I've had a few folks PM me asking about what I'm doing to pursue this degree. I've thought about it for awhile and decided to post it here for the benefit of others as well.
The school I'm doing the program through is American Military University. It is completely distance learning based. This may scare some folks off, but don't let it. I've done several distance learning courses through Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for their Information Systems and Operations certificate, but the courses at AMU are far more difficult in my opinion. The courses tend to be reading and writing intensive. Obviously the major drawback is you don't get that face to face interaction with the professor or other students. However, some professors do a weekly chat session, making it a great opportunity to ask clarifying questions, and providiing some level of interaction with other students in the course and the professor.
Graduate Programs. You can find their list of graduate degree programs (masters and certificate) here. What I particularly liked about the school was the plethora of courses to choose from within each degree program. Some programs will allow you to get a subspecialty code, but you'll need to coordinate with NPS to determine what needs to be done in order to get it.
Professors. The breadth of experience of the instructors is pretty amazing. Contrasted with your typical college campus, most of the professors have a lot of real world experience. And many of the instructors also teach at other well known campuses.
Accreditation. The school is accredited by DETC (Distance Education and Training Council) and is also recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. They are still working on attaining regional accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. They were granted candidacy status for regional accreditation in early 2004 and are on schedule to be evaluted for accreditation in early 2006.
Money, Money, Money. Like any institution of higher learning, they also require tuition for their courses. Their tuition and fees are pretty much equivelent to other schools at $250/semester hour ($750/course). There is no distinction between resident or non-resident as this is a privat school. They do accept Tuition Assistance and/or you can use the GI Bill as well.
I think one thing that may initially cause some people to question this method of getting the masters is that the campus is "virtual". While true, a couple things should be kept in mind. One, the navy doesn't care how you get your degree or where it's from, so long as you get it. For SWO's getting the masters prior to going up for XO is becoming more and more wise. All things being equal, the officer with the masters will get the nod. For those familiar with electronics the masters degree is either a 1 or a 0, on or off -- you either have it or you don't -- almost done doesn't count and getting your degree at NPS compared to this method doesn't matter either. Second, there are very few schools out there who offer a masters degree in national security studies, national security affairs, or similair discipline. Ones I was able to find were NPS, Georgetown, AMU, and Institute of World Politics. There are a number of colleges that offer international relations, but remember, national security studies is a subset of that field so there are even fewer colleges that offer it. And there aren't any out there that I could find that offered such a large number of courses to choose from (based on your curriculum) as AMU.
Hopefully, this will inspire some additional questions. Let me know if there's some other stuff you want to know about. If you're curious as to what some of the material is that's covered, I can forward you my syllabi.
BT
Had a question via a PM that I, as a SWO, do not know the answer too. Any help from the aviators out there who know for sure, and possibly a reference to back it up.
The question: "Are there slots available for aviators during a first shore tour to get a masters from say Harvard, Johns Hopkins (SAIS), or Tufts? I noticed that the navy gives out one to two slots a year to complete such a program (on thier graduate options page)."
The school I'm doing the program through is American Military University. It is completely distance learning based. This may scare some folks off, but don't let it. I've done several distance learning courses through Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for their Information Systems and Operations certificate, but the courses at AMU are far more difficult in my opinion. The courses tend to be reading and writing intensive. Obviously the major drawback is you don't get that face to face interaction with the professor or other students. However, some professors do a weekly chat session, making it a great opportunity to ask clarifying questions, and providiing some level of interaction with other students in the course and the professor.
Graduate Programs. You can find their list of graduate degree programs (masters and certificate) here. What I particularly liked about the school was the plethora of courses to choose from within each degree program. Some programs will allow you to get a subspecialty code, but you'll need to coordinate with NPS to determine what needs to be done in order to get it.
Professors. The breadth of experience of the instructors is pretty amazing. Contrasted with your typical college campus, most of the professors have a lot of real world experience. And many of the instructors also teach at other well known campuses.
Accreditation. The school is accredited by DETC (Distance Education and Training Council) and is also recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. They are still working on attaining regional accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. They were granted candidacy status for regional accreditation in early 2004 and are on schedule to be evaluted for accreditation in early 2006.
Money, Money, Money. Like any institution of higher learning, they also require tuition for their courses. Their tuition and fees are pretty much equivelent to other schools at $250/semester hour ($750/course). There is no distinction between resident or non-resident as this is a privat school. They do accept Tuition Assistance and/or you can use the GI Bill as well.
I think one thing that may initially cause some people to question this method of getting the masters is that the campus is "virtual". While true, a couple things should be kept in mind. One, the navy doesn't care how you get your degree or where it's from, so long as you get it. For SWO's getting the masters prior to going up for XO is becoming more and more wise. All things being equal, the officer with the masters will get the nod. For those familiar with electronics the masters degree is either a 1 or a 0, on or off -- you either have it or you don't -- almost done doesn't count and getting your degree at NPS compared to this method doesn't matter either. Second, there are very few schools out there who offer a masters degree in national security studies, national security affairs, or similair discipline. Ones I was able to find were NPS, Georgetown, AMU, and Institute of World Politics. There are a number of colleges that offer international relations, but remember, national security studies is a subset of that field so there are even fewer colleges that offer it. And there aren't any out there that I could find that offered such a large number of courses to choose from (based on your curriculum) as AMU.
Hopefully, this will inspire some additional questions. Let me know if there's some other stuff you want to know about. If you're curious as to what some of the material is that's covered, I can forward you my syllabi.
BT
Had a question via a PM that I, as a SWO, do not know the answer too. Any help from the aviators out there who know for sure, and possibly a reference to back it up.
The question: "Are there slots available for aviators during a first shore tour to get a masters from say Harvard, Johns Hopkins (SAIS), or Tufts? I noticed that the navy gives out one to two slots a year to complete such a program (on thier graduate options page)."
And for those innocent bystanders, Steve and I are (or were) good friends, and I enjoy giving him a ration of sh1t whenever possible, I view it as preparing him for his DH tour, and his morning beatdowns (errr meetings)...