Hartford University?

Hartford University

I participated in a life experience degree, workshop portfolio and transfer credits to obtain a BS in Social Work from Hartford University, which states it is accredited by The Central States Association Council on Distance Education, with an address of 4401 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington D.C. The school is located in Minnesota. I recently discovered (after what I thought was a great accomplishment) that this accreditation is not recognized by the US Dept. of Ed. Anybody have any suggestions on transferring this bachelor degree to a recognized accredited one? I was quite disappointed and cannot seem to find any information on this accrediting info. Any feedback? Thanks Teri

 

Hi Teri: No info to offer, but I noticed on their website that they are a subsidiary of Acclaim Investment Corp. I recall the term Acclaim being used with some other outfit--maybe somebody can add some info to this or establish/rule out a connection to the other institution--Holy Acclaim???
The website appears deceptive in its language about accreditation. They do say they aren't accredited by a USDE-recognized agency, but then they fudge that by saying that the USDE doesn't accredit, etc., etc.
I hope you kept all the portfolios you prepared and all the papers, syllabi, etc. Through equivalency testing--there are many knowledgeable people on this board regarding that--you may well be able to accumulate a substantial number of credits at one of the Big Three assessment colleges: Charter Oak, Excelsior, or Thomas Edison.
Do a search on those three names to get some preliminary information.
Best wishes to you.

 

I don't find such a school. Do you have a website?

The process you describe that you used to earn your degree is an unusual one. While many schools offer credit for life and/or work experience, it is unusual that those credits would satisfy all your remaining degree requirements. This should have been suspicious.

Without actually seeing the website yet, I would guess the school does not actually offer instruction. If not, it would again be very suspicious, for the only way they would award the degree is by life/work experience. What if you were, hypothetically, a few credits short? (I bet that never happens, though.)

Anything this school has given you in the way of credits or a degree will be useless when seeking a real one. But as another poster has mentioned, you can still take advantage of your prior knowledge and credits. Consider these, especially TESC, which offers a portfolio evaluation process. (IIRC, COSC does, too.)

www.tesc.edu
www.cosc.edu
www.excelsior.edu

Also consider Western Governors University at www.wgu.edu .

Remember that you might have to be flexible as to your exact degree major or specialization, but one of those resources should provide you the degree opportunity you seek.

Good luck.

 

Hartford University
Red flags on every page.

 

No faculty, no physical address, no permission to award degrees, fake accreditation, yadda...yadda...yadda.

How dare they permit people to earn a master's degree with as low as a 2.5 GPA! Shocking!

I can't believe anyone sends money to outfits like this, but it must happen. This is an oft-replicated business model.

 

Hartford University

Thanks for your responses. I was a little suspicious when I went to the website, however, was asked to submit my resume, list of completed workshops I had obtained through employment as a drug counselor, and references. I realized I was paying for an assessment to assemble college credits, however I was informed that the Central States Association Counsel for Distance Education was a state accreditation. Will try the colleges each of you gave me and see what I can do with this mess. Any other suggestions for lodging complaints against this school? Fortuantely I do not have a large amount of money invested, but nonetheless am disappointed in the deceit. THanks Teri.

 

You could lodge a complaint with the BBB. Postal inspectors might want to get involved. (Where did their mail come from?) If they operate from the U.S., officials of their home state would also be interested. But don't expect to get your money back.

 

Accreditation is complex, and can be confusing-- particularly when people intentionally muddy the waters. In this case, the school is using a purported accrediting agency whose name is similar to a couple of the recognized accreditors - Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools & North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Anyway, for a fantastic overview of accrediation, check out:

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

(I assume this was written by Dr. Bear, but it doesn't say so explicitly.)

 

Accredited vs. State Approved

How does one go about finding out who the peer reviewers are for an accreditation? Has any one heard of Central States Association on Distance Education? Where can I get the telephone numbers for legitimate accrediting agencies? Thanks Teri

 

Re: Accredited vs. State Approved

I'm not sure what you mean by "peer reviewers" for accreditation. Accrediting agencies are recognized by two bodies, one private and one public (click on these links): Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the United States Department of Education . You'll learn all you need to know at either of these two sites, including lists of approved accrediting agencies.

 

Hartford University

I guess what I mean by peer reviewers is that there are two bodies that review accreditation - one is programtic and the other is something else! I tried looking up complaints at the BBB, however, as you may have guessed, this university doesn't have any complaints - it does not appear to have any structure, either. I cannot say I am blameless, however I can say I was misled by life experience being rewarded with credits.

 

This is the first use I've seen of a URL of this sort:

www.hartforduniversity-edu.org/

Rather clever, in a bizarre way.

Sort of like legally changing your name to "John Smith-PhD"

 

The bogus Capitol University also uses this ploy.

 

A city councillor for the city Mukilteo, Washington, lists a Hartford degree:
http://www.ci.mukilteo.wa.us/elected-officials/elected-officials.htm

 

And here's an actual Hartford University diploma, Doctor of Education in Clinical Counseling:
http://www.onlinecounsel.org/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/DoctorCert.jpg
"Dr" Barry Lloyd, one of the two "proud owners and operators" of "Effective Life Management Services", says, "My areas of interest are Depression and Self-esteem, but most of my work seems to have been in recovery from sexual abuse."
http://www.onlinecounsel.org/id2.html

 

Re: Hartford University

One of the program, or professional, accreditors is the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). This is managed by various engineering societies, including one that I'm a member of, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. From time to time, I see invitations in the Institute's magazine to train to be a member of the ABET accreditation visitation teams. I found that I my background qualifies me to visit engineering technology programs, but not engineering programs. However, there is nothing automatic about it; the qualifications are just the minimum for one's application to be considered.

My lifestyle does not make it practical for me to do the kind of travel that would be required, so I never pursued it.

Gerry Ashton PE (Vermont)

 

Hartford University

Hello:

So is this university legit or bogus?

 

Hartford University

Makes me wonder if they chose this name on purpose to run off the Hartford School of Insurance??

Steven
_____________
I almost married a psychic,
But she left me before we met.

 

Re: Re: Hartford University

If this IS a degree mill it's the first one that I've seen that actually offers courses (although I have not seen all of their websites)... Most degree mills don't even bother with listing courses...