RA schools that accept unaccredited degrees

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by John Bear, Feb 12, 2007.

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  1. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    On the DLTruth bulletin board, when they’re not busy attacking me, there is some interesting and useful information posted. Randall Flagg reported that he had searched through the literature of 550 schools, and found 50 that had a process to consider unaccredited degrees: about 9%. I asked for some details, and he wrote as follows, giving permission to post it here. There is good information here. Wouldn’t it be great if someone did the same research with the remaining 4,000-or-so schools that have recognized accreditation . . . as well as whether they distinguish among the kinds of unaccredited schools they will consider: California-approved vs. Alabama-licensed vs. St. Kitts-accredited, and so on.

    Here’s what Mr. Flagg wrote, unedited:
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I searched through 550 schools to find 50 that had a process to consider unaccredited degrees--9%. Maybe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Had I checked with first tier schools (only) perhaps the acceptance rate would have been worse or even better if only at the fourth tier schools. I guess one man's poke in the eye with a sharp stick is another's eye massage. Or perhaps it mostly depends on what we want to find or where we hunt.

    From what I could tell mostly case by case. _Here are a few examples:__

    University of Hawaii at Manoa:_"Degrees from unaccredited institutions will be evaluated on a case by case basis."__

    Phoenix Seminary:_"Graduates of Unaccredited institutions, when accepted, are placed on academic probation for their first year of study at Phoenix Seminary........etc." __

    Ohio State University: "This classification is assigned for one or more of the following reasons. The applicant has:_"1-A baccalaureate or professional degree from an unaccredited college or university."__

    Beacon University: "Graduates from unaccredited institutions may be accepted conditionally."__

    University of Idaho:_"GRE general appitude scores if bachelor's degree is from an unaccredited institution."__

    Seattle Pacific University:_"SPU will therefore, review credentials from unaccredited institutions at the students request."__

    Liberty University:_"Applicants who hold a bachelor's degree from an unaccredited institution may be admitted to some master's degree programs on Academic Probation Status."__

    Arkansas State University:_"Or whose baccalaureate degree is from an unaccredited institution, may be granted Conditional Admission Status after.....etc." __

    Florida State University:_Unaccredited Undergraduate Degree:_"If you have your undergraduate degree from an unaccredited institution, but your GRE scores meet the "Minimum" requirement, we can consider your application." __

    American Indian University:_"Transfer of credit from non-accredited colleges will be awarded under the following conditions....etc."__

    University of Oregon:_"A student from an unaccredited institution, or one that offers the equivalent of bachelor's degree instruction but not the degree itself, may be consdiered for admission under special procedures."

    Auburn University:_"Students transferring from an unaccredited institution may be granted provisional credit. When such credit is allowed, the final amount of credit will be determined upon completion by the student of one year of work at Auburn University....etc." __

    Eastern Oregon University:_"Course work taken at a non-accredited institution will be evaluated but not applied until the completion pf 35 EOU credits." __

    Troy State University, Dothan AL.:_"Students transferring from unaccredited institutions who have earned an overall grade point average of 2.0 (4.0 scale) or better may be granted provisional admission...etc." **Troy also said it will not accept DETC accredited degrees but would work with me on an unaccredited degree. (strange that) __

    Some of the schools don't say no--but say send the transcripts and and xxxx number of dollars and we will let you know. So who really knows--9% -- 15%-- 20%-- no way to know. Union Institute and University said they would have to see the details first.

    I transferred credits from a state approved school to two DETC accredited schools. They asked no questions and I didn't argue with them. My wild guess?? maybe as many as 20% of accredited schools would consider the transfer--but that's just a guess. Many seem to be willing to listen--especially if you are serious--willing to pay and send them some signed papers. The final answer I don't know--but if you look long enough you can find one who will. And one is all you need.
     
  2. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member


    That is interesting! Troy State is kind of weird! They will consider an UA degree, but not a DETC degree. That doesn't make sense! Oh well.

    Thanks for sharing,

    Abner
     
  3. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Especially interesting about the University of Oregon!

    -=Steve=-
     
  4. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    That's not a very inspiring result. I would have thought that the percentage would be higher. My impression is that most universities have special admissions categories that allow for exceptions to the general rules in exceptional cases.

    I've posted several times about small print in an old 1990's CSU Dominguez Hills catalog that may or may not indicate system-wide California State University policy.

    Regarding non-accredited degrees (where 'accredited' apparently means RA), CSUDH says flatly that they won't accept non-accredited degrees for graduate admissions.

    But... graduates of nonaccredited schools can still be admitted as undergraduates. If such a student can convince his or her department head that the previous unaccredited education was indeed credible, the department will assign one or two semesters of upper division major coursework, classes selected by them. If the student completes these classes with a 3.0 GPA or better, the student may then formally petition the department head and several assorted deans for a transfer to probationary graduate status.

    I imagine that many other universities have similar low-profile policies. So when we read about "special procedures" or whatever a school calls it, it's probably true, but it will involve convincing some skeptical people and quite likely present additional hurdles for the student.

    I'd also question how effective this route would be in a graduate program where admissions are competitive. If a department is only accepting 20% of its RA applicants, it probably wouldn't even consider non-accredited special admissions unless the applicant was truly exceptional.

    That surprises me. (Assuming it's true.) Perhaps DETC schools are more lax about these things.

    Maybe for some students that's true; any graduate program that accepts you will do. (Maybe generic MBAs or something.) But many aspiring graduate students actually have academic interests (imagine that!) and they are looking for schools that offer their major subject or have a program with a strength in their area of interest.

    We all know that when we move away from business and a few subjects like that, DL offerings become pretty sparse. It's not a question of sifting through hundreds of schools, it's a question of finding a small handful that are suitable.
     
  5. MrLazy

    MrLazy New Member

    There is another problem. I just picked one state school from the list, Ohio State Univ., and found the phrase that he had found. It turns out that it applies only to the minimum admission requirements of OSU. Each graduate school is free to make additional requirements for admittance. So, a person holding an unaccredited undergraduate degree can point to that sentence and claim they meet minimum requirements under conditional admittance. But, the actual graduate school can deny it anyway because it doesn't meet their minimum requirements.
     
  6. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Weird? LOL. No, stupid is what it is.

    Just goes to show that a number of regionally accredited schools are more willing to let people in who hold phony credentials, than let someone in with legitimate ones from their DETC competitors. It makes me sick to my stomach.
     
  7. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member


    Or that they consider DETC accreditation inferior, but would consider a quality unaccredited school. This isn't necessarily a contradiction.
     
  8. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    They might consider the credits earned at a brick and mortar unaccredited school to be more transferable to their degree programs than those earned from a DETC-accredited distance education program. Unaccredited degrees could be phony or of lower quality but in some cases not.

    Dave
     
  9. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Even so, if a school is unaccredited then there is definite suspicion about that school. If an institution would allow credits from a school that is under suspicion rather than one that has met the standard of accreditation, than that institutions policies (and possibly their credibility) have to come into question.

    Personally, I would think twice about considering a school that allows unaccredited coursework in transfer. "Quality, unaccredited school" is not quite an oxymoron, but it's close enough.
     
  10. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    I think the majority of unaccredited transfer attempts are from students of schools that were not B&M. It might not be a stretch to say that most unaccredited Colleges/Universities don't have a B&M presence.

    I just don't think it's wise for an accredited school to take the risk of accepting credit from the unaccredited. Or, at the very least a school should stay away from putting this on their websites.
     
  11. rtongue

    rtongue New Member

    Some schools will just flat our reject you if you do not have a regionally accredited degree. Others will evaluate based on your entire application package of undergraduate work, any graduate level work, job experience, etc. If one is a state approved degree holder and an accredited bachelor’s is not feasible, they could take the following strategy. Seek acceptance into a master’s program at one of the schools listed in the original thread. Once they complete the degree, more options will be available for a second master’s as schools will be more open to accepting you with a regionally accredited master’s.
     
  12. jmetro

    jmetro New Member

    I know that Ashworth (NA) will transfer to WGU (RA)

    I suspect that national accreditation, while currently a less "liquid" form of accreditation than regional, is slowly becoming more and more acceptable as distance learning becomes mainstream. I agree with the postings of some of you guys that have followed the DL arena for many years - the DETC will certainly be aggregated into a RA accreditor soon.

    In addition, I suspect that the other national accreditors will slowly increase in authority as a nich is created behind all these "big" accreditors.

    I don't know about how the competency model is going in the rest of the world but if RA WGU has any impact it will be to blow the lid right off traditional bricks and morter schools. By that I mean, lowering costs to students will cause an increase in aggregate demand eventually causing a shortage. The shortage in supply will cause an increase in equilibrium price making it more likely that other educational institutions will get involved with DL and competency in general. If that happens we will have a case of pure competition in which many vendors sell a roughly homogenous product meaning that each school will sell close to the break even point with aggregate marginal revenue trending to zero.

    For the next five to ten years though, WGU and other accredited universities using examination-based or project-based processes will make good profits. I think that UoP and Capella and a dozen other "major" schools will price themselves out of the market causing more and more people to reach for respectable NA graduate and post-graduate degrees based on cost. The fact that the population is just getting started understanding and respecting DL creates a policy/purchasing lag leading to too many people attempting for too few seats creating an ivy-league effect in the DL market.

    Based on what I've heard though, schools like WGU will have a pretty good road ahead of them in the middle-run unless they don't manage their costs effectively. It's becoming a game of revenue streaming just like any business and B&M will fall behind if only because of maintanance costs.

    That's my rant.

    Jacob M Metro
     

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