Hello, First of all I am thankful for stumbling on this site. I am full time working professional as many of you are, and I’ve decided to go back to school. My problem is deciding on a school that is a RA, 100% online and relatively inexpensive. I realize cost in subjective. Anyhow, I earned a dual MBA, dual MA, BS and AAS from accredited schools. With these degrees is it best for me to look at only RA schools or should I consider NA as I don’t wish to tarnish my resume. I don’t look to be licensed per se. My expertise and majors are in Management, MIS, CIS, and Graphic Design. I currenlty live near St Louis and hope to transfer to San Antonio. Thanks in advance!
Thank you for your very honest and prompt feedback Vicky! I didn’t realize NA schools offered a possible 30% savings. A degree from an RA would certainly allow me to sleep at night! I have however, heard that California Southern and Tennessee Temple Univ have applied or will apply for RA. Have you heard anything of this? To answer your question, I enjoyed my time at NCU. There seemed to be quite the turnover of Advisors, which after a few courses, one got used to very quickly. If I pursued NCU I would enroll as a new student, meaning my… Read more »
Thank you ma’am for your reply. Yes RA is regional accreditation and NA is national. All my degrees are RA. I’m in the military and I earned these degrees with the help of TA, GI Bill and some out of pocket. My AAS is from the CC of the AF while my BS is from Wayland Baptist. My MA is from Webster Univ and MBA is from Northcentral Univ (NCU). I was pursuing a DBA at NCU till a divorce and physical move caused me to hold off studies. Now I find myself with 9 possible DBA transfer credit hours… Read more »
Hi Rich, Since all your past education is regionally accredited and you are going for a top level professional degree — the doctorate — I’d encourage you to stick with regionally accredited colleges. The reason is that this type of accreditation will give you the widest employment and career clout AND most regionally accredited colleges require this type of doctorate for teaching and or administration work. The one benefit to a NA doctorate might be a lower cost as NA accredited schools do general cost about 30% less in tuition and fees BUT I am not thinking that that kind… Read more »
Hi Rich, Thanks for the question. Does RA mean regionally accredited? Does NA mean nationally accredited? For background on issues on choosing one or the other type of college accreditation, see our advice article on online colleges and accreditation: Online College Types of Accreditation Regional Accreditation Vs National Accreditation Are your undergraduate degrees and masters ALL from RA colleges? What major area are you looking at for your doctorate degree? We do list hundreds of online doctorate programs. Most all of these are RA programs. You can sort these by type of accreditation and choose to see either or both.… Read more »