Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Network And Systems Administrators
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at United States Naval Academy, Sojourner-Douglass College, Montgomery College, and Towson University.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Capitol College, Morgan State, Bowie State, and UM Baltimore County.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Sojourner-Douglass College and College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Bowie State, Morgan State, Prince George's Community College, and Montgomery College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Anne Arundel, College of Southern Maryland, Carroll Community College, and Hagerstown Community College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of United States Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins, Goucher, and Washington Adventist.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of United States Naval Academy, Mount St. Mary's University, Goucher, and Washington Adventist.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, United States Naval Academy, and UM Baltimore County.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at United States Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, and Morgan State.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at United States Naval Academy, Morgan State, Goucher, and Mount St. Mary's University.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
Sort Reviews By:Sorting by: • Show All Details • Hide All Details
University Of Maryland University College • Adelphi, MD
Studying Computer And Information Science (completion in 2010)
• 5/4/2011
"I knew the shortcomings of an online school going in. The school met my needs and provided me with the degree necessary to advance my career."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | As long as you understand the challenges of an online school, this is a great choice for those already with full-time jobs but who still need to complete their degree. This is especially true for technical positions where the 4-year degree quickly becomes outdated. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | The University of Maryland program receives high marks on its Computer Science program. Some of this spreads to the University College for those looking for an online option. |
| Program Quality | 10 | In a technical field, the degree itself means very little. Most employers are looking for current certifications to verify one's skillets. The degree is to merely meet some early entrance requirements and relate a little about the person's character. For these reasons, a degree relevant to the field from nearly any school would suffice. |
| Instruction | 5 | The classes are all distance learning based, which seems to encourage those teaching the classes to simply copy and paste the course material every semester. There is a strong disconnect between the instructor and the students. The degree program itself is very easy for someone working in the field and already has applicable experience. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The lack of academic challenge is balanced out by an unavoidable work load. Discussion topics are generally posted every week, forcing you to participate in their message boards. Like most schools, a core curriculum is present that requires english and other classes where heavy writing is required. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | As a computer based major, the core classes do have you actually creating products (programs, web pages, etc) that are relevant to the field. This hands-on training is easy to do even in a distance learning environment. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | Except for a few classes, there are no live options, and therefore you can do the coursework at any point in the week. This facet allowed me to easily continue to take classes while in Iraq. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | As an online college, you don't have any physical access to labs. But, there are plenty of advisors and online library resources to use. |
| Social Life | 3 | The forced participation does encourage some interaction between students, but because the school is completely online there is little going on outside of that. There were courses in which I didn't get to know anyone else in the class. |
| Placement Services | 5 | Again, I'm rating this a 5 as I have used neither service. I was been employed while in school and kept the same job afterwards. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I marked a 5 for this question because I had no interaction with the alumni network nor the support staff. I have not heard of any complaints about either, however. |
Capitol College • Laurel, MD
Studying Computer Engineering Technology (completion in 1995)
"I last attended Capitol almost two decades ago."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Capitol is a very good place to study engineering. Due to their strong focus within the field, a student will get the chance to work with some of the latest equipment and technologies. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | Due to Capitol College's small size and specialization, few people have heard of it. Few of the people I encounter today have heard of the school. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The school I attended is very focused on engineering. They did a very good job of preparing me to work in the computer field. |
| Instruction | More than 5 years ago | I have not attended Capitol College for almost 2 decades. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The courses were challenging. I had to study quite a bit to keep up. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Capitol was very hands-on. We often got to work with some of the latest equipment. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | Capitol had classes days, evenings, and weekends. Since I attended they have added online courses as well. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | A strong focus on engineering and technology has allowed Capitol to accumulate some excellent equipment for students to use. The small size of the school made it easy to interact with the professors. |
| Social Life | 5 | Capitol did not have very much in the way of athletics. But students got to know each other and often organized parties and events at the school. |
| Placement Services | 6 | The school placed me in several of my early jobs. They continued to contact me about available positions for several years after I left. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | The school is very small. I haven't been in touch with my old department or with other alumni in years. |
Mt. St. Mary's University • Emmittsburg, MD
Studying MBA (completion in 2006)
• 10/11/2011
"It provided me with a masters program that was convenient and that I could complete quickly."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have seen the MBA be useful as IT moves away from just technology and into a business service. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Not highly ranked nationally. Regionally it is respected as an executive program. |
| Program Quality | 5 | It is an executive MBA program in the evenings that's not highly rated. It was a certified program and gave me the degree, so it was worthwhile. |
| Instruction | 6 | The business teachers were good. The technology was lacking and did not help except on the business side. |
| How Difficult | 4 | I did not struggle through many classes. Finance was the hardest, but the IT classes were barely even intro. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Standard collegiate coursework. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | Evening classes were offered. I also had classes at a remote campus. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | Standard classrooms. No added technology. |
| Social Life | 3 | It is a small school. I was at a remote campus and there was no spirit to be noticed. |
| Placement Services | 2 | I did not need the placement, but I was also never offered any assistance. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | They ask for money a lot. I have not seen any value. |
TESST • Beltsville, MD
Studying Network Information System (completion in 2008)
• 11/4/2011
"I got my job after I finished at that school as a PC technician and then I moved up. I can't ask for more."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | If someone is goal oriented and interested in networking, the best thing they can do is get an associate's and work on certificates while in college. Once finished they can get a job and get the real life experience. I am not against going to a 4 year college, but you get more experience by working in real world. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | The school only has a few courses and one of them is NIS. Lots of people come to that school to get their associate's and then start off their career. |
| Program Quality | 10 | I received my MCSA and the school paid for it. They had lots of hands on training. |
| Instruction | 8 | It was very good. We had all we needed in order to prepare for our career. |
| How Difficult | 7 | It was kind of hard in the beginning since the course was short, but once we got the hang of it we were able to get into it with no problem. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It was a mix between hands on and book learning. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | Classes long. We had 2 breaks per class. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The library wasn't very big since the school was small. That was the only drawback. |
| Social Life | 5 | They didn't have too many parties or social events since it was only an 18 month course. |
| Placement Services | 10 | They helped me in getting a job as soon as I finished and the teacher always told us to put our resume on websites such as Monster, etc. |
Johns Hopkins Whiting School Of Engineering • Baltimore, MD
Studying Computer And Information Systems (completion in 2003)
• 3/7/2012
"I enjoyed taking classes at JHU and am proud of my Master's degree. If I had to do it again I would be happy to choose JHU this time around."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Having JHU on your resume is a plus. Prospective employers are very impressed by the school. I also felt like I got a good education. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | Johns Hopkins is a well known school for many different fields. A degree from JHU looks very good on my resume and I'm proud of myself for getting one from JHU. |
| Program Quality | 10 | Johns Hopkins is a very prestigious school and I am grateful that I was able to get my Master's there. My employee paid for me to go to school and while I found it challenging, I am very glad I completed my degree. |
| Instruction | 8 | Most of the professors had life experience and were teaching part time in the evening. I thought that they brought a good background to the classroom and were able to give good examples. |
| How Difficult | 9 | I found the program very challenging and there were times when I did not want to finish school. However, I continued to take classes and am so glad that I did. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Most of the classes I took were book learning with some hands-on work. The Master's program is very much a thinking type of program with team projects and papers taking up most of the requirements. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | All of the classes I took were in the evening. There were no online options at the time. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Most of my coursework was classroom and some limited computer resources. At the time it was forward thinking but if the same thing were offered now it would be considered very backwards. |
| Social Life | 5 | I was in my 30s and had a family and a job. I was not interested in social activities. My full concentration was on passing the courses. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I went to school part time and worked full time. There was no offer of career placement at anytime. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | I got my Master's degree nine years ago and online classes and computer support were not what they are now. The classes were in-person and any online activity was incidental. |
Online Course Finder
Find the path to your
education in 3 easy steps.