I'm going back to college, college, college!

I've been toying with the idea of "going back to school" for quite some time now. (Backstory: In Minnesota I was 3/4 done with a degree in nursing when I was recruited to come to San Diego and work on video games for a living. I dropped the degree, huzzah!) I'm pretty damn successful in my career now, and I don't actually *need* any sort of degree. I'm a video game producer, and a few project management classes here or there would come in handy, but unless I want to become a CEO I'm probably safe from needing an MBA. But, I still want a degree. So if I don't need a degree for my career, why don't I get a degree in something I'm passionate about and very interested in? Women's Studies is the #1 contender.

I don't have the time to actually GO to the classes, which is a bummer but it's real life. I need to do these classes online, which severely limits my choices.

So I've been looking at my options in the Bay Area. There are some interesting programs here. City College has a Women's Studies program and an LGBT Studies program (the first in the nation) but they are both only AA degrees and neither are available online. They don't have any sort of agreement with 4-year institutions for guaranteed admissions, so that's a fail. Of course Berkeley has a Gender and Women's Studies program, but I'm not getting into THAT anytime soon (nor is it online). San Francisco State University has a program as well, but it too is not online. And Cal State East Bay has an online Women's Studies BA with an asterisk by it. When I called them they told me that the curriculum is all set and ready to go, but that they don't have the funding to actually launch the program. They're speculating it won't be available until 2012, perhaps later (if not at all). This could work out for me, because I have probably two years of generals to complete first. Finally, UMass Dartmouth has a BA Women's Studies major that is entirely online, but it is expensive.

The good thing is that California has pretty good articulation agreements between local community colleges and the large universities. I can attend the College of San Mateo and complete the transfer requirements for any of the universities (except Berkeley) and get a guaranteed admission provided my GPA is good. So my plan of attack is to attend community college, finish up all the general requirements for admission to Cal State East Bay or SFSU, and see what happens in two years. I start with an admissions test tomorrow to see what Math/English I fall into. I'm not looking forward to taking math, especially in an online format where it will likely be harder to learn. I'm excited though, and hoping I'm not biting off more than I can chew!

Anyone else have a Women's Studies degree, and do you regret it in any way?