Might be going back to school...

[SXRguyinMA]

I've been thinking about it for a while, finally just got more serious into it. I'm looking into DeVry University online courses to get my Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. The only downside is that it's going to be almost $85k, and more if I go for my Master's afterwards. I'm only 26, and the powersports industry isn't picking up at all. After years of the economy in the hole, people just aren't buying toys right now, and dealerships left and right are going out of business.

Thoughts? Input? Anyone know of any (read cheaper) schools for this field? I'm still doing my research, but DeVry right now is looking like the front runner. Any input/info is welcome and appreciated!

[Oneslowz28]

$86k for DeVry? I got out of UGA for half that. Have you thought of doing the undergrad stuff at like a community college and then doing the EE stuff at a Uni?

I have a friend who got his BS at The College of Charleston and is now going to the University of South Carolina for his MBA and I don't think he is in the hole for $50k total yet.

[SXRguyinMA]

well the big thing is the need for online courses. I work full time, so that is a must. I just looked into UMass Amherst (45 mins from me) and they've got an ECE program (http://ece.umass.edu/ece/welcome)(Electrical and Computer Engineering), but I'm not driving an hour each way after work, so I requested more info, we'll see what happens

[diluzio91]

if you are looking into amherst you should look into medaille? (SP?) thats where my dad went

[Oneslowz28]

Well I know big UNIs have online programs. My buddy who's getting his MBA does 90% online and only drives to USC once a week

[x88x]

A couple things to note:
1) With EE, I would expect there to be a large chunk of the courses that are not available, or feasible, to do online.
2) re CJ's friend, from what I've seen it's much more common for graduate programs to have a large portion of the courses available online because they expect a lot of the students to be working full time.

I would recommend looking for a state university. They are a lot cheaper (if you're a resident of the state), and they frequently have stellar programs as well. They might also have heavily online courses. I know the University of Maryland has an offshoot university that is entirely online courses, specifically for people who need to work full time while they're in school.

What educational background do you have? If you don't have any college courses under your belt yet, I would second the recommendation to start at a community college. Yes, it might feel a bit demeaning (though that might just be because I went to a 4-year school before I went to a community college, idk), but they're really good for getting the gen-ed and lower level stuff out of the way. They're (relatively) dirt cheap and they frequently also have a lot of online courses available.