Do universities and employers discriminate against people with an online degree?

[Life Long Learning]

Well

I've spent the last five years working for police departments at community colleges and universities in my region, and I've applied for a ton of jobs in my almost-fifty years of age.

In my limited opinion, the answer is, yes. Some people and places DO look down at online school grads.

Outside academia, employers only seem to know a handful of colleges, and the rest fall in a grey area. Have a decent answer when they ask you about it in the interview.

Inside academia... it's a whole other world. Credentials are their lives. They look down on associates, but they ABSOLUTELY look down on people with no degrees. (Part of why I started this journey was after one particular event with a decidedly sour doctorate...)

Everywhere I go, I hear people talking crap about online degrees. Most when pressed do it because they are ignorant of what's been going on with education the last five-ten years. The internet puts a hurt on traditional schooling. But there are a lot of people that associate online / distance education with 'diploma mills'.

This is the bleeding edge of education, with the other being immersive technology education. (I'm watching 'teacher in a box' and using virtual reality really take off.)

If you're concerned about name brand recognition (I kinda am), harvard and loyola both have online degree programs... lol Even then, there will be a stigma. The people that had to spend years slugging it out in classrooms sometimes hold a grudge towards compressed and online degreed recipients. I was at a guys' house the other day that told me, (when it happens for me) "we both may be bachelors, but I (he) earned mine the old fashioned way..."

Is what it is. Be prepared to sell your experience until general acceptance comes (and, I feel it will. These kids and their internets... lol)

In my 30 years only once did I really know an employer did discriminate against my degree.  The FBI told me 30 years to my face no to non-traditional degrees.  Fast forward today an FBI agent was hired with an Excelsior College degree.