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Are there any legitimate on-line degree programs for philosophy?

Brian Leiter

I get this question all the time; here's the most recent version:

I’ve been attending a community college for a few years now, and I’ll be earning my AA in Philosophy in a couple of semesters. I’ve been checking out some of the local universities, but nobody offers a philosophy degree achievable by night classes or online. I found an online undergraduate degree program at Arizona State University, but I’m not sure if they’re credible. Do you have any suggestions or advice for someone like me?

Readers?  Signed comments preferred; details would be helpful (i.e., details about the program, why it was good, or why it was bad, etc.).

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13 responses to “Are there any legitimate on-line degree programs for philosophy?”

  1. Brian B.

    University of Illinois Springfield offers an online Bachelor's in Philosophy.

    See: http://www.uis.edu/philosophy/curriculum/online/

    Reply
  2. John Speranza

    I looked for the same thing a few years ago and settled on the distance-learning B.A. offered by the University of London International Programmes, which has been discussed previously on this blog. (I'm about halfway through at the moment.) There's really no online component, so if you're particularly keen on video lectures or skype chats, then it won't be for you. I assume, though, that the main reason one looks for an online program is more to do with flexibility as regards time and place of study, and UOL certainly offers that, at least up to exam time. It's also fairly inexpensive, and relatively well regarded, as I understand it.

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  3. Pablo

    In Mexico, the UNAM (the biggest university in the country) offers a undergraduate degree in an "open university" system. This modality implies going to classes only once a week and making the rest of the work online. I've been studying in that way for 3 years and it has been a nice experience. The best thing about it is the flexibility and that you decide your times and the things your degree is focused on. The bad part of it is that you lose the oportunity of arguing face to face (all the discussion is by forums online) and all the "great lectures" that other students talk about.

    Reply
  4. Phil Rees

    In UK the Open University offers a BA and MA by remote learning including online. I believe Queen Mary College of University of London also do. Details available via google.

    Reply
  5. Robert Stufflebeam

    The University of New Orleans now offers an online B.A. in Philosophy. There is no distinction between the online B.A. and the one earned through face-to-courses. All of our online courses are created by the department's full-time faculty and offered through a combination of Moodle (the Learning Management System used at UNO) and iTunes U. Basically, everything a student does for a grade goes though Moodle, while all the lectures, lecture notes, media, etc. are accessed (for free) by subscribing to the course at iTunes U. As of this moment, 5 of the Top 10 courses in Philosophy at iTunes U are courses offered by the Department of Philosophy at The University of New Orleans — including #1. More information about our online B.A. program can be found here: http://www.uno.edu/cola/Departments/Philosophy/online.aspx. Or, feel free to contact me or to send an email to philosophy@uno.edu. Cheers.

    Reply
  6. Dale

    I'm currently doing the BA Humanities in Philosophy and Classical Studies with the Open University. It's not a full Philosophy degree unfortunately even though Nigel Warburton and other philosophers at the OU wanted to develop one. The course is very flexible and provides on-line tutorials as well as traditional face to face tutorials.

    Reply
  7. Yujin Nagasawa

    At the University of Birmingham in the UK we offer the following online degree programmes:

    MA in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
    MA in Philosophy of Health and Happiness
    PhD in Philosophy
    PhD in Global Ethics

    http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/ptr/departments/philosophy/postgraduate/index.aspx

    Reply
  8. Michael B

    Re. posts 4 and 6: I may be wrong but if the person asking the question is living in the US, I do not think they can study philosophy at the UK's Open University (I thought of this, and if you check their online prospectus for the United States, philosophy is not offered). Shame; it's a fantastic university.

    Reply
  9. Ryan

    Just to expand on Dale's post, the OU do not offer a BA in philosophy, it's my understanding that they once did though.

    Reply
  10. Shane Wahl

    I have taught a dozen sections of Intro to Philosophy online now and I have to say that there is *clearly* something missing from direct engagement between student and teacher in a face-to-face setting. Philosophy certainly is not a content-central kind of discipline as "form" clearly matters (doing philosophy vs. merely knowing facts linking philosophers to ideas). I know that there is significant development of the online format to more cleanly mimic the experience of a classroom, but there still seems to be something lost, especially if one thinks philosophy is performative in some significant way.

    Reply
  11. Richard Birdsall

    The University of Edinburgh has opened an online MSc in Epistemology, Ethics and Mind. The program is affiliated with the Eidyn Research Centre at Edinburgh. The program is conducted " through a combination of short video lectures, web discussion boards, videoconferencing and online exercises. Students on the programme will have regular access to both faculty and dedicated teaching assistants, including one-to-one interactions. You will also interact with other students on the programme as part of a dedicated virtual learning environment." More information can be found at:

    http://www.philosophy.ed.ac.uk/phil_students/postgraduate/online_msc_in_epistemology_ethics_and_mind.php

    Reply
  12. Josh Blander

    As of May 2012, UNC-Greensboro apparently had plans to offer a fully online philosophy major:

    http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/17/unc-greensboro-may-offer-its-first-fully-online-degree-philosophy

    Many of their course offerings are available as web courses, though I have not checked fully to determine whether all courses required for the major are offered via that medium:

    https://philosophy.uncg.edu/online-philosophy-degree-program/

    Reply
  13. cheshire calhoun

    ASU's online major is indeed a legitimate online BA. The courses are taught by the same mix of regular faculty, fulltime instructors, and adjuncts as the on the ground BA. Most of the upper division courses have been designed by the same tenure line faculty who teach those courses in the on the ground program. The BA degree awarded to online majors is the same degree awarded to on the ground students and does not specify that it was completed online. By the end of next year, we are projected to have more students majoring in philosophy online than on the ground, which is astonishing given that the online major is now only a year old.

    Reply

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