Back to School?

I'm looking to bone up, so to speak, on my vegan nutrition. I'm thinking about enrolling in this program in plant-based nutrition through eCornell, a subsidiary of Cornell University. I don't suppose any members of my HUGE blog reading audience have taken it? Or know someone who has?

It's a chunk of change to spend on a course and I have to wonder if it really brings much more benefit than just reading The China Study. I've always been a bit skeptical of e-learning in general. Not that I don't think it's great for some people, but I've always preferred a discussion-based classroom experience to just reading on my own. Plus a friend of mine who's a Cornell alum inferred to me that the eCornell program is viewed there as just a money-maker/taker. Though it was first starting up when she graduated.

It's hard to find nutrition programs that focus on vegan nutrition.  I see plenty of vegan dieticians out there with nutrition degrees and I imagine that they either went vegan later or just had to suck it up and write about the healing powers of fish oil. 

Similarly with culinary school, I always wonder how vegan chefs make it through. Of course many chefs at major vegan restaurants are not actually vegan. (I'm looking at you, Eric Tucker.) But there are plenty of vegan personal chefs, etc. out there. Very curious how they all forged their career paths. Again, there are some great courses both online and off on vegan cooking, but few (if any?) that are actual degree programs.

As you might have guessed I've been exploring making a major career change/heading back to school. That's the thing to do when you're unemployed during a recession apparently. This is all further complicated by a potential move I might be making, but can't really talk about till it's finalized. But regardless if you know of other plant-based training programs in nutrition and or cooking, let me know about them in the comments.