Which unaccredited PhD programs are seeking RA status?

How can I find out which unaccredited PhD programs are seeking (or will be seeking) RA status? And how can I ascertain the chances of them being granted RA status?

I've noticed that unaccredited PhD programs are very inexpensive, but once they achieve RA status, their costs skyrocket.

Naturally, the following would be a gamble, but... if I could find an unaccredited PhD program that is seeking or will seek RA status, then I could begin their curriculum. If I complete the necessary curriculum to graduate prior to them achieving RA status, then I would not petition to graduate and would keep taking single classes until the school is RA. I would never petition to graduate unless they are RA. LOL

Anyways, I'm just thinking out loud. I don't have the money for an expensive RA PhD program right now and I would never go into debt for an education.

Yes Yes Yes, I know this is a risky gamble because if RA status is denied, then everything goes up in smoke.

Soooooo, do you know of any unaccredited PhD programs that might get RA status in the next three to five years?

 

Nevertheless, if you be successful, works
Examp. NCU

 

Re: Re: Which unaccredited PhD programs are seeking RA status?

Yes, NCU is a good example. Their tuition was extremely cheap, but after they achieved RA status, their tuition skyrocketed.

Bottom line: It's all about money.

Every RA school was unaccredited at one time.

 

Re: Re: Re: Which unaccredited PhD programs are seeking RA status?

Nope. Schools sometimes start off affiliated with, or a part of, an existing, accredited school.

The fact that most schools start off accredited isn't controversial. What is controversial is the schools that stay unaccredited.

 

That is difficult to say. Schools pursuing candidacy aren't supposed to publicize it. Such forward-looking statements are irresponsible and tend to imply the inevitability of being accredited.

You might want to look at new schools in states where there are strong laws about this stuff. (No, not California.) New schools who are able to operate in those environments are more likely to move on to accredited status. But even that is a crapshoot.

I don't know of any large scale efforts (like Capella or Northcentral were) going on at this time. But there might be some smaller efforts; there are a couple of DL schools licensed in Virginia that might be headed in that direction. You could check www.schev.edu for more information.

 

me again:

You might look at an annual publication of ACE entitled "Accredited Institutions of Postsecondary Education." I don't know if there is an online version, but I suspect most universities will have a library copy.

This compilation includes schools that are currently in candidacy and lists what degree levels they grant. There is no information relative to DL, but the URL of the Web site for most institutions is included. You could take it individually from there.

Hope this helps,



marilynd

 

Sorry. I forgot to mention that this publication lists both NA and RA candidates, but each school notes which accrediting organization granted it candidacy.

marilynd

 

you can also check out the RA websites sometimes they list their schools and will say who is a candidate, and what the status of accredited schools is.

 

Trinity Peharps

Trinity...Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary. It is a candidate for RA (NCA).

 

Re: Trinity Peharps

I looked at their requirements for doctoral degrees and noticed that they only require about 40 credits for their doctoral program. I've never seen a RA doctoral program with less than 60 credits. Subsequently, are their doctoral programs even eligible to become RA doctoral programs?

I understand that religious degrees are oftentimes different (or seemingly so)...

While I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven... and listen to the scriptures every day (on cassette)... I have never had any formal religious training and, consequently, I would be very weak in this area of academic study.

 

Re: Trinity Peharps

And, of course, they NEVER get discussed on this list.

However, their PhD program is defunct -- probably a victim to the accreditation process.

 

The regional accreditors list their candidates on their websites. Since candidacy can be a lengthy multi-year process, if your goal is to enroll in a non-accredited school and then ultimately graduate after it's accredited, you probably should concentrate on announced candidates.

(CA-approved Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences went direct from application to full WASC accreditation without no stinkin' candidacy, but that's definitely the exception to the rule.)

Currently, the only Ph.D.-granting school on the WASC candidate's list is the University of the West. (It doesn't offer degrees by DL and I'm not sure if it would be your cup of tea for religious reasons.)

WASC posts a list of its upcoming site visits. That's a good way to discover who the applicants are before their formal candidacy is announced. Besides U.West, the Ph.D. granting schools on that list are the inevitable UC Merced and California Graduate Institute, the oldest and largest of the CA-approved psych schools. (It doesn't offer DL.)

It's like investing in the markets: risk and reward go together. The reason why a non-accredited program on an accreditation track might be less expensive than its accredited competitors is partly the risk factor. You are signing up to be a human guinea pig.

Announced formal candidates are probably a pretty good bet, in my opinion. They have already proven themselves generally accreditable by achieving their candidacy, and they clearly are working with the accreditors. So whatever deficiencies remain are likely to be successfully addressed, though that process might take a number of years to implement and demonstrate.

You want a not-yet-candidate with a 100% certain lock on rapidly attaining RA? University of California at Merced. But it doesn't offer DL and it isn't less expensive than the other UCs. California Graduate Institute is more of a crap-shoot.

That's the news from WASC-land. You might want to do the same kind of investigation of DL-friendly North Central-land.

 

Here's the NCA/Higher LearningCommission's schedule of initial site visits for the 2004-5 academic year.

Evaluations for Initial Candidacy:

IL Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago 12/6/04

MN Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies 10/4/04

MO Central Bible College 11/15/04

http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org/resources/visitlists/04-05cycle.html

Here's all of the current NCA/HLC candidates. It's interesting to note the abundance of Indian tribal colleges. There also seem to be a lot of small religious colleges, suggesting some Bible college seepage from NA to RA. I don't see any new state universities coming up and there's almost nothing on the doctoral level. (The list is weighted with community colleges.)

It's striking that the strongest of these schools in academic terms might arguably be APUS' American Military University. It isn't often that DL schools lead in that area, but this is a rather uninspired lineup in my opinion. Out of this group, Trinity C&S looks to be the best fit for Me Again.

Tohono O'odham Community College AZ Candidate

Trinity College of the Bible & Trinity Theological Seminary IN Candidate

Emmaus Bible College IA Candidate

Barclay College KS Candidate

Manhattan Area Technical College KS Candidate

Ave Maria College MI Candidate

Michigan Theological Seminary MI Candidate

Saganaw Chippawa Tribal College MI Candidate

Leech Lake Tribal College MN Candidate

White Earth Tribal and Community College MN Candidate

Baptist Bible College MO Candidate

Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences MO Candidate

Crownpoint Institute of Technology NM Candidate

Circleville Bible College OH Candidate

Good Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Science OH Candidate

American Public University System WV Candidate

 

Trinity???

Trinity's doctoral programs will never achieve RA status unless they make major changes.

I very much respect people who choose to get a religious degree, but it is not my calling to go down that path. I don't have the fire or the drive for it. I don't want to study Hebrew and Greek grammar either. That kind of a degree takes a special kind of person and it takes years to learn all the intricies of the bible (grammar for Hebrew, Greek, KJV...), the history behind how certain scriptures came to be written, the studying of the lives of the apostles and prophets, et al.

It's ironic that since I co-own and operate a religious website, people frequently and automatically try to fit me with a religious degree. LOL I have read the bible from cover-to-cover and continue to study it on my own time, but I've never had a collegiate affiliation with the bible. My degrees are secular:

• AA Los Angeles Valley College, general education
  BS International College, business management
  MA University of South Florida, criminology

I also doubt that I'll pursue a doctoral degree of any sort, unless circumstances change in my life. The pursuit of a doctoral degree requires the payment of:

• An arm & a leg or
• your firstborn or
• whichever is more expensive or
• all of the above.

 

Re: Re: Which unaccredited PhD programs are seeking RA status?

Absolutely. Keck Graduate Institute had the unique advantage of being a member of the Claremont College Consortium of very prestigious institutions. Its chances of being denied accreditation were nil (UC Merced and Cal State Channel Islands also benefit from this same "guilt by association").

While it is true that almost all brand new schools start off unaccredited (and accreditation can take some time), the vast majority can achieve accreditation within a few years. There is little excuse for an institution to operate for decades without accreditation with the excuse that "all institutions start out unaccredited".

Tony Pina
Northeastern Illinois University

 

A fundamental problem here--and it has been alluded to--is that prior to candidacy, a school's pursuit of accreditation is almost invisible. It is difficult to know which schools will apply (or have applied) for candidacy, and also very difficult to determine which will be successful. Yes, looking at the announced candidates is useful, but it doesn't address the original question. I don't think that question can be answered with much accuracy.

Now, private discussions with school officials are another matter.

 

If a school makes an application to one of the regional accreditors, I assume that an initial site visit would be scheduled. That will show up on the accreditor's visit schedule and on their requests for comments. In the case of WASC aspirants with doctoral programs, U.West is currently a formal candidate, but UC Merced and California Graduate Institute appear alongside U.West. on the visit schedule. I interpret that to mean that they are applicants who haven't yet been granted candidacy. (UC Merced is a lock, but with CGI we have to wait and see.)

If we push matters back even further than that and start speculating about which non-accredited schools might apply for accreditation sometime in the future, then we are on shakier ground.

My personal method for getting an idea about which non-accredited schools are likely to seek accreditation is the Google-test. Several schools on my Google-based list of favorite CA-approved schools posted long ago have either gone direct to RA (Keck), become RA candidates (U.West), or appear on WASC's visit schedule (NTPS and Soka). Another favorite, U. Phil. Rsrch., is a DETC applicant. (My guess is that Expression College will be the next up, applying to some NA accreditor.) So Googling has a fairly decent track record in identifying accreditable state-approved schools. But it's still speculative until you hear it from the accreditor.