Are there any Ivy League schools that offer master’s degree online? For example, Princeton offers free online education, but it doesn’t grant any degree.
I’d think that a quick search of each of their websites would allow you to find any distance education/online programs.
What kind of degree do you want? I know Columbia offers some online degrees, but it doesn’t matter if they offer an online MA in statistics and you want one in English.
I want masters in any field related to humanities (philosophy, history, etc.).
If you don’t know exactly what field you want a master’s in, I’d argue that you aren’t ready for graduate school yet in any case.
Graduate school is a means to an end. You get an MA in a field because you need the degree in order to work in that field (unless you are independently wealthy, in which case you can pay for whatever you want). If you’re saying you just want it in “any humanities field,” then I suspect you don’t know what career you need it for, and are just selecting without a purpose. That’s a waste of your time and money - no one wants to get an MA in history and then realize 3 years later that it doesn’t open up the kind of jobs to them they wanted.
Second of all, it’s very unlikely that you are competitive for an MA in more than one humanities field anyway. Graduate degrees generally build on knowledge you gained in undergrad and they require a foundational level of knowledge in the field. For example, an MA in philosophy would likely require a strong background (almost a major, if not a major) in philosophy. An MA in English literature would require a strong background in English literature. Some of those fields also have reading language requirements.
And then there’s the fact that the Ivy League is an athletic conference - so in a particular humanities field you might be better served by an MA from another university (public or private). In fact, for an MA in the humanities - after which salaries are admittedly pretty low - you would probably be best served by attending your in-state public university, unless you could get substantial funding for that MA.
I think you could get more assistance if you said what your major is/was in undergrad and what your career goals are. (It also may be that an online MA is not suitable for your goals - for example, if you want to get into a PhD program, an online MA is not a good choice.)
In any case, it’s pretty easy to determine this from checking out the websites. None of Columbia’s humanities MAs are available online. Harvard offers some hybrid online and in-person programs in English; foreign language, literature, and culture; literature and creative writing; and museum studies - but you have to take 2-3 of the classes in person at Harvard’s campus. Penn, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown and Cornell offer some online courses but don’t appear to offer any fully online or hybrid degrees in the humanities.
If you don’t know exactly what field you want a master’s in, I’d argue that you aren’t ready for graduate school yet in any case.
Well, your arguments aren’t very warranted anyway.
You get an MA in a field because you need the degree in order to work in that field (unless you are independently wealthy, in which case you can pay for whatever you want).
That’s not true. You can go study masters because you’re interested in the process of learning and developing your critical thinking skills, not necessarily because you’re looking forward to wealthy-ass job perspectives.
That’s a waste of your time and money […]
There are a number of colleges/universities that offer free tuition in masters.
Second of all, it’s very unlikely that you are competitive for an MA in more than one humanities field anyway.
How do you know that? I’m studying liberal arts, which comprises several subjects. In particular, philosophy and history.
Some of those fields also have reading language requirements.
I’m fluent in three languages, and besides that, I also know some ancient Greek and German.
It also may be that an online MA is not suitable for your goals - for example, if you want to get into a PhD program, an online MA is not a good choice.
Again, that’s not true.
@diapason You can answer your question by going to each Ivy website.
You seem to have all the answers so why did you bother posting here on CC?
I didn’t post details for why I’d argue that way, so how would you know?
Well sure, you could. My statement was not about whether or not you actually could but whether or not you should. Master’s degrees are expensive and they take time out of the workforce - time you can be making money and saving for retirement and gaining experience and seniority. An Ivy League master’s can cost upwards of $80,000 for tuition alone.
First of all, humanities programs are far less likely than other programs to offer tuition waivers at the MA level. And second of all, when those tuition waivers happen, they are almost exclusive for brick-and-mortar programs. I would be very surprised if you found an online-only MA program in the humanities at an elite university that had a tuition waiver. (As we’ve explored in my prior post, even finding an online-only MA program in the humanities is a struggle.)
Obviously, if someone wanted to borrow $80-100K to pay for an MA for personal enlightenment, that would be a personal choice.
The “you” doesn’t refer to “you” specifically but to a more general You. The average person is unlikely to be competitive for programs in both because top academic MA programs usually prefer people with the equivalent of a major in the field who have done some semi-independent work, at least, in those areas. Of course, a double major is the exception - they’re usually pretty well-prepared for both. (A liberal arts major that takes some coursework in both fields may or may not be; it kind of depends on how much coursework and how deep it is.)
It objectively is true. For reference, I have a PhD.
When getting into a PhD program, there are certain elements that are important. Here’s how they are affected by online programs:
-Letters of recommendation. People who hold MAs would be expected to have at least one from their MA program. But if you only take online classes, it is difficult to establish the kind of relationship with a professor that would elicit a good recommendation for graduate school.
-Research experience/experience with scholarship in a particular area. Someone with an MA would have been expected to do some independent research and/or scholarship during their MA, but arranging that at a distance when you are in an online program is difficult to impossible.
-Doctoral courses are usually built on collaboration and discussion, and professors would expect to see an MA student having been steeped in that kind of environment in the MA. Many professors are skeptical that online classes match the quality of brick-and-mortar classes in terms of preparing someone for doctoral study. You don’t have that kind of close collaboration and discussion in an online class.
Can you go to a doctoral program after getting an online-only MA? Sure, of course, especially if you have good preparation from a BA program. But a lot of professors wouldn’t compare it favorably to a B&M MA program.
The bottom line, though, is that none of the Ivies have what you want. The closest is Harvard’s four hybrid MAs.
TomSrOfBoston, why did you bother posting anything for me after all?
juillet, I don’t think you understood anything.
Not gonna discuss it anymore.