Man took 58 years to get his college degree

[Life Long Learning]

Its way easier today to get a degree!  

Tons of FREE credits and low-cost credits today.  Today we are NOT tied to B&M classrooms only.  Testing out credits did not really exist like today.   Gore had not invented the internet yet!  Today, being a non-traditional student is 99% easier than even the 1980's were.   No computers, no spell check, no Grammarly etc., back then.  Education is a commodity today that we (students) can shop around for the best deal.  I could go on and on.  In 1959 he had very limited options.  I had a few more options by 1987 (Dr. John Bears Guide), but still nothing like today.

Its way easier today to get a degree! 

[Thorne]

Does Bear have a new guide? I've looked, but can't find it if it does exist.

It'd be great to have an up-to-date plan to share with people that isn't an amalgam of 50 forum posts (though I truly love you guys, it scares people)

[Life Long Learning]

I think Dr. Bears daughter continued the guide after he retired, but they all stopped quite a while ago?  I am not sure of the last one's printed date.  The internet and forums like this make printed books dated even when new.  I wish I had kept my Bear Guide.  I do not even remember the version that I had. 

I would also buy a new Bears Guide, but I think that ship has sailed.  After Ewald B. Nyquist, the father of the Big 3; Dr. John Bear had the most impact on non-traditional students.

[burbuja0512]

Its way easier today to get a degree!  

Tons of FREE credits and low-cost credits today.  Today we are NOT tied to B&M classrooms only.  Testing out credits did not really exist like today.   Gore had not invented the internet yet!  Today, being a non-traditional student is 99% easier than even the 1980's were.   No computers, no spell check, no Grammarly etc., back then.  Education is a commodity today that we (students) can shop around for the best deal.  I could go on and on.  In 1959 he had very limited options.  I had a few more options by 1987 (Dr. John Bears Guide), but still nothing like today.

Its way easier today to get a degree! 

As a happy Big 3 grad, I would agree and disagree, depending on the situation.   I think that for anyone wanting a select group of majors, including liberal arts and business, it's easier than ever. 

However, for science or other related majors that require you to be on-campus for the most part, I disagree.   My DD is a pre-med chemistry major and we literally moved states to choose a college that would be affordable.   She knows that because we  moved states, we can pay for her education until she gets to her post-grad studies, at which point she will rack up possibly hundreds of thousands worth of debt.    And, we could say "doctors make a lot of money, it's ok."   Well... that depends on the specialty, or even whether you specialize.   For example, general practictioners or pediatricians don't make the sky high figures that would help her easily pay off the debts.   

So, I guess now we just need to find a way to make it easier for the "other" majors that aren't covered on this forum.  As much as I'd like to say that a SL class with lab is the same as what my DD is doing on-campus, it really isn't.   But we need all of the STEM majors more than ever, so it seems like a very difficult situation.   

[dfrecore]

I think Dr. Bears daughter continued the guide after he retired, but they all stopped quite a while ago?  I am not sure of the last one's printed date.  The internet and forums like this make printed books dated even when new.  I wish I had kept my Bear Guide.  I do not even remember the version that I had. 

I would also buy a new Bears Guide, but I think that ship has sailed.  After Ewald B. Nyquist, the father of the Big 3; Dr. John Bear had the most impact on non-traditional students.

Amazon has several of the various versions of the Bear Guides (4 different ones that I can count starting with a 1982 copy).  But I can't imagine that things haven't changed so much since even the 2004 "updated" guide that they would be pretty useless.  But interesting to read about the "olden days" nonetheless.

[Life Long Learning]

Its way easier today to get a degree!  

Tons of FREE credits and low-cost credits today.  Today we are NOT tied to B&M classrooms only.  Testing out credits did not really exist like today.   Gore had not invented the internet yet!  Today, being a non-traditional student is 99% easier than even the 1980's were.   No computers, no spell check, no Grammarly etc., back then.  Education is a commodity today that we (students) can shop around for the best deal.  I could go on and on.  In 1959 he had very limited options.  I had a few more options by 1987 (Dr. John Bears Guide), but still nothing like today.

Its way easier today to get a degree! 

As a happy Big 3 grad, I would agree and disagree, depending on the situation.   I think that for anyone wanting a select group of majors, including liberal arts and business, it's easier than ever. 

However, for science or other related majors that require you to be on-campus for the most part, I disagree.   My DD is a pre-med chemistry major and we literally moved states to choose a college that would be affordable.   She knows that because we  moved states, we can pay for her education until she gets to her post-grad studies, at which point she will rack up possibly hundreds of thousands worth of debt.    And, we could say "doctors make a lot of money, it's ok."   Well... that depends on the specialty, or even whether you specialize.   For example, general practictioners or pediatricians don't make the sky high figures that would help her easily pay off the debts.   

So, I guess now we just need to find a way to make it easier for the "other" majors that aren't covered on this forum.  As much as I'd like to say that a SL class with lab is the same as what my DD is doing on-campus, it really isn't.   But we need all of the STEM majors more than ever, so it seems like a very difficult situation.   

The Big 3 do most of the major degrees. 
Postsecondary institutions conferred approximately 1.9 million bachelor's degrees in 2015–16. Over half were concentrated in six fields of study: business (19 percent, or 372,000 degrees), health professions and related programs (12 percent, or 229,000 degrees), social sciences and history (8 percent, or 161,000 degrees), psychology (6 percent, or 117,000 degrees), biological and biomedical sciences (6 percent, or 114,000 degrees), and engineering (6 percent, or 107,000 degrees). The fields in which the next largest percentages of bachelor's degrees were conferred in 2015–16 were visual and performing arts (5 percent, or 93,000 degrees); communication, journalism, and related programs (5 percent, or 92,600 degrees); and education (5 percent, or 87,200 degrees). Overall, 355,000 bachelor's degrees (18 percent) were conferred in STEM fields.
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cta.asp

Excelsior alone enrollments:
17,539 Nursing
8210 Liberal Arts
5829 technology
5204 Business
1185 Health Sciences
1107 Public Service

Its way easier today to get a degree!

[burbuja0512]

I'll continue the devil's advocate position

What health degree making over 50k can you get entirely online? The online nursing degrees seen are typically to help go from RN to BSN. There may be a true RN program online, but I don't know how they would do it since they have to spend a lot of time with patients.

Same goes for engineering. And the lab-based sciences. Not sure how many lab-based sciences there are, but anything that requires experiments in a lab and microscopes, along with the other equipment that this business grad is clueless about, so I can't really fully quantify.

I agree that technology is WAY easier than it used to be.

[Life Long Learning]

With my original "Big 3" BS in Business, I made over 6-figures and a nice first retirement.  My new "Big 3" BS in HSEM degree I make way over your 50K figure.  

I do not have the background in health degrees to answer your question.  You are focused on just a few degrees, but my original post is and still is "A" degree not a specific degree.  A degree means little if that person does not have the work ethic to go with it.  

The Big 3 Nuclear Engineering and Electrical Engineering folks seem to do very well.  Go to the Big 3 in LinkedIn and do a search of alumni using degree names and see what they do.  It's very interesting.

[burbuja0512]

With my original "Big 3" BS in Business, I made over 6-figures and a nice first retirement.  My new "Big 3" BS in HSEM degree I make way over your 50K figure.  

I do not have the background in health degrees to answer your question.  You are focused on just a few degrees, but my original post is and still is "A" degree not a specific degree.  A degree means little if that person does not have the work ethic to go with it.  

The Big 3 Nuclear Engineering and Electrical Engineering folks seem to do very well.  Go to the Big 3 in LinkedIn and do a search of alumni using degree names and see what they do.  It's very interesting.

I'm focused on the health sciences because that's what's costing me the big bucks right now.  I'm very happy to know that the Big 3 education is a lot broader than just some liberal arts and business, which is what I thought.   I am DEFINITELY not undervaluing my education at all, just talking about a different subject.

..So I guess I'm saying that while school has gotten easier for the wise, it's gotten harder if the Big 3 aren't possible.  And with my DD, it's just not a choice.    With her major, we had the choice to stay where we were (Chicago area) and look at 20k a year or more, OR move out of state.   So after some research, I uprooted the family to come live in a tiny little town that is the home of the University of South Dakota.  Where we can actually pay for her college.   Well, at least until medical school, depending on where she goes.

That's why I'm playing devil's advocate.   I think we've got some great solutions that can help some people, but we need to do a better job.   I shouldn't have to completely relocate to find a place where we can afford for my daughter to study. 

[Life Long Learning]

With my original "Big 3" BS in Business, I made over 6-figures and a nice first retirement.  My new "Big 3" BS in HSEM degree I make way over your 50K figure.  

I do not have the background in health degrees to answer your question.  You are focused on just a few degrees, but my original post is and still is "A" degree not a specific degree.  A degree means little if that person does not have the work ethic to go with it.  

The Big 3 Nuclear Engineering and Electrical Engineering folks seem to do very well.  Go to the Big 3 in LinkedIn and do a search of alumni using degree names and see what they do.  It's very interesting.

I'm focused on the health sciences because that's what's costing me the big bucks right now.  I'm very happy to know that the Big 3 education is a lot broader than just some liberal arts and business, which is what I thought.   I am DEFINITELY not undervaluing my education at all, just talking about a different subject.

..So I guess I'm saying that while school has gotten easier for the wise, it's gotten harder if the Big 3 aren't possible.  And with my DD, it's just not a choice.    With her major, we had the choice to stay where we were (Chicago area) and look at 20k a year or more, OR move out of state.   So after some research, I uprooted the family to come live in a tiny little town that is the home of the University of South Dakota.  Where we can actually pay for her college.   Well, at least until medical school, depending on where she goes.

That's why I'm playing devil's advocate.   I think we've got some great solutions that can help some people, but we need to do a better job.   I shouldn't have to completely relocate to find a place where we can afford for my daughter to study. 

The Big 3 were never originally designed to help youth aged 15-25.  They were designed for older folks with real B&M credits from many colleges and who were discriminated against by ALL the B&M universities in the 1970's.   At last count, I think Excelsior College has helped 160,000; TESU 70,000, and COSC 12,000?  

TESU has way more specialed degrees than Excelsior College.  Excelsior College has many more military students working in the nuclear field and they have a STEM base.

In the West the University of Wyoming is cheaper than most of the in-state universities for students in all the Western States.  They use the WUE.
https://www.wiche.edu/wue