Kennedy Western - legit?

I've just received an email from Kennedy Western University.

Being a Brit, with somewhat less than perfect understanding of the US scene, I was wondering if this outfit is respectable?

The website is very Bauhaus (less is more!) and slick, but is the institution genuine? Utility is not a major issue, but I'd hate to inadvertently add a ticking time bomb to my resume.

I never did a bachelors, although I have a post grad cert and MS(c), so it would be fun to do a DL BBA and enjoy a bit of formal learning (its 6 yrs since I did my last study.)

Thanks for your comments.

 

I'd bet were you to use the search tool above, right, accessing the several forums here, you'd dind much info. to help.

 

Run a search on this forum. There have been many threads devoted to KWU.

I can tell you that the degrees are illegal to use in the State of Oregon. It is also true that Californians may not register even though the physical location of the school appears to be in California.

On the other hand, the impression one receives from the school is that at least some employers consider the degree program to be sufficiently rigorous that they will reimburse their employees for the fees and costs of obtaining a KWU degree.

 

I should also tell you that KWU is neither accredited, nor claims to be accredited.

Accreditation isn't everything; the issue is whether the degree will do what you want it to do for you. However, lack of accreditation after a school has been in business for an extended period of time seriously restricts the utility of that school's degrees.

 

run

Run for your life. it is a business and once you sign on the dotted line you are responsible for at least of 25% of the requested tuition. Take it from someone that before I was introduced to this forum registered with them and tried to pull out 8 days later and cost me. DON’T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Degrees issued by Kennedy-Western are not recognized academically. It would appear that the main thrust behind their acceptance in employment circles is that employers don't know about the school.

You should check very carefully in your land to determine the acceptability of such degrees.

 

I think Nosborne has it right when he says the issue is if a program will do what you want it to. So if you want a degree that consists of 5 course of very little work, that is illegal in several states, that if put on a resume/cv may come back to haunt you, that is often described as a degree mill, whose parent company has moved from state to state to escape regulation THEN K-W may be just what you want! Seriously do a search and you will find a wealth of info on this business that masqurades as a school. And, by the way, welcome to degreeinfo!

 

Thanks for the advice and also the speed of replies.

It was the state accreditation & 'realistic' cost (i.e. not $300) that was confusing me!

Whilst utility is not an issue, academic rigour is, so I'll look elsewhere.

 

I know that the way this works in the U.S. is far from intuitive, but I just want to point out that K-W is not state accredited, it is state licensed. Big difference.

For more information on the way accreditation works in the U.S., I would recommend this article by Dr. John Bear:

http://degree.net/guides/accreditation_guide.html

 

Thanks for the steer Jeff.

It is pretty amazing how the academic scene in the US and UK is so different in some ways (please note that this is an observation, not a judgement of superiority one way or the other.)

PhDs are far more respected in business in the US in my experience, whereas in the UK they are research qualifications in general and take about 7 years on a part time basis. My MSc (from the Nottingham Trent University) has the same effect in the UK that a PhD does in the states, at least commercially.

On the other hand, there is no equivalent to gaining a bachelors in the UK by CLEP or Dantes, so if you miss your bachelors (like I did), it seems to me that you're pretty much in for several years of activity (even by DL.) If anyone on the forum knows a shorter way in the UK (legitimate of course!), I would be interested.

So I shall keep scanning around - I've no urgent need, but I do believe in lifetime learning and it would be good to backfill that missing degree at some stage (even if it is just for vanity!)

 

In one way, the U.S. and the U.K. are quite similar: they both tolerate legally the operation of diploma mills that use loopholes in the law.

In Britain, you have diploma mills operating from the U.K. legally, as long as they're set up in some off-shore island and don't claim to be British universities.

In the U.S., you have diploma mills operating in one state while claiming to derive the legal right to do so from some other state or off-shore island.

Neither set-up is legitimate.

 

Them off-shore islands is the worst kind.

 

Rich

Your point is well made.

I guess that there are 2 advantages for UK based employers:

1) the country is relatively small, so its fairly easy to work out who is a diploma mill

2) there is only one authority that grants permission to award degrees, so it is easy to check out that list

Of course, this may be of considerably less assistance to non UK employers.

I was forced to laugh when discovering that one 'UK' based diploma mill was named 'Parkhurst University', since Parkhurst is a maximum security prison ;-)

 

This is the best part of the thread uncle.
Thanks for the grin.

Jack

 

Does PU offer degrees in criminal justice?

 

There have been exhaustive threads about KWU. To sum from my perspective: the school is legal and genuine, it is licensed to operate by the State of Wyoming, the State does not have demanding standards compared to other States, the school does not have recognized accreditation, education from this school may not be sufficient to meet employment or licensing standards.

 

Re: Re: Kennedy Western - legit?

Pretty generous perspective on K-W. Many would call it a fraud and a sham, so you may be right that it won't meet even minimal levels of acceptance.

 

Re: Re: Kennedy Western - legit?

It does not, however, have license to operate in its homestate of California. That was revoked a long time ago. Nor may they enroll students in California. So....

Kennedy-Western is a California school operating without legal authority. It has a license in Wyoming but isn't there. The rest of the discussions about Kennedy-Western have to be placed in that context.

 

Does it have to be over here? There's nothing illegal or unethical about doing a US DL degree as long as it's accredited. There's a Jewish women's college in Hendon that administers CLEP and DANTES and is an authorised TESC proctor as well.

Alternatively, have a hunt through Gus Sainz's list of DL Business Degrees http://collegedegrees.tripod.com/ and see if you find anything you like.

Much as I like the OU and the various part-time degrees available over here, the only start in October (or February for the OU) model is the biggest pain in the fundament around.

Angela

 

Re: Re: Re: Kennedy Western - legit?

Yes, this moving around from State to State and keeping minimal facilities in Wyoming makes this operation look bad.