American Military University - are online programs worth anything?

[bubblegun]

What is says on the tin. I've seen AMU's ads in Foreign Affairs a couple of times; they advertise themselves as 'the #1 provider of higher education to the U.S. military'; the programs offered seem rather interesting - the MA in Intelligence Studies especially; the cost is moderate. In theory, it seems like a good option to add to a degree in International Relations from a 'regular' university. The question is, though, would it be worth anything on the job market? Or make any sense, for that matter?

Do you have any insight into what is the perception of online degrees in the IR field, or in general? I've always associated it with scam attempts and, frankly, bullshit. It might be completely unjustified, though. Well-respected universities offer online programs these days. Maybe the perception has changed, or maybe it has been my skewed perspective all along.

What do you think?

Edited April 13, 2012 by bubblegun

[jct329]

Military member here. From what I can gather, it is worth it if you are already in your career and want to advance. For the most part, if you are active duty military and want to get your masters in order to make rank, it is fine. If you are hoping to do any type of career shift or are hoping that it adds a lot to your resume in the job market, it will be worth much much less. It is regionally accredited by the HLC, which is what you actually want. A lot of for-profit online places are "nationally accredited" which means they are absolutely worthless.

[JAubrey]

Military member here. From what I can gather, it is worth it if you are already in your career and want to advance. For the most part, if you are active duty military and want to get your masters in order to make rank, it is fine. If you are hoping to do any type of career shift or are hoping that it adds a lot to your resume in the job market, it will be worth much much less. It is regionally accredited by the HLC, which is what you actually want. A lot of for-profit online places are "nationally accredited" which means they are absolutely worthless.

Just to second this, if you are already in your job military or federal government and need it for grade rise or promotion, then this works. For anything else or career shift it isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

[bubblegun]

What is regional and national accreditation, exactly? I only have a basic grasp of the American educational system; things like this escape me.

Either way - no, I'm not a military member, nor do I have any connection with the government. I'm pretty much at the start of my career but with a bit of a twist away from my previous education. I'm a lawyer, and I'm trying to get into the IR field. Ideally, I'd like to work in the intelligence community, hence my question. Would AMU's degree make any sense as a way of enhancing my knowledge, not just getting a degree? Or would it be regarded as worthless anyway?

Do you know of any 'traditional' programs that offer such a specialization? I've managed to find only one - in Australia, of all places.

[JAubrey]

What is regional and national accreditation, exactly? I only have a basic grasp of the American educational system; things like this escape me.

Either way - no, I'm not a military member, nor do I have any connection with the government. I'm pretty much at the start of my career but with a bit of a twist away from my previous education. I'm a lawyer, and I'm trying to get into the IR field. Ideally, I'd like to work in the intelligence community, hence my question. Would AMU's degree make any sense as a way of enhancing my knowledge, not just getting a degree? Or would it be regarded as worthless anyway?

Do you know of any 'traditional' programs that offer such a specialization? I've managed to find only one - in Australia, of all places.

The top programs I'm aware of for this are Georgetown SFS's Security Studies Program which offers an MA in Security Studies and a specialization in intelligence. Next I would also recommend GW Elliott's MA in Security Policy Studies. After these two programs your options decline rapidly to either programs at TTT's or general IR master's at elite university that allows one a few classes in security studies (SIPA, Yale, etc).

If you only have a basic grasp of the US educational system, are you applying to the US IC or are you an international applying to your home country's IC?

[jct329]

The top programs I'm aware of for this are Georgetown SFS's Security Studies Program which offers an MA in Security Studies and a specialization in intelligence. Next I would also recommend GW Elliott's MA in Security Policy Studies. After these two programs your options decline rapidly to either programs at TTT's or general IR master's at elite university that allows one a few classes in security studies (SIPA, Yale, etc).

If you only have a basic grasp of the US educational system, are you applying to the US IC or are you an international applying to your home country's IC?

SAIS has a pretty damn good Security Studies program as well.

[bubblegun]

I actually got admitted into Elliott's Security Policy Studies but can't really afford it at the moment. I'm leaning heavily towards Syracuse's Maxwell because of the affordability but I'm wondering if that's going to be worth anything. In theory, people in the IC come from a variety of backgrounds so that shouldn't decrease my chances to a near-zero level, but in practice, it might be a whole different story.

And to answer your question: international organizations via my own government.

[JAubrey]

I actually got admitted into Elliott's Security Policy Studies but can't really afford it at the moment. I'm leaning heavily towards Syracuse's Maxwell because of the affordability but I'm wondering if that's going to be worth anything. In theory, people in the IC come from a variety of backgrounds so that shouldn't decrease my chances to a near-zero level, but in practice, it might be a whole different story.

And to answer your question: international organizations via my own government.

Elliott may be worth it...that said people in the IC at least in the US tend to have either a security background or regional focus / background. For every SFS SSP or Elliott SPS grad there is a generalist from HKS, WWS, SIPA, SAIS, SFS, Elliott, Yale, etc.

[leon32]

I took two masters like courses at AMU, and while the professors are good, and the classes themselves are fine, I wouldn't recommend getting your degree from them. I took the courses out of interest, and I thought it might help having those two courses on my application to make up for a somewhat lower gpa in Undergrad. I think employers are not going to take it as seriously as a traditional school.