Is an open degree worth less? (arden uni vs open uni) and other questions

Hi, I'm currently studying online with Arden university, my experience with them as a uni has not been a good one. I am considering leaving them and moving to the open uni( i am on my second module only) The open uni seems better, more well known and respected and the option of some local lectures and books sent out etc. Does anyone have experience with the open uni?

My second question is, I am considering doing an open degree, I have been studying Business with marketing which I enjoy somewhat. I am really interested in psychology, so I was considering doing an open degree as I like the idea of building a degree around modules that I feel are relevant and will benefit me and go along with my learning interests. So I'm considering psychology and business, combined with masters in marketing or digital marketing. I am unsure which career path but was hoping the degree in both would keep my options open. Is an open degree worth less to employers? is it looked down upon etc? because the idea of building a degree that suits me is appealing and would be really interesting, but I don't want a worthless degree that won't benefit my future. Thanks in advance, Carl

Hi, I'm currently studying online with Arden university, my experience with them as a uni has not been a good one. I am considering leaving them and moving to the open uni( i am on my second module only) The open uni seems better, more well known and respected and the option of some local lectures and books sent out etc. Does anyone have experience with the open uni?

My second question is, I am considering doing an open degree, I have been studying Business with marketing which I enjoy somewhat. I am really interested in psychology, so I was considering doing an open degree as I like the idea of building a degree around modules that I feel are relevant and will benefit me and go along with my learning interests. So I'm considering psychology and business, combined with masters in marketing or digital marketing. I am unsure which career path but was hoping the degree in both would keep my options open. Is an open degree worth less to employers? is it looked down upon etc? because the idea of building a degree that suits me is appealing and would be really interesting, but I don't want a worthless degree that won't benefit my future. Thanks in advance, Carl

When speaking to enrolment I initially asked if the content was suitable for the business degree for those not currently working in an organisation, and if it was the same as a traditional university I signed up on that basis. The content constantly asks "in your organisation.." with tasks asking you to apply to your organisation. A traditional university would provide case studies within its content, as it's students would unlikely be working in an organisation. Therefore I was miss sold the course itself. As a resolution, all you have offered is that I search for case studies for every time the content says in your organisation. Or to email for case studies. This is not what I signed up for and adds hours of additional work onto my usual study load.

Hi, whilst I appreciate your reply I feel this is only because of your reputation is at stake. Please tell me what you have done to resolve my complaint, the support team has acted evasively and not addressed my complaint head on. I stand firm when I say that my experience with Arden university has not been a good one.

When speaking to enrolment I initially asked if the content was suitable for the business degree for those not currently working in an organisation, and if it was the same as a traditional university I signed up on that basis. The content constantly asks "in your organisation.." with tasks asking you to apply to your organisation. A traditional university would provide case studies within its content, as it's students would unlikely be working in an organisation. Therefore I was miss sold the course itself. As a resolution, all you have offered is that I search for case studies for every time the content says in your organisation. Or to email for case studies. This is not what I signed up for and adds hours of additional work onto my usual study load.

I can't wait for replies throughout a single lesson for loads of case studies or spend hours searching for applicable ones. Jackie, a member of your support team has been very blunt, evasive and trying to shift and twist the problem. Offering no resolution. Seeing as you will not deal with the matter professionally behind closed doors, and want to protect your reputation then I'm more than happy to discuss this openly on here, or behind closed doors, feel free to email me.

As well as provide any students with my honest opinion and feedback of the university. I must also add that my assignment was marked unfairly and marked down on things outside of the criteria, overall the university is very" wishy washy."

So what are you prepared to do as a university to resolve this? Are you going to add case studies onto all of the content? Or are you going to carry on mis selling courses and acting unprofessionally.

Is an open degree worth less to employers? is it looked down upon etc? because the idea of building a degree that suits me is appealing and would be really interesting, but I don't want a worthless degree that won't benefit my future. Thanks in advance, Carl

Hi, I'm currently studying online with Arden university, my experience with them as a uni has not been a good one. I am considering leaving them and moving to the open uni( i am on my second module only) The open uni seems better, more well known and respected and the option of some local lectures and books sent out etc. Does anyone have experience with the open uni?

My second question is, I am considering doing an open degree, I have been studying Business with marketing which I enjoy somewhat. I am really interested in psychology, so I was considering doing an open degree as I like the idea of building a degree around modules that I feel are relevant and will benefit me and go along with my learning interests. So I'm considering psychology and business, combined with masters in marketing or digital marketing. I am unsure which career path but was hoping the degree in both would keep my options open. Is an open degree worth less to employers? is it looked down upon etc? because the idea of building a degree that suits me is appealing and would be really interesting, but I don't want a worthless degree that won't benefit my future. Thanks in advance, Carl

Hi, I am at the end of my HND with Arden University and just wanted to say that while some of the tutors are abviously very good on the course (Hugh Smith is one such tutor that comes to mind), there are large gaps in consistency and I feel that because of a potentially low online signup rate or possibly a high volume of overseas online students who don't perhaps feel confident speaking in forums, a lot of the time you feel like you are on your own. I am glad that I stuck with it and completed the course, but in hindsight I wish that I had moved to Open University as this is something I too contemplated. I actually signed up to Arden University because of an employer who said they would fund my studies, but only if it was the most cost effective option and then proceeded to change their minds after I had enrolled - in this respect I took on the student loan and the full responsibility and possibly I would not have enrolled otherwise but in hindsight I do not think the difference in cost is worth the personal cost to myself for this duration. The reason I am posting this now, long after the original post, is that I hope this can serve to help others trying to make a decision about who to enroll with. At the point of writing I am at the end of a 4 and a half year part time study of an HND (which would be 2 years at full time study). I have studied at just under half the pace of a normal student but also commuted to a full time job, gotten married, been bereaved, purchased a buy-to-let property and more. To say it has been difficult is an understatement, and obviously something which I am not alone in experiencing, but what has made it even more difficult than it needs to be is the materials are primarily to be read on screen (difficult in the evenings when you have a desk job!) or if you want to print them there are many pages that are surplus to requirments which is a waste and added expense. There is typically one chat session per study period, possibly two if you are lucky, but the timings for me were not ideal and of the two or three I managed to make during the whole study period I was the only person in attendance besides the tutor leading it. There are no attempts to broaden the learning opportunities with video lectures (even though this would be easy now as they have a bricks and mortar university called Arden as well now. You even learn about the different ways of learning (audio, visual, kinesthetic) in this same way which seems ludicrous. In some topics there have been spelling and gramatical errors and broken links. I felt that as someone who had been out of education for some time some of the finer points where lost on me and I lost the opportunity to select topics which would have been of more interest to me because I was not aware that in certain periods you have a choice of topics that will not become available again. There were also some topics with very difficult subjects, such as criminal law and accounting, which having spoken to accounting colleagues seemed extremely advanced (at least the accounting one did, the other is purely from my own opinion). My friend who studies at OU meanwhile said that she is sent a pack with course material from the subject(s) she has selected each semester. Instantly having compred the two the differences seemed to be stark in what they could offer a distance learning student, with interactive online resources which seemed appropriate. I guess this is what you might expect, I just did not realise how big the difference was until I was well into my course and afraid of moving in case my existing work practices were completely wrong for fear I would have to start again with the learning process. In short I would back up what Superhayes has stated above and should I choose to go on for the final two years of study to complete my degree I will unfortunately not be returning to Arden University.

Hi, I am at the end of my HND with Arden University and just wanted to say that while some of the tutors are abviously very good on the course (Hugh Smith is one such tutor that comes to mind), there are large gaps in consistency and I feel that because of a potentially low online signup rate or possibly a high volume of overseas online students who don't perhaps feel confident speaking in forums, a lot of the time you feel like you are on your own. I am glad that I stuck with it and completed the course, but in hindsight I wish that I had moved to Open University as this is something I too contemplated. I actually signed up to Arden University because of an employer who said they would fund my studies, but only if it was the most cost effective option and then proceeded to change their minds after I had enrolled - in this respect I took on the student loan and the full responsibility and possibly I would not have enrolled otherwise but in hindsight I do not think the difference in cost is worth the personal cost to myself for this duration. The reason I am posting this now, long after the original post, is that I hope this can serve to help others trying to make a decision about who to enroll with. At the point of writing I am at the end of a 4 and a half year part time study of an HND (which would be 2 years at full time study). I have studied at just under half the pace of a normal student but also commuted to a full time job, gotten married, been bereaved, purchased a buy-to-let property and more. To say it has been difficult is an understatement, and obviously something which I am not alone in experiencing, but what has made it even more difficult than it needs to be is the materials are primarily to be read on screen (difficult in the evenings when you have a desk job!) or if you want to print them there are many pages that are surplus to requirments which is a waste and added expense. There is typically one chat session per study period, possibly two if you are lucky, but the timings for me were not ideal and of the two or three I managed to make during the whole study period I was the only person in attendance besides the tutor leading it. There are no attempts to broaden the learning opportunities with video lectures (even though this would be easy now as they have a bricks and mortar university called Arden as well now. You even learn about the different ways of learning (audio, visual, kinesthetic) in this same way which seems ludicrous. In some topics there have been spelling and gramatical errors and broken links. I felt that as someone who had been out of education for some time some of the finer points where lost on me and I lost the opportunity to select topics which would have been of more interest to me because I was not aware that in certain periods you have a choice of topics that will not become available again. There were also some topics with very difficult subjects, such as criminal law and accounting, which having spoken to accounting colleagues seemed extremely advanced (at least the accounting one did, the other is purely from my own opinion). My friend who studies at OU meanwhile said that she is sent a pack with course material from the subject(s) she has selected each semester. Instantly having compred the two the differences seemed to be stark in what they could offer a distance learning student, with interactive online resources which seemed appropriate. I guess this is what you might expect, I just did not realise how big the difference was until I was well into my course and afraid of moving in case my existing work practices were completely wrong for fear I would have to start again with the learning process. In short I would back up what Superhayes has stated above and should I choose to go on for the final two years of study to complete my degree I will unfortunately not be returning to Arden University.

Degrees from The Open University aren't worthless but you have to be careful with Psychology. A lot of Psychology degrees from OU aren't accredited by the BPS, which is what is needed to become a professional psychologist.

Hey, where did you ended up studying? I am deciding between OU or Arden.