SCUPS Degrees/Units Now Transferable to NCU

Interesting news in SCUPS website..


SCUPS Degrees/Units Now Transferable to NCU, A Regionally Accredited University

Dr. Mark Rocha (PhD, USC), President of SCUPS, has announced an agreement with Northcentral University in Prescott, Arizona, through which units and degrees earned at SCUPS are fully transferable to NCU, a 100% distance education university with no residency and no attendance requirements. Northcentral University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For more information on Northcentral University, visit their website at www.ncu.edu. "We are pleased that Northcentral University has recognized the academic quality of our programs," stated Dr. Rocha. This partnership means that a new SCUPS student can get the best of both worlds: a California-approved degree at the lowest cost of any similar private university AND the opportunity to continue or complete one's education at a regionally accredited university. For full details of this partnership and the requirements for transferability of credits, please contact SCUPS Director of Admissions Lorrie Weiland directly at 1-800-477-2254, x8228, [email protected]


http://www.scups.edu/university_info/news.asp#newsid20

 

SCUPS and NCU are owned by the same person.

 

So, if you are looking at NCU for a PhD BA, and don't have all your pre-reqs done, from an MBA, then you should take courses through SCUPS to get them done. SCUPS MBA tuition is 210/credit hour. This results in a per course savings of $795. That is pretty significant.

If you are lacking the same for the Psychology program, you might want to consider doing your pre-req credits with SCUPS first. Likely NCU built the course SCUPS uses, too.

 

Interesting, I was wondering if this might happen. SCUPS couldn't get DETC accreditation. Now their classes will be accepted for RA credits! I now wonder if this will be allowed to continue?

 

I don't know that accreditors have problems with such. Isn't it up to the institution to accept what they deem acceptable sources of credits? Even DETC schools have deals with RA schools. I received credit at an RA school from a course I had taken that wasn't RA or NA or anything else.

 

I'm with Bing on this one. I received credit from the Florida Institute of Technology (RA) for four graduate courses taken at the Army Logistics Management College, which is neither RA nor DETC.

 

That's true, but courses at the Army Logistics Management College have been evaluated for college credit by the American Council on Education (ACE).

http://www.almc.army.mil/catalog/apdxA.htm

The same cannot be said for SCUPS.

 

True, but I would say that ACE is hardly on par with RA or DETC accreditation.

 

I don't see why not, many RA institutions have a policy to accept ACE evaluated credits but not DETC. You're entitled to your opinion, but ACE evaluated training seems to be generally well regarded, as an exaple I got 16 of my 28 ACE evaluated credits for military training accepted by the University of Connecticut, and (at least at the time) UConn wouldn't accept NA credits or Clep test credit. The utility of ACE evaluated credits is on par or superior to DETC accredited credits in my experience. This may also be the reason that NA schools like AMU and CCHS have their coursework reviewed by ACE over and above their DETC accreditation.

 

That's pretty interesting. I always thought ACE was not as highly regarded as RA and NA. Thanks for the counterpoint.

 

It's better than DETC for students. ACE recommendations are accepted by thousands of schools, and many will accept only courses for transfer from DETC-accredited schools that have been evaluated by ACE and recommended for credit.

 

Or... not to leave out portfolio assessment that schools like Indiana University, Charter Oak, Excelsior, and Edison do. Those are not RA, ACE, or NA. In this case, an RA school evaluates the non-RA, non-ACE, and non-NA learning that has taken place and then approves credit for it.

 

As of Bears' Guide, 15th edition (2003), this was so. But, as duly noted in a previous NCU/SCUPS thread, they are no longer under common ownership.

 

But they operate with common faculty, staff, facilities, information technology systems, networks, servers, technical and administrative resources, course material...etc. So technically they may not be under the same legal ownership, as required by Middle States, but (IMHO) they obviously operate as the same functional entity. North Central is simply an RA end-a-round and borrowed legitimacy for SCUPS which by design has turned out to be an unaccredited feeder system for North Central. Additionally, SCUPS can now market its unaccredited degree programs as quasi accredited because of its common association/infrastructure with North Central and direct porting of degrees.

Why oh why didn't (won't) SCUPS just go direct to Middle States or WASC for accreditation? Perhaps they couldn't (can't), and that basically says it all. Now NCU can drag this baggage along while trying to establish a credible reputation as a new and legitimate RA school. Such a wonderful thing this is for NCU students and the future credibility of online RA schools.

Tom

 

I'm sure to be popular after this post.

Why is it everything about NCU is controversial? I'm not sure if it DI that is making it controversial or NCU. My personal feeling is it's NCU. I am not so thrilled about any online only school in the first place, but it seems that NCU is not really a school I'd want to be associated with. From the long standing "SCUPS connection" ,the Case work only DBA for international students only and the lack of Federal Aid programs it seems that NCU has alot against it. I really makes me wonder what the long term prospects of this school are. If I were a student I'd be esspecially conncerned about the long term prospects, If NCU were to lose accrediation or close down, it kind of leaves the alumni with very little, and the students currently enrollled even less. Most often people are only going to remember the bad in the long term who cares at if the degree was RA,a bad reputation is a bad reputation and it will follow the degree. Then again it's not like NCU grads are being saught after for teaching positions in the first place.

That's my opinion anyway

 

It might have to do with certain of the personalities that routinely jump into the NCU threads.

 

Or perhaps the questionable and somewhat concerning issues that are raised by the actions of NCU and or its associated entities.

Tom

 

Just because a school accepts another school's credits does not make them accredited to any degree. Columbia Southern has deals with North Alabama, West Alabama, and West Florida. Does that make Columbia Southern a feeder for those schools? Yes. Does it make CSU quasi RA? No. Columbia Southern is either RA or it isn't. It isn't.

Is SCUPS saying in their marketing literature that they have the same common infrastructure as NCU? If so, can you point that out to me? I haven't seen that and most have had to do some searching to find that they even shared technical services. The average student being marketed to wouldn't likely know that, I think.

 

Bing,

In my opinion, what makes SCUPS and their representations quasi RA at this point is 1) that NCU and SCUPS are substantially the same entity outside of their technically separate legal ownership and 2) how directly ported the SCUPS degrees and course credits are to NCU’s "regionally accredited" school and programs.

I would also argue that your comparison of SCUPS to CSU is largely flawed.

Firstly, CSU is DETC accredited and has been since 2001. They also do not offer doctoral level degrees.

Secondly, CSU has no intimate relationships or largely common infrastructures, administration, staff...etc. or any other financially common interest that might influence acceptance or porting of degrees. Additionally, I seriously doubt that SACS had any need to request that North Alabama, West Alabama, or West Florida divest themselves from holding a common ownership interest in the CSU, since there was no common interest or issue to cause MSA concern.

SCUPS is unaccredited - period. They were also denied DETC accreditation or had withdrawn from the accreditation process. A separation of common ownership interests between SCUPS and NCU was a condition of NCU's accreditation by MSA. A subsequent legal ownership separation may have technically occurred, but much of the infrastructure, facilities, faculty, administrative and technical staff, systems...etc. still appear to be operating in common as a one entity. Now we see that degrees and course credits are seamlessly ported from one school (non-accredited) to the other that is MSA accredited. And yes, SCUPS is marketing NCU's RA status on its own behalf...

"SCUPS Degrees/Units Now Transferable to NCU, A Regionally Accredited University"

...much like how SCUPS was marketing (pitching) the same RA association for its Asian degree programs.

There are very big differences between the CSU and SCUPS relationships. Additionally, I see nothing arms length regarding the acceptance of credit between SCUPS and NCU -- just different fronts for the same deal. The SCUPS/NCU relationship (IMHO) appears to be more about crafty business and benefiting shareholder interest than advancing education.

Tom

 

Athough SCUPS is unaccredited recipients of their doctoral degrees in Psychology are eligible for licensure and practice within California and in fact have been able to obtain licensure as psychologists in several other states. Furthermore the state of Oregon, with its rigorous standards for accredited degree prorams and strong stands against unaccredited and diploma mill degrees, fully approves of the Ph.D in Psychology from SCUPS (this does not imply that one can necessarily be eligible to practice as a psychologist in Oregon). http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.html

Yes, there are certain limitations in terms of employment opportunities for those with SCUPS doctorates in Psychology in certain federal and hospital positions. However, for individuals seeking to engage in private practice or consultation, these degrees may fully meet their professional and personal need.

In regard to NCU let us keep in mind that many distance learning institutions have extremely liberal admission standards and policies. No graduate admission exams and acceptance of all sorts of degrees from DETC and other accredited (other than RA) and unaccredited sources. In effect these liberal admission policies are generally oriented towards generating BIG revenue. Many individuals who are accepted into these programs would not meet the criteria for admission in doctoral programs in brick and mortar universities. In addition it is open to question whether a number of these students possess the academic potential for doctoral level learning.

So in order to engage in a fair and impartial discussion of NCU there needs to be a commensurate discsussion of the admission standards of other RA online universities. This should include their level of acceptance of coursework completed at other accredited and unaccredited schools as well as the possible existence of any partnerships with other institutions for finacial gain that may raise a red flag. Such an understanding may provide us with a more objective perpspective of this matter and whether NCU does in fact stand apart from the crowd.