Yahoo Answer: Does anyone know if Capella University and Walden University are legit colleges?

The answer listed as the top answer is completely flawed and I recommend considering a more rich and balanced set of data before deciding. Also, no one I worked for had a problem with my online work or online degree pursuits (I only attend institutions that are accredited, established, have an organizationally-rich infrastructure, and an alumni base I can contact.)

I don't know about Capella, but an accredited online university does not automatically correlate to being a joke. Moreover, top universities including Ivy League U's, are offering online degrees - in fact nearly all U's offer distant learning for many classes and many offer entire degrees online. Even Harvard offers online degrees and only some have a minimum residency requirement (see http://www.extension.harvard.edu/). One Harvard program I was interested in a few years ago, which I could not find recently, listed its residency requirement as only requiring you live within commuting distance of the campus (proving it with simply a utility bill) - otherwise an online course could be used for that residency requirement.

The online classes I took typically involve the flow of much more information than traditional classrooms, and too much of the information flow in classrooms traditionally require you take notes. But even note-taking is being replaced with classroom videos available via the web (streaming video), student recording devices, and online notes (all traditional courses today have websites). So the only difference between traditional and online formats is you have to be present to see and hear the professor, rather than e-mailing or chatting with the professor. I have found online formats I've consumed often have more reading and writing requirements. Moreover, you will get more individual attention in an online format than a traditional classroom - especially since universities are looking to increase classroom size (it increases revenue).

After over five years in traditional classrooms, I find the distant format most conducive to my learning, and since application of psychology has been the subject of my study and passion for nearly two decades, I can point out another reason why: we are not distracted and bogged down by social perceptual and cognitive processing. But the most significant reason is serious problems exist with traditional institutions. This is a long discussion, but one point is there is far more bias at traditional U's. It is hard to come out with a balanced education without picking up professors' attitudes and opinions as factual knowledge. (This is why academic advisors suggest getting your degrees at a different institutions). Also, I can say from my experience at a couple of universities (UMN and ASU), the learning guidance was horrible. The mindset was they have more students applying than they can enroll, so it is a weeding-out process.

Another reason is that TAs (teacher's assistants) are used at traditional universities who are usually masters students needing a job or meeting a degree requirement. I've found with few exceptions that TAs hinder the education process. For one, between themselves and the professor, they were seldom in sync. Also, they don't typically care about your education.

Finally, many if not most professors are more interested in the more important aspect of their jobs: securing research funding and career advancement. Many professors are also typically more interested in advancing their career than how good an education you get. They will deny it but typical human nature and the nature of their job make this hard to avoid. Professors in traditional settings are supposed to deliver the following: 1) explain the material (audibly is apparently held to be better), 2) guide your learning, and 3) and provide unique commentary. I have seldom found 2) to exist, and found little value in 3) other than bias. The first one is also rarely done well, and the lack of individual attention negates this one pretty quick.

However, it is important to note that online learning requires you master your education, and may be a harder format to learn in for many students.

My academic experience includes distant classes in several formats from streaming (and closed circuit) video to snail mail to internet, and at one college (San Antonio College - http://www.accd.edu/sac/sacmain/sac.htm), two traditional and reputable universities (Regis University - http://www.regis.edu/ and University of Minnesota - http://www.umn.edu/), and one online university (Northcentral University – http://www.ncu.edu). I was also trained/educated by the University of Minnesota on education principals and theory applied to how to design a degree program - which included how to develop coursework that is genuine college-level learning at the appropriate educational level. So I have some qualification in comparing quality of education received.

In comparing content, learning guidance (mentoring), and level of education, I find the distant format to provide as much or more educational value than the traditional setting. I personally get more education from the online distant format than the traditional setting.

(Regarding NCU, I checked out several accredited online institutions, including Capella and Walden, which included exhaustive surveying of staff and alumni, and what is going on with their involvement with the Department of Higher Education and associated regional accreditation authority. I was most pleased with NCU and the format of their delivery. Furthermore, they were founded by educators with very impressive credentials. Check out http://www.ncu.edu/ for more details - you find answers at NCU, rather than the "we'll call you" crap at Walden, Capella and Phoenix. I don't like an institution that requires someone to sell me information.)

Another point to consider is in higher education, there are political and competitive motivations underpinning their resistance to online schools (though they do not apply their accusations to the online degrees offered by their own schools.) This resistance for instance, is adding residency requirements for degrees in order to obtain state licensure in various professions (essentially weeding out online programs). Yet they are not interested in adding more significant requirements that should exist, because the lobbying institutions do not meet those requirements.

Case and point: the Minnesota Board of Psychology is adding a small residency requirement in degree programs to obtain licensure as a psychologist. However, there is no empirical evidence to back up what this hopes to accomplish other than disqualifying online school graduates. For instance, they should specify more community learning goals with the residency requirement, or have more clinical-oriented requirements (since psychologists are clinicians). Few institutions offer clinical oriented degrees. So you can go to Stanford, which does not offer a clinical degree in psychology, and be licensed because, of course, Stanford has a prestigious reputation.

When you strip away all the BS, the aversion to online degrees all boils down to little more than dogma, politics, competition, and prestige - not scientific foundation.

Of course there are some online schools that are not well developed or are not accredited, and many are indeed diploma mills. Avoid such schools at all costs.