Anybody could tell me if Central State University is a serious school? i know they are approved in California, but not accredited, but anybody has heard about them being degreemillish?
The school is located here in Riverside, very near the campus of UCR. It is in a nice office building and is located in a couple of rooms. No classes are held on site. It is not known as a degree mill but more as an "also ran" California approved school. Certainly nothing special but not horrible. A friend of mine did an MBA degree there while doing regular grad school in English at UCR.
Dear Craig, What you mean as "also ran" that people should avoid it or they probably close the office and disappear leaving you with a very nice worthless diploma? do you have an idea o how long it has been operating? thank you very much
No--not that they might run away; I mean they are just another state approved, not accredited school.They are one of many, nothing special. They seem to have a small but qualified faculty and require some work. I don't think the work load is extremely difficult, however. I think they are still trying for DETC accreditation, but perhaps not. For non accredited MBA type studies I suspect Cal pacific might have a little better reputation. Cal Coast will very likely get DETC, so they are a pretty good option now on a value to cost ratio.
Be aware, too, that there is a totally legitimate, RA, etc., Central State University in Ohio, an HBCU in one of the towns east of Dayton. A problem with the Central State in California is that "State" in a uni name usually indicates a publicly run school, not a private enterprise. As to the quality of the California school, I know nothing first-hand.
A warning about state approved schools, they are unaccredited. Two problems with unaccredited degrees. First, unaccredited degrees are illegal to use in some states and the number of states passing similar law is growing. Second, many will assume that a degree from an unaccredited school is a degree mill. As evidence of this you can do a Google search of a well known and long time unaccredited school that has CA state approval known as California Coast University. It is a fine school that will likely become accredited within a year but in the Google search you'll find a number of news articles where people with CCU degrees are "exposed" as having bogus degrees and people saying very negative things about a school that they really know very little about except that it is unaccredited. Regarding Central State University it's a small school that I know very little about except that they seem to concentrate in business degrees only. I like this because it means to me that they are likely concentrating in teaching what they know.
With what you have said guys you have scared me.... so you say if i get a degree from CSU or California Pacific or Cal Coast... it is illegal in some states? meaning i could go to jail, lose job or be fined????????????
I've seen opinions that the CCU doctorates (which have been discontinued) were substandard. However, in my post I didn't mention that nor say that CCU academic quality wasn't good. What I said was that because it is unaccredited, some people consider it a degree mill simply for that fact. If you do a Google search you'll find multiple examples of news articles where it is at least implied that CCU is a degree mill because it is unaccredited. Are the articles fair? It's a matter of opinion. I believe someone could probably make a much more reasonable argument for calling a doctorate from CCU questionable than their lower level degress. Personally I feel it is unfair to call the undergraduate degrees bogus or substandard.
It is a misdemeanor in 6 states to use most unaccredited degrees. This number has been growing. However, it doesn't mean that it is illegal in your state but it potentially could be in the future?
If you got charged you would probably have the honor of being the first. People with degrees from unaccredited universities teach at colleges in some of these states and guess what? - they're still there. The laws are unenforced probably for the reason that they are unenforceable. Mind you, you could be the first.
How can i know if a state approved school is not a degree mill? or at least how can i know if the school is not going to disappear in the near future?
There is no reliable way to tell this. That is a most excellent argument to go with an accredited university, IMHO.
I don't think that there is any sure-fire way, but here are a few things that I look for. Does the school specialize in a narrow field that it knows well? Or does it offer Ph.D. programs in every imaginable subject, a task that major research universities find difficult? Does the school take an unusual approach to its subject? That's significant, but hard to evaluate. On one hand it may be a sign of flakiness. But on the other hand, it may be a sign of sincerity and originality. Google the school and see what you see. One of the tell-tale signs of a degree mill is a complete absence of substantive hits. Ask yourself how a real university could exist without anyone mentioning it. Doesn't happen. Many times you see lots of marketing sites promoting the school, but nothing of a remotely academic nature. Well, if it's a school, then expect it to look like one. Does the school appear to specialize in foreign students? That's obviously not fatal, but it demands attention. It's an ugly fact that many mills seem to target the Asian market. Others are immigration scams disguised as schools. Look to see if they prominently feature all the immigration and visa documents that they can provide their students. Does the school offer lots of credit for "life experience"? While prior-learning-assessment is a good thing, the practice is exploited by mills to provide a fig-leaf for their selling degrees. Does the school claim accreditation by unrecognized accreditors? That's most often a sign of bogosity. Does the school insist that accreditation is voluntary, that it's private and not governmental, that it exists only to channel student aid funds? If a school dismisses accreditation, it usually is a mill. Does the school tell you that it isn't accredited because it offers distance learning or is "non-traditional"? That's trouble. Hundreds of accredited schools offer DL degree programs. Does the school get favorable notice from professional organizations? From government licensing bodies? What kind of comment has it drawn in the trade press? Good non-accredited schools do exist out there, but be confident that somebody in the discipline that they teach has already noticed them. Who teaches at the school? Are they qualified? I'm weighting this criterion less heavily now, as it becomes apparent that some mills post names of professors that never teach any courses. Especially if the school offers doctorates, look for signs that research is happening under their auspices. Does anyone with that institutional affiliation publish? Does anyone appear at conferences? Look for research product. Do they collaborate? Real universities and their professors collaborate all the time. There are all kinds of projects out there with multiple schools and departments affiliated. Look for that and see who the affiliations are with. Does your school offer a joint speakers series with a better known university? Does it co-sponsor conferences? Is there any controversy surrounding the place? Have newsapers written damning stories about it? That's obviously not very good. And look to see if the school has won any grants or awards. That's always a very good sign.
