Why a non-RA school?

With so many RA schools offering degrees online, and many at such reasonable prices, why would anyone choose a non-RA school, other than not understanding the difference?

 

One might choose a non-RA (or nationally accredited degree) because of price, flexibility, or customer support. Although I truly believe that if one can afford an RA program then it would be a mistake to choose an NA program regardless of any other factors.

 

In some cases, it is easier to be accepted into a NA accredited program. For example, Aspen University provisionally accepts students without a bachelor’s degree if they have a significant work history.

 

Heriot Watt used to accept students provisionally, who did not hold an undergraduate degree. If one completed three courses successfully, one was deemed to have proven one's ability to undertake the program(me).

I cannot tell from their website, whether they still do this.

 

I attend a non-RA school, and I definately understand the difference. I am currently studying for an associate's degree, and I don't think it is as critical to have an RA degree at that level. I enrolled at Education Direct/Penn Foster because I liked the price, the payment options and the course offerings. Even though I haven't finished my first semester with Penn Foster, it still helped me gain a new job with a much higher salary. Just the fact that I was studying and trying to improve myself while holding down a full-time job was enough to impress my new employer.

Not only that, but the material I am learning directly relates to real-life experiences I am having in the work-place. The marketing, business and math courses I have taken at Penn Foster have prepared me for various tasks and projects on the job, and the material at Pen Foster was exactly the type of work I had to complete in the workplace.

Could I have learned the same thing at an RA school? Sure. Would an RA school offer me a payment plan of $35 per month like Penn Foster? No way.

 

I went with CCU before they were DETC. They were so much cheaper. I went with the BS/MBA package for $4,500.

 

I think the definition of "reasonable" needs to be looked at, as well as the number of courses and times available for DL learning at some schools. From my understanding, most of the primary DL schools offer greater flexibility for the student.

 

In my own search, I found that all of my in-state RA schools offered tuition at a sometimes considerably less than any of the out-of-state schools, RA or not, that I could find.

I was amazed at how many of the traditional, well-known RA B&M schools in Florida offer degrees via DL. In fact, since my oldest daughter is entering HS next year and my youngest daughter is just a year behind her, I believe there is a strong chance that I will encourage both of them to get at least their Associates degree via DL from home.

 

Penn Foster $55 a credit hour . . Self paced.. no Webct to log into no mandotory online sessions etc. Many NA schools offer working adults flexiable options that RA school's don't..

Penn Fosters is a NA school and has approx 140 course that are in the National Guide for College credit that you can transfer to many RA schools..


Cleveland Inst of Electronics.(NA.) .Is very respected in the Electonincs industry an offers an AASEET degree and many computer and electronic technology career diploma's


The whole NA/RA is old hat.. and the elitist attiuded that RA 'distant learning' is better is kinda of joke since these NA schools have been doing it better and for a longer period of time..

 

I chose American Military University (NA) due to the uniqueness of the degree I was interested in earning (BA Intelligence Studies). American Military University will probably receive regional accreditation this year. I chose Champlain College (RA) due to the reputation of the digital forensics programme (Digital Forensics Professional Certificate) at that institution, and their recognition by the National Institute of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The tuition at AMU is USD750.00 including books while at CC it is USD1260.00 excluding books.

 

I'm studying with Nations University (not accredited by anyone to speak of) because 1) it's VERY inexpensive, 2) it's interesting, 3) it meets my specific needs for the program.

If there were a reason that I needed an RA MMin, I might be more selective but in my case, this one is simply for personal enrichment.

BTW, IMHO - if cost were the only consideration in what school to attend, there would be far fewer schools to select from...

 

RA programs are flexible...you just have to find the right one. As far as cost, there are PA schools that offer courses for under $100 per credit.

When you apply to an RA grad school or try to teach, thell them that NA schools have been doing it better and longer so they better accept it

The standards are the standards...RA schools want RA (most of the time). many govenment jobs I have seen list regionally accreditied degee as a requirement. This is beyond DL, it is RA vs. NA as a whole.

 

In good company

Normally, I advocate not only regional accreditation, but specialized accreditation, esp. AACSB, as well.

However, California Coast University, which is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), has among its alumni author Ben Bova.

It comes down to who you are and what your plans are.

 

Randell


I'm not gonna to get into the whole NA/RA arugment But reality is outside the world of education and some goverment jobs It doesn't really matter... yes you have more utility with a RA degree but when it comes to distant learning the NA/RA thing is old hat

The question was way a non-ra school. Other than not understanding the difference

The answer is because some of the NA schools provide working adults with quality education and flexable options.

For example I been taking Self pace courses from PennFoster (NA school) and transfering them to Excelsior (RA school)

My wife took Drafting with AutoCad from Penn Foster and know she's working as a drafter for TYCO instead of a cashier for Walmart.

I took career diploma courses from CIE back in the mid 90. Self paced correspondence. CIE is well respected in the electronics industry and there programs worked for me because I was in the military.

NA schools can open doors for you just as well as RA schools

 

Bovagate

http://www.benbova.com/bio.htm

[Bova] received his doctorate in education in 1996 from California Coast University...

hmmm... No doctoral degrees listed. Scandal?

 

Nah....no scandal!

CCU long offered doctorates right up until they applied for accreditation through DETC. I would think that they still have students under teach out options as well since they were just accredited last year. So...nope, no scandal, at least not this time!

 

1) Sometimes NA schools are far less expensive than RA schools, though not always

2) Sometimes an NA is all that is necessary (federal government jobs, military, some private industry)

3) Sometimes a degree is strictly for personal satisfaction/enrichment, so the NA/RA status is unimportant.

4) Sometimes the NA school may offer something the RA school does not. For example, Briercrest College (NA) offers a 100-hour BA. Though only 100 hours, the BA is sufficient for entry into every RA graduate school program I have contacted.

5) In many religious circles, the NA accreditation (ABHE and ATS) is considered preferable to RA accreditation. For this reason, many reputable schools offering religious majors are both RA and NA.

 

What should really matter is that an individual pursued an accredited college education and not be concerned about the elitism theory of RA schools being superior or better than national accreditation.

The DETC is considered to be the global leader in accrediting correspondence and distance educational institutions of higher learning. They precisely meet the same standards as do the regionals. The DETC has more experience with tougher and more stringent standards and distance learning is there specialty. The few schools who have gone through DETC and regional accreditation typically say that DETC accreditation standards were tougher and more difficult to pass.

I think the stigma that certain regional schools will not accept credits from national schools is that people believe DETC schools are less valuable. The sine qua non of an institution’s quality is not if its credits transfer and this is a fairy tale belief system. The fact that regionally accredited colleges refuse to accept credits from another school because it is not regionally accredited flies directly in the face of national policies advocated by American Council on Education (ACE), the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The real issue here has less to do with the academic quality of the sending institution, and more to do with anti-competitive business practices of the receiving institution. Congress, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice have been investigating this discriminatory practice and hence the Higher Education Authorization was drafted, which included language to prevent regional schools from denying national schools solely on the basis of the sending institutions accreditor.

Just recently AACRAO lobbied against the transfer of credit policy and won a small victory in the House. AACRAO supported the transfer of credit policy prior to Congress asking them to follow it. The House version specifically condones the arbitrary rejections of credits based solely on the source of the accreditation if this policy is announced. “We’re discriminating without reason, but it’s ok because we told you we would.”

National accreditation has had a bias because it accepts for profit schools and this causes direct competition to the non-profit schools. However, this bias has been breached by the North Central Association and others now accrediting for-profit schools, which thus avoid the head-to-head competition they otherwise would face. Regional accreditation really isn’t designed to deal with for-profit entities and it isn’t necessarily “tougher,” but it continues to carry the prestige it acquired when it was the only accreditation available.

This is why it amazes me of the “regional accreditation only” mindset, which is based on bias opinions, discrimination and anti-competitive practices.

The issue of the very few employers not accepting a college degree from a nationally accredited school usually has a direct correlation with the employers ignorance and lack of understanding of accreditation, whereas they believe that regional accreditation is the only one available because it’s the only one they’ve heard of. Some individuals believe this ignorance should continue because now they can lead the employer to falsely believe there regionally accredited college degree is more prestigious than the nationally accredited degree. This is false, wrong and unethical. I have challenged both employers and colleges on this false belief system and have won the battle many times.

As you can plainly see, I’m here to make a positive stand for national accreditation, as should the millions of other students and graduates from nationally accredited institutions of higher learning.