Technology is not going away, and every day more people are accessing the Internet for business, pleasure, to play games or just do the grocery shopping. When Newsweek magazine infamously declared the Internet was over — in 1995 — nobody truly envisioned the possibilities of printing 3-dimensional objects, watching an actual movie online, accessing the Internet from a cellular phone, or participating in higher education through online collegiate courses.
The technological limits of the time did not allow for those ideas, requiring massive amounts of bandwidth, to be feasible. Only with the arrival of broadband and larger bandwidth could the platform for technologies like streaming, cloud storage and other modern Internet innovations come to be realized. The technology on which the Internet, and now almost all businesses and governments, runs underpins the fabric of modern life from the simplest swipe of a debit card to moving billions of dollars in money and goods across the world. Keeping the Internet open for business is of vital economic importance, and becoming more so every day, and no degree offers a better or faster entry into such a diverse array of specialities than obtaining an accelerated computer science degree.
Overview and Careers in a High-Demand Specialty
Computer science, sometimes abbreviated to CS or CompSci, is a trans-disciplinary course of study about the operation, architecture, use and design of computers, their hardware and software, as well as the mathematical elements such as those in the theories of computation such as algorithmic construction and analysis. The candidate qualities needed for such an occupation are:
Analytical skills
Detail oriented personality
Communication skills
Logical thinking skills
Critical thinking skills
Concentration
Ingenuity
A bachelor’s of computer science (BSC or BSCS) is a four year course of study at a degree-granting institution, though that timeframe can be shortened by taking a more intensive course of study leading to an accelerated computer science degree. Opening the door to multiple career paths with a BSC or even an MSC, can enhance earning power, assure long term financial stability and play an important role in job security. Moreover, a degree plus workplace experience can give you the skills you need to make that startup dream a reality. In a growing and evolving computing world where major money buys emergent technologies, who knows what the next WhatsApp will be.
Possible career paths for Computer Science graduates, recent average salaries and projected growth through 2022 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics include:
Information Security Analysts: $86,170 average pay per year, projected growth of 37 percent.
Database Administrator: $77,080 average pay per year, projected growth of 15 percent.
Computer Systems Analyst: $79,680 average pay per year, projected growth of 25 percent.
Computer Programmer: $74,280 average pay per year, projected growth of 8 percent.
Computer Network Architect: $91,000 average pay per year, projected growth of 15 percent.
Web Developer: $32,500 average pay per year, projected growth of 20 percent.
Software Developer: $93,350 average pay per year, projected growth of 22 percent.
Computer Hardware Engineer: $100,920 average pay per year, projected growth of 7 percent.
Computer and Information System Managers: $120,950 average pay per year, projected growth of 15 percent.
In fact, the Bureau of Labor statistics notes the relatively low unemployment rates for computer and mathematical occupations as a whole and maps the areas all across America where such professionals are in high demand. No matter where you want to go with your accelerated computer science degree, there are opportunities everywhere — not just the Silicon Valley or Redmond, but everywhere in the US where business, industry, finance or government runs on computers.
Salary and Why A Degree Matters
A degree makes a serious difference, especially in a field like computer science, where a bachelor’s or even a master’s degree is less as a certification and more of a basic qualification for job candidates seeking to work in the field. As the occupation and technology evolves at a lightning fast pace, a bachelor’s degree from an accredited degree granting institution is the guarantee of a well-rounded and technologically current employee, who comes prepared to contribute. As previously mentioned, of the many reasons to obtain a degree, the most prominent are employability, financial security and the long term benefits over the course of a working lifetime.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, in a recent study, averaged the salaries in unemployment percentages of people 25 and older, across all levels of education from no high school diploma all the way up the ladder to Ph.D. and holders of professional degrees such as medical doctors and lawyers. By the measures of weekly wages and rates of unemployment, the difference even an associate degree makes in job and financial security is stark. The numbers, even when averaged, simply do not lie.
Less than a high school diploma: $472 average weekly earnings, with unemployment of 11 percent.
High school diploma: $651 average weekly earnings, with unemployment of 7.5 percent.
Some college, but no degree: $727 average weekly earnings, with unemployment of 7 percent.
Associate degree: $777 average weekly earnings, with unemployment of 5.4 percent.
Bachelor’s degree: $1,108 average weekly earnings, with unemployment of 4 percent.
Master’s degree: $1,329 average weekly earnings, with unemployment of 3.4 percent.
Ph.D: $1,623 average weekly earnings, with unemployment of 2.2 percent.
The study averages the base wages across all seven groups to $827 per week and unemployment to 6.1 percent.
Less than a high school diploma: $355 less than the average per week, or a shortfall of $18,460 per year.
High school diploma: $176 less than the average per week, or a shortfall of $9,152 per year.
Some college, but no degree: $100 less than the average per week, or a shortfall of $5,200 per year.
Associate degree: $50 less than the average per week, or a shortfall of $2,600 per year.
Bachelor’s degree: $281 above average per week, or $14,612 per year.
Master’s degree: $502 above average per week, or $26,104 per year.
Ph.D.: $796 above average per week, or $41,392 per year.
When totaled over the course of 10 years, not accounting for raises, promotions with commensurate pay, or long periods of unemployment, the differences amount to under average earnings of $184,600 at the no high school diploma of the scale. However, for the baccalaureate, earnings are above average by $146,120, and for the master’s degree come in at above a quarter million. Financial security depends, of course, on spending habits, savings, and budgeting for basic living expenses like housing, depending on where you live.
Accreditation Matters
Real estate agents say, “Location, location, location.”
In searching for a computer science program make your own chant, “Accreditation, accreditation, accreditation.”
Accreditation is the crucial difference between having a degree that is accepted not only by potential employers who want a credible standard of instruction and testing, but accepted by other institutions where you may wish to continue your education. For instance, if you begin working toward your degree at a community college before transferring to a bachelor’s degree-granting institution, you would want your credits for that hard work to be transferrable between schools, and this is one of the things that accreditation guarantees. Then maybe you’ll take the credits from your undergraduate years and want them to be considered when applying for admission to graduate school for a master’s degree program. Again, accreditation makes the difference, and with so many degree mill schools engaging not only in fraudulent degrees and phony accreditation, but also in predatory lending, it makes sense to do your best research before you invest in your degree.
Begin by checking the school’s website, which should mention regional accreditation bodies that are registered with the Department of Education. Then check accreditation with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, which not only has a database of regional accrediting bodies, but also faith-based accrediting bodies and important programmatic accrediting organizations.
As of this, CHEA’s only computer science accrediting body is ABET – Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology – which accredits 3,367 programs at 684 institutions worldwide. An ABET accredited program, with a regionally accredited school is the best guarantee of return on investment for the money and effort you’ll spend obtaining a valuable accelerated computer science degree. Accreditation also helps to finance your degree by assuring grant making organizations, scholarship foundations and loaning entities that the institution is valid and the degree worth the money.
Roadmaps to an Accelerated Computer Science Degree
Once you’re admitted to a school, depending on if you are a returning student, a new high school graduate or a distance learner there are several different paths to the accelerated computer science degree, but it’s going to mean more intensive courses, fewer breaks and working around the typical undergraduate breadth requirements. Not everyone is cut out for the pressure, but conversely working at an accelerated pace can assist people in leaving school earlier, owing less and earning more sooner than their classmates.
Testing out of undergraduate breadth requirements can nip off significant time from even an accelerated computer science degree, and save large amounts of money. It’s not cheap to go out of pocket, but compared to most tuition and time required for the same courses, it’s no contest. CLEP – College Level Examination Program – is accepted by 2,900 schools as credit in these 33 different breadth requirement areas:
History
Social Sciences
Composition
Literature
Business
World Languages
Science
Mathematics
Online courses, where laboratory units are not mandatory, can also be wedged in on weekends, evenings, breaks and summer vacation, or even whenever you have a spare quiet hour or so. For students with a busy home life, caring for children or family members, online coursework can also be a mental change of pace and a time saver. Even students already enrolled in a traditional four-year or two-year course of study can use online courses to slice hours from their undergraduate requirements. As with all programs leading to a degree, accreditation for your online coursework is vital if you are to use the course credits toward a degree.
CHEA currently accredits two organizations for institutions offering distance learning:
Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), which accredits private schools and colleges that confer diplomas, certifications, and degrees up to master’s level for technical, occupational and professional careers.
Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) Accrediting Commission, which is for distance learning programs that award credit toward associate’s baccalaureate, master’s, professional and doctoral degrees.
Finally, you may have heard of the five-year plan or the 4+1 master’s degree. The blended master’s accelerated computer science degree is offered as a way to take upper-division courses as an undergrad, and having them apply to both the baccalaureate and the master’s, with usually only one year postgraduate work to attain a master’s degree. Often offered as a hybrid course, the 4+1 generally requires both online and on-campus work, though the on-campus hours can be as little as two days per week.
Hard Work Makes It Work
One of the hallmarks of the predatory school is the guarantee of success, guaranteed passing scores, easy coursework and other too-good-to-be-true promises. In the end, the only factor that can bring you your degree is the work it takes to pass your courses. The primary thing to keep in mind is that a degree is an investment of time, money and effort on your part, with a valuable payoff in knowledge, satisfaction, confidence, an expansion of opportunities and a greater chance to provide for the future of your family, your own business or a comfortable retirement. What you expend in effort over the course of your studies will come back to you with tangible and intangible benefits, and the excitement of being in the middle of the technology that underpins the modern world.
The post You can now Earn an Accelerated Computer Science Degree entirely Online appeared first on | Accelerated-Degree.com.