Does anyone know anything about this school? It was referred to me by a colleague, so I visited their website, and based on appearances, it looks legitimate to me (as well as reasonably affordable). I would really appreciate any info. Thank you. BTW - I'm a new poster, I found this link on one of the distance learning newsgroups. Thank God, because it was nearly impossible to find anything on those groups with all the anti-Bear spam. ------------------ "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" -- George W. Bush
Bienville is not regionally accredited. I notice the school is accredited by Accrediting Commission International (ACI), the preferred accrediting body of diploma mills. That alone makes me very suspicious. Mark
Now, this is spooky -- first Atlantic International, then Bienville. Both are "accredited" by the unrecognized and worthless Accreditation Commission International. Both should be avoided like the proverbial plague. What sort of program are you looking for...? Maybe we can suggest something more promising. Peace, ------------------ Tom Head www.tomhead.net
As others have mentioned, the fact that Bienville has bogus "accreditation" from ACI is reason enough to totally avoid it. What kind of program are you looking for? I'm certain we can recommend legitimately accredited that will fit your needs. Bruce
Well, thank you all for your input on this. I truly appreciate it. What I am looking for is an IT degree. CIS or MIS at the bachelors level. I'm not 100% concerned about regional accreditation. I've been in the field for a long time, and have enough alphabet soup (IT certifcations) that a degree really doesn't matter to 95% of the employers out there. I've more than proved I know my stuff, but I want the degree. I looked into Excelsiors IT degree, but you need to have 60 credits or so, or an associates degree to get into the bachelors program. My problem is that I can't do that. I've tried and failed 6 different times to go to college over the last 13 years. I simply can't learn in a classroom environment, or in any kind of structured environment. I start out great, but because of my experience, I have already worked with the material that is being taught - at an advanced level. The last time I went to college, I was forced to take an Introduction to Computers Class as part of the program. Keep in mind that I was using computers before the IBM PC. So I became bored on day 1, and by day three, I had hacked into the rooms LAN, and began deleting the files on the server that the instructor was showing the class, as he was doing it. Needless to say, I dropped the class on Day 4 (with some encouragement). So, I guess what I'm looking for is a completeley non-structured IT bachelors degree program. Could there perhaps be an affordable program where I could be tested on my knowledge as a whole, or I could write papers, or do some sort of project for my degree? That would be ideal. I would also be willing to test out each individual subject, but given my experience, I feel that the redundancy level might throw me back into the same loop. Any suggestions would be appreciated. ------------------ "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" -- George W. Bush
Let's see, a degree program without accreditation, structure, credit requirements....I'd suggest Bienville University. Ever heard of it? :rolleyes (Sorry about the flame, but really.... Rich Douglas
Well, I got the "bold" and the "rolleyes" wrong on that last post. Maybe I should go to Bienville.... Rich
I looked into Excelsiors IT degree, but you need to have 60 credits or so, or an associates degree to get into the bachelors program. [/QUOTE] [/B] Excelsior has several options and if you need the Associate based on what you were looking at you could always start out at that level. At Excelsior you should be able to put your certs to good use. Excelsior is not classroom based. If you are able to pass your cert. exams you should be ale to study and pass many of the examination programs offered by Excelsior. Essentially, it would be possible to earn an RA degree very similar to how you acquired your certs. Any RA program is going to have structure. Programs such as Excelsior allow you to combine different learning experiences but you need to document that you know it. Hence, exams, traditional classes, and other learning methods can be combined in the Excelsior experience. Excelsior is an assessment school and does not offer classes at the undergraduate level. They work with you to assess your learning. It is not where you obtain your learning but what you know. I would recommend against a non-accredited degree. Even if you have a lot of certs. behind your name. As soon as you put that unaccredited degree on your resume you can exclude yourself of some opportunity. For example, many employers require that their employees have RA degrees. As one who works in the IT field I cannot knowlingly hire anyone who list a non-RA degree because there is a background check. By representing a non-RA degree the job candidate would not be able to secure their employment. I do understand that this is not the case for all businesses but I also do not know where you work. Nonetheless, in my experience in government and industry non-accredited degrees are not looked up favorably. Regardless of the perceived experience on paper whenever a resume crosses my desk that includes a non-accredited degree it immediately moves to the do not consider pile. John John
Just another note -- Invest your money wisely into an RA program. Schools like Excelsior, Thomas Edison, and Charter Oak are very cost effective compared to traditional schools and their degrees will take you a lot farther than an unaccredited program. John
If you've got all the alphabet soup, why bother with an IT program at all. Read the "BA in 4 weeks" thread and get your RA BA. The fact that it is in some other field (Liberal arts?) shouldn't matter if you've got work experience.
Wow. I was quite surprised by the number of responses to my request for information. I would like to thank you all (with one exception) for your input. ------------------ "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" -- George W. Bush
I'll disagree with you on that. The exception I referred to seemed to be more of an arrogant, self righteous, ignominious equine posterior. I was simply trying to present my situation, in as clear a light as possible, so as to elicit some feedback on a potential direction. Through the use of my example, I was merely demonstrating how ludicrous it is for me to be in an introductory class. If I can administer a 10,000 host mixed UNIX and windows environment, do I really need to sit through a class where they teach me how to double click on icons, and navigate through the hard drive with "My Computer"? My answer is no. It is a complete waste of my valuable time, as well as a waste of resources since I'm taking a spot in a class that could be used by someone who really does need it. What I was looking for is some way around having to sit through a class that I really don't need to take. I stated in a previous post that it would be ideal to be tested on my knowledge as a whole. I also stated that I would be willing to test out each subject individually. I also mentioned before that I had looked into Excelsior's BS/CIS program. Based on their "College Credit Tracker" application I need no upper level credits. I need lower level credits - all of them. My goodness, I'm only looking for credit where credit is due, and I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is - in the form of exams, or whatever. If you can offer constructive advice, please do so! I would sincerely appreciate it. Now, as far as Mr. Rich (or is it Dick?) Douglas' insinuation that I don't want to do the work, I would say that I ALREADY HAVE - many years ago. I just don't want to do it over again *if it can be avoided.* Is that a great shock to anyone? I was always taught that the root of the word education came from the latin 'educos' - to bring forth, or draw from within - not to be lectured at. Furthermore, I can't think of any circumstance where a harmless prank could be construed as a lack of ethics. Here's a quarter - go buy yourself a sense of humor. ------------------ "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" -- George W. Bush
Since you obviously have a great deal of experential knowledge, your best bet would probably be Thomas Edison State College, which doesn't set a limit on portfolio credit. There is at least one person who earned their whole TESC degree (120 credits) through portfolio evaluation. Be sure to check Steve Levicoff's website section on TESC portfolio credit at; http://levicoff.tripod.com/tesc.htm TESC website: http://www.tesc.edu Bruce
I would receommend against an unaccredited degree *especially* if you have a lot of certs. behind your name. That flaky piece of paper might actually cheapen your value, as Dr. Wetsch goes on to say. Your difficulty in learning in a classroom environment is not unique. I HATE sitting in almost any classsroom as a student. That is one reason why I chose what is now Excelsior for my BA. No classroom attendance at all, and examinations are welcomed as sources of credit. As suggested elsewhere, you might do better with Thomas Edison State College (NJ), because they will allow you to gain *all* necessary credits by portfolio evaluation. My recommendation to you is to check out Edison and Charter Oak State College (Connecticut), then compare them against Excelsior. All three are regionally accredited, and all three offer the definite possibility of earning a Bachelor's degree without setting foot in a single classroom, except perhaps to take an examination. Judge for yourself which will be best for you, then go ahead. Do follow a lot of the recommendations you see here, such as checking out Dr. Levicoff's website for a great presentation on Portfolio Evaluation. And really, if you can gain all those IT credentials by examination, you can do the same with college credit. For some ideas, go to the DANTES website which is (I recall) <www.GetCollegeCredit.org> and check out their exams. Go forth and succeed, dang it. Regards, John
Bienville University has hired the infamous Tom Kirk to head there Admissions and Marketing Department, do you know who he is? LaSalle University......
What about the other 5%? If you are 100% sure that an accredited degree isn't necessary than you should consider California Coast University. (Calcoast.edu) However with all of the accredited bachelor level distance degree programs you really shouldn't have any problem finding one to meet your needs. The University of Tennesse by the way, has several bachelor degree programs that can be taken entirely over the internet. Regards, Wes
I'm curious -- did you ask your colleague why he recommended Bienville? But I also echo the advice of others. At the undergraduate level, there are so many degree programs available from unquestionably legitimate, regionally accredited schools, that it just isn't worth your time to look at an unaccredited school. (Much less your money.) See http://distancelearn.about.com/cs/computerscience1/index.htm for links to associate, bachelor, and graduate degrees in computer and information science. When you visit some of those school's websites, you should see many differences between them & Bienville -- things like names of faculty and administration, per-course or per-semester-hour tuition rather than a flat fee for a degree, phone numbers and mailing addresses, etc. ------------------ Kristin Evenson Hirst DistanceLearn.About.com
jrchildrose, Have you checked out ACCIS? I was pretty much in your situation and regional accreditation wasn't what was the most important, as long as I could find a program that was at least accredited by DETC, I was fine. ACCIS met all the needs I want, and they will give you life experience. However, even though it is totally distant learning, it does appear structured, but then you would not be sitting in a class feeling bored, you could finish up the courses as fast as you can. They are very reasonably priced and as far as I am concerned a sound academic program, and because I already hold a Bachelor's from a traditional RA university, I felt this was the perfect solution for me, they now have a Master's in Computer Science and will be implementing a Master of Information Systems in 2002. I know ACCIS has been bashed here due to past evils, but then there are RA's with less then perfect histories, that were at some point unaccredited and then got their act together and are now accredited. For me, ACCIS works, I have had nothing but the best possible experience with them thus far. My employer is picking up half the tab so I can honestly say I am happy with my choice (and I searched a VERY long time). I hope you are able to find the degree program that will suit you best! Good Luck!
