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His Royal Hiney |
You're going at this all wrong, IMO. Just stay with me for a sec, I'm not going to bust your balls. I'm going to bring up something I haven't see yet in the responses. You already have a plan - leave California. You won't be doing police work but you'll still have to work at something and you think for that you need a degree. That's a great start. Here's my suggestion: figure out where you want to go. If you can't decide on a single one, take the top 3 or 5. I say top 3. Then look at those locations and find out what industry or businesses are prevalent there. What do people do there that earns a decent salary according to your liking? Of the places you're interested in going to, I'm assuming they're going to be similar in a lot of ways based on your wants and preferences. When you research what people are doing there for a living that can earn you decent money and that you would like to do yourself. Then determine what degree would be most helpful to you. You can set up an account in LinkedIn, they have a feature where you can connect to people doing what you want to do and you can ask them questions such as what degree would they think is most helpful for their job. It's more of a mentoring thing. People don't mind to help. And it gives you a network of people you know who are in your target business. After you figure out what degree it is you want for the job that you want that you have a liking and talent for, research the schools in the area you're considering to move to. See if they offer an online course in the degree you want. Here's the reason: in that place you're going, there will be a good probability that people working in that area graduated from the school in the area. Even if you did it only online, you still share the same alma mater. That gives you bonus points in the interview. If everything else was the same, graduating from the same school as one or more of your interviewers will skew the selection in your favor. some things about online schools: accreditation is the minimum; even shitty schools can get accreditation. You may also have to physically visit the school during the program. I would normally go with a school with some recognition - one that advertises on tv like university of phoenix. It's going to cost you money, and I would suggest taking out a student loan with the lowest interest rate if it's going to cramp your budget. But my suggestion of going with a school local to where you're going would beat the odds of University of Phoenix or other schools that advertise. I would mention them but I don't remember or take note since I'm not interested. Good luck! "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| His Royal Hiney |
Just to help you, there's five functions in every business. So you would want a degree that would help you towards that function that you're interested. Sales - general business degree is fine but you need people skills and wanting to work on commissions. I think starting salaries are pretty low unless it's a specialty product or service. Marketing - it studies and learns what customers want in a product or service and tells the company that as design inputs. It also "markets" the company's product to the customers - highlighting the features and benefits. There's the qualitative side of 'marketing' and there's also a quantitative side that deals with numbers. Human Resources - psychology is one of the degrees that can easily apply. it's dealing with the people issues and administrative issues. Accounting/Financing - numbers. tracking payables and receivables. What to do with cash. Production/Operations - being in the line of doing what the company sells. either in production or servicing. with a degree, you would be managing people or functions. Legal/Regulatory - dealing with government stuff. necessary in some companies or industries. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| Member |
Try Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). You'll get in-state tuition if you're taking 6 credits at a time or less (2 classes). You can take many of the classes online from a campus other than the main one at Portales; by doing that you'll pay community college prices and can knock out a lot of your schooling for a low cost. You can also do the same through any number of community colleges; typically four year degrees will be 120 credits, much of which can be had elsewhere. Classes which might cost several hundred dollars a credit hour at a four year school can cost fifty bucks an hour at a community college. If you want local tuition rates, many schools will give them to you if you take few credits, but you can do them at a college in your state without that restriction. Someone above mentioned Western Governors, which allows reduced tuition from other surrounding states. | |||
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| Oh stewardess, I speak jive.  |
 I feel completely opposite about this. My degree is wholly unrelated to my career, and in all of the people I've interviewed and hired over the years in my field, more than half had wholly unrelated degrees or none. Most universities lag far behind the private sector anyway. Even if someone got a CS degree from MIT or CalTech, the likelihood that the technical classes they took align with specifics they encounter in their future job is small or tangential, at best, most of the time. 4yr degrees are about critical basic skills, time management, endurance, and the rest. They aren't vocational schools, in most cases. Get any useful degree in anything you please from any non-bullshit school as quickly and cheaply as you can, because "checking the box" is almost all they're good for. | |||
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| Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.  |
In my opinion, if you are spending your own money you want a degree from a school people have heard of. Take a look at Arizona State University. Its online degree program is highly regarded. ________________________ "Don't mistake activity for achievement." John Wooden, "Wooden on Leadership" | |||
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| Oh stewardess, I speak jive. |
It's very good. It's pricey. I paid in-state tuition there, and at that price it's a great value (in so far as college costs go, all over priced). I loved it, got a good education, had tons of options, overwhelmingly positive but as imperfect as anywhere. But the online classes are like paying out-of-state tuition so it's 3-5x what I paid, so the calculus does change. Living there is good, too, if you're up for the move. Anyone with a nice-ish vehicle with working AC and an indoor job can manage the 90days of 100+ temps each year, but it's no worse than dealing with Snow in Colorado or wherever, just reversed. Gun friendly state, too. I was there for more than a decade, for school and my IT career. Saw almost everyone I know prosper in many ways, from single friends to single parents to married with kids, AZ has done me and my people good, so to speak. It's basically an even mix of California and Texas, geographically, politically, and weather wise, for good and bad. It's mostly good. | |||
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Casuistic Thinker and Daoist |
I know several baristas who take courses there...Starbucks reimburses tuition No, Daoism isn't a religion | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Thank you very much for your input. I didn't post here looking strictly for validation of my preconcieved notions... I seek and appreciate counter-opinions as this is truly how we come to well thought out decisions. We currently have a location in mind (of course, this may change since our timeframe is 8+ years). I went to indeed.com and serached for jobs earning a certain amount and more that are currently available. The bulk of them seem to be marketting related, which is good news. A lot contain the key phrase "business development" which I translate to be marketting related. Am I right on that? | |||
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| Team Apathy |
I will look into ASU online and ENMU. I appreciate the tips! I have several months before I hope to begin courses so there isn't a real significant time crunch at the moment. And just to clarify, as there seems to be a little confusion, I will be pulling an annual pension estimated to be, at least, $60k before tax. The area we are currently looking at has a median income of about $28000. I don't feel, at this time, the job would need to be something spectacular but rather something I enjoy and that provides health insurance plus a little extra income. I think the pension will cover the cost of living, largely. I hope this puts me in a good position.... I could see myself doing a lot of different things from a low to mid level management position in a retail or grocery operation to event services to who knows... This is sort of why I'm taking the "general" approach to try and cover the most ground. Heck, I could work the floor at Lowes and probably be just fine. The employee discount would likely be very handy. | |||
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| Shit don't mean shit |
I am surprised you don't think defining what you want to do first is important, but we can agree to disagree. I think you work in IT, and I agree that IT is a bit of a different beast when it comes to having a degree in a related field. Someone who has strong technical skills can break into IT, but that is not the case for many professions that I've seen. Case in point, I have a BSBA with a concentration in Finance and a minor in economics. I worked in Accounting until I decided Accounting wasn't for me. I then took some computer related classes and have been in IT for 15+ years. I stand by my point. Figure out what you are interested in, and then make a path to get to that point. Interested in health care, study health care related field, i.e. Nursing. I don't think a degree in some unrelated field, i.e. Psychology, would serve you very well for finding a job in the future. I have a few friends with degrees in Construction Management, took tons of engineering courses. That is a very good field as well. You may not even need a full degree if you go into IT. A few years ago I took a Python programming class at the local community college. I have to respectfully disagree again with 46and2 above. Taking a few programming courses, whether Python, C, Java, javascript, etc... would go a long ways to getting a job quickly. You may not even need a complete degree in CS, just take some classes. Again, IT is kind of a different beast in regards to this as the job market is so hot. I wish you luck! | |||
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| Casuistic Thinker and Daoist |
I think the term Business Development would more accurately translate as Organizational Behavior...more organizational and leadership skills focused No, Daoism isn't a religion | |||
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| His Royal Hiney |
That's the problem with job descriptions, the same word can mean different things. But if you google the term "business development" it comes down to creating new customers or selling additional products or services to existing ones. For an open position, it usually means you can bring in accounts you had from your previous position. It's more of a sales position than marketing. But don't let that deter you. Especially if it's just thrown in, it's to deter people who don't actually go out and get more business and are just content with servicing existing customers. To be good at sales, you need to be able to take "no" a lot, not take it personally, and be willing to risk earning your livelihood based on your commissions. I don't have the stomach for that. Some people do. I know being a Medical rep is good. Had a neighbor who left the marines and got hired as a medical rep for a prescription company where they trained him for the job. It's mostly people skills but with the discipline and persistence required. It sounds like you have great options. Your retirement gives you a great safety net. So your goal is finding a career/education path that where you can use your strengths and have a blast at the same time. Here's a different thought: You need a masters to teach. I'm thinking you can get a truncated program to get a bachelors in criminal justice. Get a masters. Then teach where you're going. I know a couple of people who did that after their retirement. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated  |
Please at least visit the one I recommended. You may be awarded many credits for your past work etc. You can also study and test out of certain requirements like 9 hours of English with written composition, I did. Saved lots of money in the long run. "Someday I hope to be half the man my bird-dog thinks I am." looking forward to 4 years of TRUMP! | |||
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| Team Apathy |
It’s on the list to look into. Thank you, I appreciate the suggestion! | |||
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Legalize the Constitution |
Friends don’t let friends go to ASU  I thought the leader in online universities was University of Phoenix. Update: maybe not—under investigation by the FTC for 3 years now. _______________________________________________________ despite them | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
I did online college for quite a bit of my BS but not the entire thing. My recommendation is to find a good school that is well-known and respected that EXISTS in brick and mortar form but also has a good online program and do it that way. | |||
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