WHAT DOES A DISTANCE MLIS REALLY COST?

Mary Thompson [Ocean County Library, Island Heights, New Jersey, USA] created a spreadsheet with the cost of distance MLIS programs. She included the in-state and out-of-state tuition and the number of credits required, but did not calculate the total cost. So, I did it. Here are the results:

Cheapest in-state: San Jose State University, $6,300, runner up: Emporia State University, $6,636
Cheapest out-of-state: University of Alabama, $7,640, runner up: San Jose State University, $9,030
Most expensive in-state: Drexel University, $35,100, runner up: Syracuse University, $29,016
Most expensive out-of-state: University of Pittsburgh: $37,980, runner up: Florida State University, $37,206

As you can see, where you go makes quite a bit of difference in cost. However, you should not choose a school based only on cost. Consider the quality of the school and the courses offered—
do they have the courses that will prepare you for the type of librarianship in which you are interested?

If you would like the entire spreadsheet, email me at jsiess@ibi-opl.com and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

URL for Thornton's spreadsheet: http://www.becomealibrarian.org/DistanceEdComparison.htm