Difference In Degrees?
Hey,
There are two colleges near me that offer a two year computer forensic degree, Kaplan College and a community college. To get the degree at Kaplan is like 103.5 credits. At the community college, although I don’t know the exact amount, I believe it to be around 80. A lot of the courses at Kaplan are worth 6 credits where at the community college most of the classes are worth 3. Also, Kaplan seems to focus more on the computer itself and operating systems for the program requirements and the community college seems to focus more on criminal justice. Both have the same forensic classes (Forensics I and Forensics II) as well as a few other classes that are pretty similar. Kaplan also teaches some criminal justice but not as much as the community college. How then do I know which school is going to be of greater benefit to me since one focuses more on the computer itself and the other focuses more on the criminal justice aspect. So what does the field of computer forensics focus more on, the computer itself such as operating systems or the criminal justice side of it? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Kaplan is likely using “quarter hours” while the CC is using semester hours. they are not the same, but in the end, the 2 year degree is about the same.
Kaplan offers a career-based education and you will be fully versed in which buttons to push, but less likely to be able to solve ‘problems’. A CJ associates degree will qualify you to gain employment in entry level jobs, or with the police, but not a whole lot more. A degree in computers is nice, but unless you get Microsoft and other certifications, you can only work at a help desk for starters.
There has been a huge rush to do CJ degrees, in part by the popularity of TV shows such as CSI, and in part as a result of the 9-11 incident. Everyone wants to be the forensic expert and do the cool stuff, but the reality is that most end up as store security, airport security, or some other equally sexy and high-paying job.
Personally, I would recommend the community college. Kaplan is a fine school, operating under a fine parent corporation, but they are a for-profit outfit and they want you in, and out. CC will be less expensive and you will probably not need to take out loans.