All this talk about accreditation

You know, I've been reading alot here about DETC versus RA, which seems to be a continous subject no matter how you slice it. I think that obviously, RA is the gold standard in education, just the way it is. But schools shooting for that RA status, automatically increase their tuition when they are awarded it. I have heard mentioned that DETC schools are automatically considered "ONLINE" schools, not the traditional brick and mortar schools, however, I see alot of RA schools going online too. That's like the pot calling the kettle black. And the big three? Testing out on cleps? Take your tuition and advise you to test out? You call that rigorous?
Then nobody seems to talk about the position in ones lives. I can see an advantage of using an RA school for a young gal/guy that is say 24. They have probably zero work experience and have lived in schools up to their graduation time. Far different from someone say 40-50 that is working all ready, probably all ready has schools and is just beefing up his status, resume and trying to set himself up for promotions. The 40-50 year old person probably doesn't wish to amass huge college debts when usually a kid is sent to school by their parents that have saved for their child's college, or just assumes that if they incur huge debts, they are young enough to pay off that 100,000 because they figure their kid as doctors now will be able to pay it off eventually and recuperate. We at 50 don't want to deal with those types of debts. (Or should I say I don't want to deal with those debts.)
I am not arguing the fact that RA is a better standard than an NA school but the figures in tuition to my position in my current field/life, don't warrant the extra 400 bucks or so per course to achieve my goal.
I'm not looking for level entry style of work. For me its about possible future upward mobility in my company, or after retirement, look for something else. So far, I have done well with my AAS in Aviatin MX Tech with my FAA license. I fail to see how an DETC can really harm me in any way, except maybe getting turned down by someone that went to an IVY league school that incurred huge debts and didn't like my method of improvement. I fail to see how getting in debt and paying more money warrants a greater school. Most people I talk to say they can't even actually JUSTIFY getting a BA degree. Never mind where.
All devil's advocate are welcomed in pointing out differences.

 

Accreditation isn't the only indicator of price. There are affordable RA schools and expensive NA schools. In other threads we have offered ways to reduce your costs (CLEP/DSST/Straighterline) you don't appear interested in that. With the 60 or so credits you have you can likely graduate from a RA school like Charter Oak for less than $6K or so. How much cheaper is the NA school of your choice?

SOme employers simply will not accpet a degree from a NA school. Most RA schools will not accept credits or degree's from NA schools. It's not just about the money. There is a recent thread about a guy that couldn't gain entrance to the Interdisciplinary MA at Western New Mexico U because his undergrad was NA...to him the NA degree lost much of it's alure once he realized how it held him back.

With that said, if a DETC accredited school works for you thats great. I understand the military and most federal jobs are happy with NA too. Be sure understand what you give up/gain. You already have a bunch of credit, make the best choice for you.

 

You have a thread regarding the Big 3 somewhere. You should lnow that there are a lot of ways to earn the credits to fulfill a Big 3 degree, there are also websites like this one devoted to spelling out exactly what goes where....the Big 3 are RA, and can be among the best deals in education. Click on any of the "degree plans" here All pages - Degree Forum Wiki

I only took two courses through COSC, and 3 DSST exams. The rest I transferred in. Mostly from the Colorado State University-Pueblo Independent study program. $500/class. The univerities of Idaho and Arkansas have similiar Independent Studies programs at arounf $300/class. All of these are self paced.

A degree from the Big 3 doesn't have to be costly if you understand how it all works.

 

That most like stems from the fact that the "DE" part stands for "Distance Education". It is my impression that the majority of DETC schools don't have on site courses.

 

As always, you speak truly, BrandeX. I think it would help 29Palms to understand what DETC is all about, if he spent a bit of time examining the DETC site. It's excellently organized and one can see it all at Distance Education and Training Council: The Global Leader in Distance Learning Accreditation.

Johann

 

I think people sometimes use DETC when they mean NA there are other NA accreditors besides DETC.
And some schools they accredit are B&M like ITT etc.

Also there are DL foreign schools that can be considered, such as UNISA.

 

There certainly aren't many other NA's of interest in this thread, Lerner. No sign this person wants to earn a religious degree, so that leaves out TRACS and the other faith-based NA agencies. Then we're left with exactly ONE other National Accreditor of any relevance: ACICS. Most ACICS schools are techno-oriented, so likely wouldn't be of interest to this applicant, who appears more of a generalist.

So, DETC appears to be the one NA of interest, here. And yes, we know there are some B&M campuses with DETC. BrandeX said the majority have no B&M classes and he's right. And I'm not against DL foreign schools at all, but this person appears to prefer US resources - after all, the credits he wishes to apply are US - and has found some routes perfectly suitable to him. He's just scoping out the exact trail. That's why we're not recommending foreign study in his particular case.

Incidentally, UNISA voluntarily relinquished its DETC accreditation a little while back. Nothing wrong with that. Like a land-line... Why pay for something you no longer need?

Johann

 

Really good points Johann.

I know in UK for example there are entry and exit points in to a degree program.
So if one has academic credit they may enter in to 2nd or final year of Degree program. Don't they have credit transfer options.

With UNISA savings are serious, I think a class comparable to US 3 unit class is like 125 USD, I can be wrong.

Someone with US Associate degree would be on a level of Foundation degree in UK or HND.

I do understand the motive to have a degree in the country where one resides.

But in US there is high acceptance of foreign degrees some times seems even higher then some local degrees of similar standing university.

 

Your points are all good, too, Lerner.

One thing for US learners to remember, if they're considering further study in the UK.
UK-NARIC does not recognize DETC (or any NA) degrees. Period.

Johann

 

And UK-NARIC is?

 

Ted:

From their website: "UK NARIC is the National Agency responsible for providing information, advice and expert opinion on qualifications worldwide."

They're here: NARIC - UK NARIC

UK NARIC is the foreign credential evaluator for the UK.

...and I apologize for my involvement in the 'grandma' remarks. uttahere:

Johann

 

Johann,

you are 100% correct.

But not all is lost for the NA degree holders in UK. Its more challenging and more hassle that's for sure.
Many if not majority of UK Universities do their own evaluation of foreign credentials.

I know that City and Guilds only accepts NARIC evaluation reports for people who apply for Senior awards.
Chartered institutes tend to consult most of the time with NARIC.

When I applied for CEng in UK via IET, My US degree didn't qualify for CEng because it wasn't ABET accredited.
I was asked to do a Technical Thesis rout. Then I submitted my German Engineer qualification and because it was on the Directive of the EU, it qualified me for CEng, so I continued to state 3 of the application what is called PRI the same as if I had ABET accredited degree.

I know one person who holds Aspen degree and was accepted to University of Liverpool Masters degree program.

 

Most of us that see resumes from other countries come across our desk don't really know one school from another. Someone from that country may say "hey that is a great school, very hard to get into" but it doesn't do much for me because I never heard of it. Most of the foreign schools I see on resumes are from India and I can't tell one from the other. We usually prefer when the applicant went to school in the US just for the increased language skills they acquire.

 

Not too many people who have busted their buns to earn a degree have an appetite for more "challenge and hassle" from admin. and admissions people...

I AM glad to know that Universities in the UK make up their own minds and that people are getting admitted to good schools like Liverpool, with NA degrees, despite NARIC's unwavering intransigence.

In the US, RA schools don't really have that flexibility with grads of foreign schools. They require the opinions of NACES-Member Foreign Credential Evaluators, like WES and ECE. I've read that often, one agency's opinion will be different from another's.

Johann

 

True,

Also if my friend one day decide to teach in college, he may have RA equivalent Masters but his BS is NA and may be a problem.
Also can be a problem to enter Doctoral programs in USA.