I (20M) was originally enrolled in a traditional university that my parents were paying for. I stayed for about a year and a half but the teaching style just did not work for me. The lectures were outdated and professors seemed more interested in following rigid formats than actually teaching. I also felt like the grading was biased. I started looking into alternatives and found an online university that seemed more in tune with how I learn. They accepted all my previous credits and even evaluated some of my high school projects. Based on the quality of those and my life experience they awarded me a degree after I completed two additional reports. I did not tell my parents about the transfer because they are very old school and do not understand how much education has changed. I also ended up saving some of the money they had been giving me for tuition which I used to cover other expenses. Recently I landed a new job as a mid level product manager. I start next week. The offer was based on the degree and my project work. I am really proud of how everything came together. The problem is that my sister somehow found out about the transfer and told my parents. She also started claiming the degree is fake and unearned (because they rebranded recently and my certificate has the old name). My parents are now upset and saying I wasted their money and ruined my future. My sister keeps calling the degree a scam. She has both a bachelor’s and a master’s in computer science and is still working as a junior software engineer. I think she is just jealous that I found a faster route and already got a better role. From my point of view I found a path that worked better for me and led to a solid job opportunity. I did the work the program required and met their standards. Just because it was not the traditional route does not mean it was wrong.