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Free Online Educational Offering: Major or Minor in Computer Science at Saylor

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app103:
Ever consider going to college and perhaps majoring or minoring in Computer Science, but don't really have the time to show up for classes, don't really want to go into debt paying for 4 years of college, and really don't want to fuss and bother with taking a bunch of classes that have absolutely nothing to do with your chosen major? (skip things like Psychology, Modern Dance, English Literature, and Art History?)

Maybe you should look into the offerings at Saylor.

They have 2 different Computer Science offerings, depending on whether you want to major or minor.

They use all free materials that are available online, including materials that are unique to their program. Once you have completed all of the materials for each course, there is a final exam that you can take that does count, to prove your mastery of each course.

Once you have completed all of the courses in the program, they will issue you a certificate, free of charge. While this isn't exactly the same as a 4 year degree from a traditional college, you'll pretty much have the same knowledge as someone that paid for their schooling, except perhaps all the unrelated nonsense from courses having nothing to do with Computer Science, that one is usually forced to take. See their FAQ for more information.

And if you aren't quite ready for taking the required math courses to complete their Computer Science program, perhaps need to brush up on Algebra first, or fill in some of the holes left over from a less than adequate high school education, you can go back and take the high school math courses that you may have missed out on or forgotten the material.


http://www.saylor.org/majors/computer-science/

Renegade:
That's awesome! Reminds me of a Good Will Hunting quote:

NSFWyou dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a fuckin education you coulda got for a dollah fifty in late chahges at the public library

Stoic Joker:
But how receptive will the HR department at a potential employer really be regarding the authenticity of the acquired sheep skin?

Vurbal:
But how receptive will the HR department at a potential employer really be regarding the authenticity of the acquired sheep skin?
-Stoic Joker (August 22, 2013, 06:32 AM)
--- End quote ---

That's the sad reality in most tech fields. Before anybody knowledgeable enough to judge your qualifications even gets to see your resume it has to make it through the HR screening process. That's why otherwise worthless certifications are such a big deal.

OTOH I'm guessing it might pass muster for a lot of them for more or less the same reason. Unless/until they become well known enough for that to be a red flag (like the University of Phoenix for example) it may just slip by unnoticed.

Edvard:
The best thing to do would be to take your newly-acquired knowledge that came with the sheepskin and do something with it.  Do lots of things.  Code something for NANY.  Contribute to some Open-Source projects.  Apply for every appropriate job you can think of on places like Odesk,eLance, or Guru.com.  Take all those things and keep details of every single one of them and whip it all into a spanky new CV/Résumé. 

THEN it won't matter if it's from Saylor, Harvard, or the local Public Library; you've got EXPERIENCE to back up your fancy certificate, which is worth much, much more.

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