Looking for a decent unaccredited degree- any help is welcome.

Hello I'm new here so hello. ^_^

Ok I'm older and would like to earn a bachelors for personal enrichment, at most would note its unaccedited if I place it on my resume and the like. I want to study philosophy and other humanities subjects to get a general education. Now are there any decent programs out there I could look at with actual coursework and the like covering such a major area of study?

Thanks for the help and any links would be welcome to any school you may recommend.

 

Just out of curiosity, if you're looking to do actual work for an earned degree, why would one settle for an unaccredited degree, especially when there are so many options for accredited distance learning degrees in philosophy and humanities? Just wondering.

 

Well three reasons. First is time although in my state there are non-residential options they still are schedule based to a great degree and my work hours are odd. Two I have a sick relative to care for and simply again need as much flexibility as possible. Lastly is cost even if I had the time and schedule options I can't afford the traditional accredited school options. Add to this I'm disabled and don't drive it adds to the problem of some options for a degree.

I never said I was lazy I want to work for a degree but have to have one based on my ability to do the program and most options I've found through conventional schools won't work.

 

There was a time when school was free for Seniors...sadly that has gone away. My Mother wanted to continue on but her eyesight makes it difficult and now with the costs there are little options.

Does anyone know of school that allows for free Auditing for seniors still?

 

I would like to suggest you consider Ted Heiks comments once again and then perhaps reframe your question.

I beleive you can meet the three demands of flexible scheduling, self paced learning and modest cost with an accredited degree and there are many on this board who will respond with suggestions for you. I am not familiar enough with the offerings in the US so will refrain from making any other comment.

 

Welcome thomaskolter,

Many school still allow free space A enrollment for seniors.

There's no reason to think that all unaccredited degrees will be cheaper or less time intensive than all accredited degrees.

Let's look at a BA or BS from Excelsior College for example (of course I like Excelsior).

Say you wanted to go the route of DL coursework for completion but don't want to be confined to a semester schedule for completion.

BYU offers a very nice selection of DL coursework that Excelsior will accept for credit. They allow a year for completion. That's usually plenty of time for a 3 hour class. Cost is about $300 per three hour course.

If you wanted to test a few classes for credit, say maybe CLEP Subject Analyzing and Interpreting Litterature, Excelsior likes that too -- and you can take as long as you'd like to prepare for the exam. Of course, you'll need to get to a testing center somehow but however you get to work will probably work for this too.

I understand that the LSU DL courses are not semester based - they should be a good option too.

"Humanities" should be fairly easy to find by DL coursework. It's not like you're looking for upper level natural sciences with a lab.

Colorado State U. at Pueblo has a nice selection of undergrad DL courses that they allow a year for completion on too. Just under $100 a semster hour.

There are plenty of options for a regionally accredited bachelor's degree while still maintaining freedom of time and a relatively low cost. Especially if spread over time.

 

'Philosophy and other humanities subjects' takes in an awful lot of territory. It's pretty vague.

So, do you have more focused and specific intellectual interests? Do some humanities subjects interest you more than others? Are you fascinated by particular philosophical topics? (Philosophy of religion? Ethics? Aesthetics? Epistemology? Ancient philosophers?) Are you already reading books and periodicals? I doubt that you just picked philosophy from out of a hat.

My first suggestion is to think in terms of advancing your own interests. If your purpose is personal enrichment and if you don't intend to use any resulting degree vocationally or to impress anybody else, then you don't really need a degree at all. You don't even need academic credit. So accreditation is probably less important to you than course content and whether program offerings interest you. You don't have to turn a degree down if one eventually falls into your lap, but that doesn't need to be how you approach this.

More specific advice? Check out Philosophy Pathways:

http://www.philosophypathways.com/

This might be just what you are looking for. You can kind of ease into philosophy by degrees (pun intended), since Pathways offers pathways for all levels of interest and commitment, ranging from neophyte to aspiring professional philosopher.

They offer introductory non-credit DL classes on a whole variety of philosophical topics. If you get into that, they have online resources and activities for philosophy buffs.

If you feel a bit more ambitious, you can study for Associate and Fellowship awards from the International Society for Philosophers. These aren't degrees, but they give you structure, something to shoot for, and will probably be more credible than a degree from some unaccredited 'university' that nobody has ever heard of.

Finally, once they've got you really rockin', Pathways is perhaps the world's leading provider of DL tutoring for the University of London external-programme philosophy exams. This is a 100% exam-based program(me). It doesn't offer any classes or instruction, only a grueling series of written essay exams. (That's where Pathways' instruction comes in.) In the traditional British style, it's all philosophy and no general ed. The exams definitely shouldn't be taken lightly, but if you are successful they lead to a philosophy BA from the University of London, an internationally respected qualification that might get you into quite a few philosophy graduate programs if that's what you eventually want to do.

 

Just in regards to time issues, and although I am not a "senior" (yet) I am 46, work fulltime, operate a part-time business, married with a family of 3 plus finshing my degree (Excelsior College) and have made it a point to find the time to do it all.

To me it's all about time management, being steadfast, and maintaining balance. It can be difficult, but attaining that degree by summers end will prove its worth.

Give it it try!!!

 

Thanks

The University of London program looks good I think I will do some voluntary studies and then do the Diploma then if I do well there go for a BA if it can be worked out. Although some of the other programs also look good like History, I have to look into this further.

 

Re: Thanks

GOOD LUCK THOMAS!!