My (sort of) degree mill experience...

I guess I feel like sharing these past few days, so I'd thought I'd relate my quick story.

I got involved with distance learning in late 1998 after finishing 52 credit hours at a local community college. I started doing some research, and I came across good old St. George University International - www.stgeorgeuniversity.edu.

I knew nothing about accredidation, but their program in journalism sounded good to me. I promptly enrolled, went thorough my coursework, and I was able to graduate in June 2000.

Note: I did A LOT of work for that SGU degree (as much as I would later do for my Capella Masters, in fact). I definitley earned that degree. I was so happy to finish that I wrote them a glowing letter, and they put part of it on their website testimonial section. Part of it is still there today, five and a half years later.

It was when I tried to apply to law school later that year that I got my accredication slap in the face. In fact, one school wrote me a very nice letter explaining why they did not accept me, why SGU was not accredited, and how to learn more about the matter for my own reference.

I was angry, no doubt. But since my ultimate goal (at that time) was to be a lawyer, I decided to investigate the SCUPS cal-bar approved option, as I did not want to go through the hassle of a second BA. My wife (at the time ) had her family in Cali, and we had no problems moving there so I could practice law upon program completion.

Only one problem, though...I did not have the requisite 60 credits to begin law study. But lo and behold--there was SCUPS to the rescue. The dean of their law program wrote me and said that I could take one or two undergraduate courses from their school of criminal justice to get me up to the 60 credit minimum. At that point they said I would be able to reapply SCUPS' law bar law program.

To make a long story short, I paid about $900 for those two courses, passed them with As, and reapplied to SCUPS law bar program as well as tried to register with the cal bar as a new student.

But wait...there was another slap in the face. The the worker from the Cal Bar told me that the two courses could not count towards my 60 credit minimum because they were law courses. She said it did not matter that they were criminal justice undergraduate courses, but the fact that they contained "law" in their title barred me from using them as an admissions credential.

So here I was again,back at square one. I was discouraged, and I did nothing academically for a very long time. But I decided to enroll in Excelsior and take the BA in 4 weeks route in 2002. It took my a while to finish everything as I had to pay for it myself, but it all worked out. From there I went on to my Master's from Capella, and know I am trying work on a second Master's in Philosophy with a final hope of earning that coveted PhD in the future.

It's good things worked out as they did, as it gave me time to think I about whether I truly wanted to be a lawyer. I worked for two law firms as a paralegal, and it was my stint with the IL divorce court system which turned me away from law completely.


I hope someone here can use my experience to their advantage. In the meantime, we should all appreciate the valuable resource we have here!

 

Very inspiring indeed and congratulations. Quite a few in DL I'm sure have learned some tough accredidation lessons the way you did (me!). Good luck in the future!

 

Thanks for sharing, James. Very interesting!

 

James,

I admire your perseverance. You should be very proud of your accomplishments.


Take care my friend!


Abner

 

Congratulations on your mighty effort and perseverance.

It breaks your heart when you read about the serious students who work their guts out to complete a (unaccredited) degree, only to find it has little, if any, use.

 

Thanks, James. Best of luck to you.

 

Great story, James!

Thanks