Hello. I've received info from both the Southern Calif Univ for Professional Studies and Northcentral University in AZ. I'm looking for a PsyD or PhD by distance learning which is why I was interested in both of these schools. I'm not sure of the accreditation of either of the schools. And, it seems a bit fishy that I have the same admissions rep for both of the universities. The only thing that seems to be different are the addresses on her business cards. Anyone have any input into either of these schools? Thanks! -jdl
SCUPS has been around a long time; it's California-state-approved but has never been accredited. SCUPS ownership started Northcentral University in Arizona. It has been granted initial candidacy status for accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. A good step, but no guarantee. ------------------ Kristin Evenson Hirst DistanceLearn.About.com
As a side note, it is important to note that NCU no longer offers the PsyD. They had to give up that option in their pursuit of accreditation.
A friend of mine completed his DBA in 9 months, normally should take a min. of 3 years in RA schools. All exams were open book multiple choice type questions (no dissertation) This should tell you something!! Eli
Scary, maybe, but normal. Many of California's unaccredited DL schools have a one-(academic) year minimum, which would equate to about 9 months. The Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities (now The Union Institute) used to have a one-year minimum for their Ph.D. program. (It is now two years.) I'm pretty sure the same was true of Walden and Sarasota in their pre-accredited days. Rich Douglas
Hey Rich, I always think that the unaccredited doctoral degree programs in California (i.e. Ph.D or DBA from Calcoast, Calpacific, SCUPS..etc) are fairly credible in comparison to the unaccredited doctoral programs from other States. So, if one earns one of the California doctorates in nine months or a year, would you consider his/her degree legitimate in general (legitimate as in doctoral level coursework and not legality issues)? I'm just curious about your (and others)opinions cuz I interpret some of the California unaccredited Ph.D programs as serious and legitimate in general, but I ain't so sure about the multiple choice testing format in their DBA programs. Regards, Byran
No, not any more. There was a time when you couldn't tell the difference between Fielding, Walden, and Sarasota when compared to CCU, CPU, etc. They were all new and well outside accepted norms in higher education. But these days it is pretty well accepted that DL doctoral programs should be similar in content--if not in delivery--to residential RA programs. This is especially true when comparing DL programs with classroom-based programs that are designed for working adults. The California-approved DL schools simply do not rise to the same standard as accredited DL schools. They've settled on something less. That may not be true of the residential unaccredited schools, but it seems to be with CCU, SCUPS, etc. There was a time when many working adults simply couldn't pursue accredited doctoral programs. So they turned to unaccredited schools. This simply isn't so today, with the possible exception of cost differences between RA and unaccredited programs. But even that barrier is falling with the availablility of less expensive foreign programs. Legitimate? Well, if taken for what they are. But I don't consider them on the same level as accredited programs. And as I've posted earlier, I'm not at all impressed with the no-dissertation DBA. It isn't a doctorate, no matter what they call it. Rich Douglas
