Following from another forum

Hey Lerner! If you're going to copy the initial post then you may as well copy all the others too.

EC council is profiting on its name rather than accreditation, they are just following the steps of the SANS institute that also has a master's degree. They are very well known in the Security business so I guess that most people couldn't care less if they are accredited or not as their degrees would have at least similar acceptance than their certifications.

EC-Council University is included among DETC's rather motley assortment of first-time applicants.

http://www.detc.org/new_applicants.html

A search for "EC Council University" site:.edu generated 3 hits. Nothing of an academic or technical nature.

A more general search for "EC Council University" generated 489 hits. Some of these are interesting.

Apparently until recently 'EC Council University' was using a Wyoming address, but was forced to move to a NM address by the much-discussed WY legislation requiring schools to seek accreditation.

There are a number of IT industry press releases, but there are also signs of controversy. Several sites think that both the university and the certifications are scams. Apparently somebody visited the EC Council's New York address and found nothing there. (One webpage suggested that the EC-Council really operates out of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.)

It seems to be very active overseas, lots of marketing, press releases in trade publications and apparently some international franchising.

Here's something called the 'AIMS College of Business and IT' that offers both EC-Council U. and Preston U. degrees in Sri Lanka.

http://acbitedu.com/home.html

Here's 'New Horizons Nigeria' which offers EC-Council U. degrees by DL.

http://www.newhorizonsnigeria.com/ec.htm

The State of New Mexico's listing for EC-Council University shows its owner as somebody named Sanjay Bavisi. He generates 606 hits (more than his university) and seems to be very busy indeed as a speaker at IT security events all around the world. Apparently he is a Malaysian with a LLB from the U. of Wales who's admitted to the British bar, but I didn't see any IT degrees listed on his speaker pr bios.

All in all, I'm not sure what to make of the EC Council, its certifications or its university. It certainly markets itself aggressively in the IT security space. That along with the overseas cachet of earning an American university degree might help explain how it sells its high-priced unaccredited degrees. It might be legitimate and valuable, but it smells a little over-ripe to me.

I posted this note on one of the “other boards” too. I wondered at the use of the word “EC” , I don’t know if they were leaning toward the European Community (which is which I associate it with) or another area – so I am not sure who the market is. However, I do think they are serious about their program and rigor – too many faculty members with good reputations and qualifications. I think a lot of schools like this one really should be executive program based, unfortunately, the market does not recognize executive programs the same way they do degrees – thus schools like this one.

Denver

That's the first thing that I thought too: "Is this some kind of European Community project?" My guess is that most of their market is outside the United States. The owner is reportedly a Malaysian.

The EC-Council University faculty list is identical with the Maranatha Christian University faculty list. Maranatha Christian University seems to be operating in Southeast Asia from what appears to be an Indonesian address, apparently awarding EC-Council University degrees.

EC Council University's Chancellor boasts a DBA from something called Alpine University in Switzerland. He's a former Senior VP at Preston University who takes credit for creating Preston's rather amazing worldwide franchise empire. See the faculty list links above and this page.

I'm embarking on the EC-Council University's Master of Security Science (MSS) program soon, and after extensive research, i thought i should point out some things which are obviously incorrect or inaccurate.

EC-Council = International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants. (EC being Electronic Commerce)

One of the co-founders is indeed a Malaysian - Mr. Sanjay Bavisi. I had the privilege of meeting him in a couple of conferences where he was the Keynote speaker, sharing platforms with the likes of Howard Schmidt. More impressively, he was the Chair for the Hackers Panel at Infosecurity Europe 2008, a session which was attended by more than 1000 people. I guess he wouldn't be there, if he wasn't credible.

EC-Council University is an applicant for DETC accreditation. Hey, which University started off being accredited?

No doubt EC-Council is well known in the certification market, but find a similar program to the MSS, and there's none as close. Which similar type program allows you to have the opportunity to obtain professional certifications, while earning your academic degree? Not many.

I think cost for any program is very subjective, and it is the perceived value that will determine whether or not is it worthwhile.

I shall not go into details about the program, but i'm certainly one of the many who are excited to embark on this program, and definitely looking forward to it.

Come on, give these guys a break. Give credit where its due.

Well, good luck to you and I hope everything works out for you.

Welcome to the board.

__________________
"Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."
-Albert Einstein

EC-council is well known in security and the lack of accreditation won't matter much if you try to use it for consulting. However, it might have limitations if you plan to teach later at the college or University level.

The reality is that academic credentials don't carry much weight in the IS security business. I personally finished a certificate in computer security from Stanford but for consulting the CISSP and other certifications are more accepted.

If you get credit for certifications I think it is a good deal, if they get the DETC accreditation it might be a plus. Charles Sturt in Australia does the same thing with Microsoft certifications.