[ttrevor]

I left William Paterson College prior to receiving my BA in Communications because I was offered a paying position at a NYC radio station. Now some 20 years later, I want to finally receive my degree but I am not financially set, how can I go about finally getting my degree?

[Kitkat22]

You need to post this in the education forum.

[Synnen]

Moved :)

[Synnen]

ttrevor--you do it just like anyone else does it: you get scholarships, grants, loans, and another job.

Only about 1% of the people in this country can afford to go to school without some form of financial aid--and many of that 1% use their parents' money, that was saved for that purpose.

Talk to the financial aid office at the school you wish to go to, to see what you qualify for. You can also ask at the library for help finding the publications that have this year's (or at this point in the year, next year's) grants and scholarships that you can apply for.

Please also keep in mind that credits from 20 years ago may not be valid at all, and you may be repeating several of your classes.

[slapshot_oi]

. . . Now some 20 years later, I want to finally receive my degree but I am not financially set

That may be a problem, college tuition has inflated quite a bit in 20 years.

. . . how can I go about finally getting my degree?

Are you available to enroll in a day program, or are you restricted to night classes (CE) only? A day program has the largest course and program selection and you will get closer to your money's worth. A lot of CE programs don't offer BA/BSs--a certificate is not worth the money--and the usual resources open to students are closed at night, like the library.

To answer your question, for a day program you'll have to apply for like you did 20 years ago and that may include high school transcripts so be prepared. But, in a night program, if you have the money, about $300 per credit hour, you can take the course.

My advice: if you are looking to hone a specific skill in a specific field, can swing it financially and can devote the time required to study, then start from scratch and enroll in the day program. Otherwise, save your money.

[Synnen]

Actually, a LOT of schools offer full BA/BS programs either in the evenings or partially/completely online.

These are accredited schools, and in many cases are also state colleges and universities.

It takes longer, of course, to go to school part time, but many of the evening programs are accelerated--meaning that you do them in a portion of the time of a day program.

I don't know very many places that ONLY offer a certificate anymore.

Cost per credit hour will vary on the school and the program--NOT on the time of day you take the classes.

You WILL need transcripts--both high school and college transcripts--to attend any post-secondary institution, though. Be prepared to PAY for these transcripts, and especially be prepared to have a longer wait time for your transcripts. A large part of my job is to process transcript requests: Anyone who attended prior to 1989 has a minimum of a three WEEK wait time for a transcript, as opposed to those in my computer who have approximately a 3 day turnaround. Also be aware that there are busier times of the year than other times--usually August and December. Transcript requests are at their peak during those months, and it may double or triple the amount of time to get a transcript. Also--many high schools close for the summer completely, making getting ANY high school transcript impossible from May to September.

Check out the accreditation of any school you are considering attending. Also ask about any articulation agreements they have with other schools--some schools make it so that you can get your AAS at a community college, then continue straight into the BS/BA program at a university that offers higher degrees.

I also don't know any school that offers evening courses that does not have hours to accommodate those students in common resource rooms, such as a cafeteria, library, computer/resource center, and learning labs. Most schools even have tutors available for those times.

NTS (non-traditional students) make up a LARGE percentage of tuition at many schools, and there's no way a school would shoot itself in the foot to lose those students by not making accommodations for them. While you may not have access to administration offices (Financial Aid, Registrar's office, Student Services, the Dean, etc) during evening hours, many schools DO have a representative from those areas available to you--and most of those departments are willing to work with you to make an appointment if the ONLY time you can meet with them is in the evening.

Not sure which schools you've been dealing with, Slapshot, or when--because the educational environment COURTS evening students. With the economy the way it is, schools are being bombarded with people who are out of work and looking to further their education to be a more desirable candidate for employment.

In the school I work at, probably 90% of our evening students are non-traditional, and are pursuing degrees in Criminal Justice, Visual Communications, Radio Broadcasting, Business Administration, Interior Design, Game Design, and several IT programs, including a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. And we'd like to have MORE programs, and are actively looking into them, including a BA in Communications--but we are a small school (1200 students), and in a small building--we're literally out of classrooms.

So... ANY degree is attainable at night, not just certifications.

[slapshot_oi]

I don't know very many places that ONLY offer a certificate anymore.

Right, most colleges don't offer just a certificate. Night programs were designed to offer certificates or Associates Degrees, not Bachelor's.

Cost per credit hour will vary on the school and the program--NOT on the time of day you take the classes.

True, schools do vary in cost, but you are wrong about the second statement. To be considered a fulltime day student you need 12 credit-hours per semester while maintaing a 2.0 GPA overall--this is true for every accredited university in the nation. Most universities limit students to 18 to 20 credits per semester so they don't overwhelm themselves. Once you hit fulltime status, you're charged the same whether you take 12 or 18 credits. In a CE program, you would have to pay for all 18 credit hours.

That's the trade off: if you have money you can take whatever CE program you want but you have to pay for every credit hour, or you can apply to a day program and if accepted, be allowed the privilege to attend the university and then, sometimes, you have to be accepted into a specific program, like nursing.

I also don't know any school that offers evening courses that does not have hours to accommodate those students in common resource rooms, such as a cafeteria, library, computer/resource center, and learning labs. Most schools even have tutors available for those times.

Well, I do. My alma mater's library used to close at 6:00 yet my class would start at 6:30.

NTS (non-traditional students) make up a LARGE percentage of tuition at many schools. . .

You must work at a community college where NTS are the priority, because day-program undergraduates make up the majority of the student body at every accredited 4-year school, the rest are graduate students. The CE body is very small.

Not sure which schools you've been dealing with, Slapshot, or when--because the educational environment COURTS evening students. With the economy the way it is, schools are being bombarded with people who are out of work and looking to further their education to be a more desirable candidate for employment.

I gradated from UMass in 2008, but started at Drexel in 2004, and I never said CE programs were suffering for enrollment, I don't know if they are or not. What I do know from work-study at UMass's marketing department is public schools have higher matriculation than ever before because no one can afford a private education.

So...ANY degree is attainable at night, not just certifications.

Sorry, but this isn't true. You won't be able to find an accredited engineering or science program, like biology or physics, offered through any CE program at any university. With all the studying and labs involved, the material just can't be covered during nights only. Instead, there will be an abridged version of each program and it usually has the word technology in it, but they are NOT identical in curriculum. A degree in Information Technology does not hold a candle to a degree in Computer Science.

Your post from the school's perspective, mine is from the student's. And having been enrolled in both CE and day programs, I can confidently say the most anyone will get out of an education is through the traditional day program.

[Synnen]

I'm wondering if we are talking about the same thing.

Continuing Education (CE) is NOT the same as "night school" or "evening classes", though most Continuing Education courses ARE offered in the evening.

You are correct, though, in that I work for a private school, and deal mostly with community colleges. I'm also completing MY degree at a regionally accredited online school--because it DOES work with my schedule. I've already checked with the major universities I'm considering for grad school, and my credits will work to get into my master's program at those universities.

Not ALL schools offer evening classes--but when I attended the University of Minnesota in 1995, I was able to take about half of my classes in the evening. I'm not a morning person AT ALL--so going to school in the later afternoons and evenings worked a LOT better for me. And this was in 1995!

You can absolutely get a 4 year degree going to school in the evenings--you just might not be able to do it at EVERY school. You could also get your associate's by going to a community college in the evenings (which has MUCH cheaper credits anyway) and then moving straight into upper division courses at a local university--that's part of why I mentioned articulation agreements to begin with.

And it's a fallacy that private schools are always more expensive than public schools. Once again, it depends on the school. Marketing for our school is up against a few local community colleges, and we fall right smack dab in the middle of tuition costs. Yes, SOME schools are cheaper, but there are definitely public schools that are far more expensive (for the same programs) than we are.

Going from personal experience and from a quick internet search--I found several major universities that offer evening classes in engineering, nursing, physics--but interestingly enough, not in Chemistry.

The schools that came up were not just no-name schools, either. BYU, Columbia, San Francisco State University, UT-Austin, UT-Arlington, some University of WI schools, and at least one of the state universities in OH (forgot to write that one down). And that's just a QUICK search!

You can get ANY degree in the evening. ANY. You just may not be able to do it at the school closest to you.

[slapshot_oi]

Continuing Education (CE) is NOT the same as "night school" or "evening classes", though most Continuing Education courses ARE offered in the evening.

You've been talking about late-start undergraduate courses this whole time?

You can absolutely get a 4 year degree going to school in the evenings--you just might not be able to do it at EVERY school.

Agreed, but my argument is the program selection is severely limited in CE and what is offered is not the same curriculum as the day program. A BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology is not the same as BS in Mechanical Engineering.

And it's a fallacy that private schools are always more expensive than public schools. Once again, it depends on the school. Marketing for our school is up against a few local community colleges, and we fall right smack dab in the middle of tuition costs. Yes, SOME schools are cheaper, but there are definitely public schools that are far more expensive (for the same programs) than we are.

I don't know, this may be true somewhere 'cause there's thousands of colleges, but it ain't in north east. CampusGrotto: Colleges with the Highest Total Cost 2009-2010. They don't show you states, but I'm sure you'll recognize a bunch of them.

Going from personal experience and from a quick internet search--I found several major universities that offer evening classes in engineering, nursing, physics--but interestingly enough, not in Chemistry.

Right, but that doesn't imply that every course required to complete the program will be offered at night. More importantly, since they aren't CE courses (I'm guessing), the OP would have to apply and be accepted into that program as an undergraduate before he can even enroll in any of those courses.

You can get ANY degree in the evening. ANY. You just may not be able to do it at the school closest to you.

I'm sorry, but I still don't buy this. If you're talking about late-start undergraduate courses, they don't happen regularly, and, like I said, not every course for that program will be offered at night. And if you're talking about CE, not every program can have a CE counterpart, some programs just have too much work involved and you can't expect a professor and a student to stay up all hours of the night lecturing and studying. The solution to that would be stretching a four-year, undergraduate program into a six or eight year CE program.