What Does ".edu" Mean in a Domain Name?

Greetings and Happy Holidays,

Should all educational institutions use a domain with ".edu" as a suffix? I was wondering if the members would kindly give me their expertise as to what significance this has for educational institutions, either accredited or unaccredited. Thank you in advance for your post.

Sincerely,


Ray

 

The top-level domain (TLD) .edu does not guarantee the institution is a traditional degree-granting school. For example, Aspen University (www.aspen.edu) does not have a brick-and-mortar (B&M) campus but is legally authorised to use the .edu TLD. On the other hand, Harvard University (www.harvard.edu) has both a B&M campus as well as offering degrees via distance learning (DL).

This link may help you. http://web.ask.com/redir?bpg=http%3a%2f%2fweb.ask.com%2fweb%3fq%3dwhat%2bdoes%2b.edu%2bmean%2bin%2ba%2bdomain%2bname%253f%26o%3d0%26page%3d1&q=what+does+.edu+mean+in+a+domain+name%3f&u=http%3a%2f%2ftm.wc.ask.com%2fr%3ft%3dan%26s%3da%26uid%3d026948803A33A2D14%26sid%3d1A5C98803A33A2D14%26qid%3d2E26B3E4CB07A647817BFCFF2B548FC6%26io%3d0%26sv%3dz6f5372c9%26o%3d0%26ask%3dwhat%2bdoes%2b.edu%2bmean%2bin%2ba%2bdomain%2bname%253f%26uip%3dc7d49610%26en%3dte%26eo%3d-100%26pt%3dDomain%2bGuru%2b-%2b.edu%2bdomain%2bname%26ac%3d7%26qs%3d0%26pg%3d1%26ep%3d1%26te_par%3d102%26te_id%3d%26u%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fwww.domainguru.com%2fc%2f75&s=a&bu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.domainguru.com%2fc%2f75&qte=0&o=0&abs=...edu+domain+name...&tit=Domain+Guru+-+.edu+domain+name&bin=&cat=wp&purl=http%3a%2f%2ftm.wc.ask.com%2fi%2fb.html%3ft%3dan%26s%3da%26uid%3d026948803A33A2D14%26sid%3d1A5C98803A33A2D14%26qid%3d2E26B3E4CB07A647817BFCFF2B548FC6%26io%3d%26sv%3dz6f5372c9%26o%3d0%26ask%3dwhat%2bdoes%2b.edu%2bmean%2bin%2ba%2bdomain%2bname%253f%26uip%3dc7d49610%26en%3dbm%26eo%3d-100%26pt%3d%26ac%3d7%26qs%3d0%26pg%3d1%26u%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fmyjeeves.ask.com%2faction%2fsnip&Complete=1

 

Additionally, please note that some very "non-wonderful," unaccredited schools were able to receive the .edu domain. Thus, while use of such a domain is an indicator the school is probably legitimate, it is no guarantee.

 

I don't see any compelling reason why they need to.

All I interpret the '.edu' in a web address to mean is that the owner of the address is involved with education somehow.

That needn't mean that the owner is a university or that it grants degrees. For example, the Smithsonian Institution is http://www.si.edu

Some fine institutions don't have '.edu' domains. For example, the WASC and ATS accredited St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park Ca. http://www.stpatricksseminary.org/

For years, '.edu' domains weren't handed out to community colleges, so many California community colleges still have '.cc.ca.us' addresses.(Many of them are converting to '.edu'.)

Basically, I think that it's the height of foolishness to assume that possession of a '.edu' domain guarantees that a school is legit and lack of one proves that it isn't. All that these domain addresses represent are rough categorizations of what websites are about, not quasi-accreditation.

And keep in mind that this '.edu' thing started in the US. Some other countries use different formats. British higher education institutions use an '.ac.uk' format. Japan employs the British model with 'ac.jp' domains. It varies from country to country.

 

The Chronicle of Higher Education had an article on .edu abuse 3 or 4 weeks ago. For this article, I supplied them with the names and URLs of 255 institutions that have no recognized accreditation but have an .edu -- including dozens and dozens that I have no problem in calling diploma mills.

One of the 100+ recommendations that Ezell and I make in our book Degree Mills is that the Department of Commerce, which has the ultimate control of .edu usage require Educause to "ungrandfather" the many dubious institutions that were grandfathered in.

John Bear
Co-author, Degree Mills: the billion-dollar industry that has sold more than a millioln fake diplomas (http://www.degreemills.com)

 

Not all educational institutions award degrees. For example I am a docent at a museum which is 501(c)(3) educational institution and uses the .org domain suffix. (Our charter is to "educate the public").

 

That's not precisely correct. From the Educause eligibility FAQ :

 

What does "abusing the hospitality of this forum" mean, Ray?

"Reverend" Ray:

Why are you posting advice on another board on how to undermine actions of the moderators of this board by circumventing their removal of threatening and trolling posts and posters through the use of deceptive multiple logins and multiple e-mail addresses?

Do you wish to promote defamation, shilling, threats, and abusive posting, or are you just an abuser of hospitality and a person without basic courtesy?

I think you have a lot of chutzpah trying to harm this board and yet ask responsible posters on this board for advice.

"Have you no shame, sir? At long last, have you no shame?"

Janko Preotul

****Documentation from another website whose url I refuse to link--

"Date Posted: 12/29/2004 6:14 AM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a computer technician and have the following suggestion. If you use a broadband connection, and your IP address has been blocked on a particular website, try and call your internet provider and request they issue you a new IP. If they question you and want to know why you are making such a request, simply state that your firewall has indicated you are being hacked in on, and a new IP address will prevent this from happening. If you use a dial up connection, you may want to use a secondary internet provider. Please refer to the following website for a list of free or low cost providers, http://www.emailaddresses.com/email_internet.htm. I am in the US and have used Juno's free access. Every internet provider provides a different IP.

I hope this of some assistance.



Sincerely,

Ray"

And more documentation--

Hello Forum Members,

Regarding blocked IP addresses, please review the comments I have posted on another thread. http://www.<snip> postview.cfm?id=609377&CategoryID=366451&startcat=1&ThreadID=1843095. If you desire to continue to use the forum in which you were banned from, just create a new user profile using another email address.

I hope this helps. Have a Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Ray"

 

And now for something completely different

I have now reported my own previous post to the moderators, in hopes that they will take action against "PhD Cyberspace" and then remove my post with the documentation. Given the nature of the abuse by "Reverend" Ray, I believed that the exposure of his activity should be public lest others be taken in by his phony protestations of repentance. Of course, I trust the good judgment of the moderators in this matter.

Uncle Janko