - well, if you haven't there is a good chance you won't complete your degree. I can see why stone & mortar schools want you to proof this, otherwise you could be taking a seat away from someone who has a better chance of being successful and not wasting the schools time or resources.

Just my 2 cents.

[wakka2u]

Does a undergrad degree from Athabasca full fills the requirements of applying to Masters Program of ANY other university? i.e do Other universities in canada consider Athabasca's undergrad degree same as other brick and mortar university? Is there any one here who has Undergrad from Athabasca and pursued Masters degree from other university? pls help.........

unless you're in prison or have a full time job, etc, AU works out pretty good for many professionals who can't find the time with school, work, and family. For students at home sitting on a sofa watching TV, i suggest regular campus schools would be a better learning experience - helps with getting off the sofa.

on-line universties isn't for anybody, like someone already suggested, it's self-motivated and isn't easy like buying stuff on ebay or doing research on google. AU has real information sessions i.e. i think for Toronto, it's like twice a year if you are interested with their programs. Not every on-line university is the same or even accredited in Canada.

[slavutich]

As far as I'm concerned ab20's comments hold as much water as any body else's. The school is provincially accredited and is public but the whole decision they made to do away with a high school transcript makes me wonder also. I don't doubt the material or curriculum as Ive attended a "typical" university before and most of the time, being in class was a joke. Its not that big a deal save for SOME classes I guess. I Wiki'd the school and all of the info is positive. They are not on Ripoff report which is another plus,lol. That is the only clincher, I guess they decided to be a school that doesn't discriminate at one point by doing away with the high school transcript thing. Good for money bad for PR IMO. Im currently asking other universities and EMPLOYERS in the area of study Im interested in to tell me what they think of an Ath. grad. That is the true measuring stick. We can rant and rave and say "this school sucks", "employers will not consider you", but how do we really know? ANYONE HAVE ANY REAL ACCOUNTS OF AN ATH. GRAD NOT GETTING A JOB. If so, Id love to hear it and so would many others.
Chris

[boyoflondon]

I wouldn't hire anyone from Athabasca University, would rather take a college grad instead, there is no reason why anyone should go to Athabasca University over a traditional brick-&-mortar school

So now you start to discriminate against all those single moms/dads who have kids to feed at home and try to get an education in between their work/kid schedule?!?!

How is it right to judge someone by where they got their education from?
Not everyone has it easy!
Not everyone lives close enough to a 'real' university!
Not everyone can afford to go away to a 'real' university!

[cyrene]

I'm just about finished my Accounting degree from AU. The quality of education is equal to anything you receive elsewhere. You do miss the networking and social opportunities present in regular university business programs, however.

I agree that the quality of education at AU is equal - it is accredited, so it must meet ministry standards.

How often do you work in team projects or have public speaking assignments? Obviously not as often as students in B&M universities' business program. But if the AU student is already working or has worked in jobs that use those skills, then they don't need to say they have the courses for those. So it doesn't matter if their business degree is from AU or not.

Having attended regular university, I had to ask myself why I would want to attend lectures where the profs generally don't give a rat's arse: they blab for an hour and then tell you to go read chapter ... at the end of class. Why not cut out the middle man? I can sleep plenty at home - I don't need to do it in boring accounting lectures.

Attending distance education no doubt gives you more flexibility, and in some cases, time. The key is: what are the bonus flexibility and time being used for? To spend more time with their kids? Great. To keep a day job? Great. To have time surfing RFD? Great...I mean not so great.

If someone attended AU to avoid people, that will likely become readily apparent during an interview, and there are plenty of anti-social idiots who attend regular classes as well. Looking at it from a different perspective, those who successful attend AU generally have to have a great deal of self-motivation and possibly time-management/planning skills. Have you ever taken a course at AU?

Agree to those points. I have not taken a course at AU, but have done one online course from UofT and one from Queens. I do agree I had to make myself turn on my computer and log on to do the classwork; but in a B&M university, I had to make myself go to class and do the classwork as well. I do agree self-motivation was needed more for an online course in my case, because there were no classmates to talk to for "inspiration" - something like: "geez, you had that assignment done already? I'd better get on it soon." Or, "hey, do you want to work on that assignment together in the library during the three-hour gap between classes?"

Most people who I talk with admit they could never motivate themselves enough to actually do the work; that is, without the hand-holding and structure provided by regular universities they would be unable to get anything done. Does that not say something about students who attend AU? There are some drawbacks to online education, but I think you should open your mind and think ouside the box just a little more.

There is structure, as in deadlines and class schedules, in universities. AU's structure is more flexible. Pro of that is students can take a two-week off in the middle of November, and they can easily continue where they left off. Con is that requires the self-motivation to continue where they left off.

I did not experience "hand-holding" in university. That ended in high school for me. No prof or TA came to bug me about late assignments, nor they came to ask me if I needed extra help or track my progress.

I'm not sure if you missed it in my first post, but I said I would not discredit an AU degree and actually admire the ones who attend AU - for the right reasons. Of course, there are people who attend any university for the wrong reasons, too - career student, for one.