Chadwick University anyone?

Has anyone heard and/or had experience with this online university based in Birmingham, Alabama? Their web address is http://www.chadwick.edu
Their MBA program looks excellent, and the advisors I've talked with there certainly sound credible and legitimate. The program materials and list of textbooks they use are also fine.
They are accredited by something called the International Association of Universities and Schools (IAUS) -- is this a legitimate organization? It is described on the Chadwick web site as "a private accrediting organization". Chadwick U. is also sanctioned/registered with the Alabama Dept. of Education.

 

Degree Mill. Avoid them.

 

See http://distancelearn.about.com/library/faq/blfaqchadwick.htm

IAUS is not recognized by the US Department of Education; a Google search for it finds it listed by some rather dubious entities.

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Kristin Evenson Hirst
DistanceLearn.About.com

 

Chadwick University is licensed/registered/whatever by Alabama, but this was not always so. There was a time when they were not, yet operating anyway. It was also during that time that they were enjoined from offering their degree programs to Alabama residents. Both matters seem to have been resolved.

Chadwick has for a long time advertised unrecognized accreditation without explaining that it is useless academically. Its sister school, ACCIS, used to do the same thing until it was accredited by DETC.

In my survey of graduates from nontraditional master's programs, Chadwick was one of the participating institutions. As I remember, graduates pursuing their Chadwick degrees for personal reasons (rather than, say, to get a better job or to be promoted in their current jobs) were satisfied with their choice. But those who thought they were pursuing an accredited degree were not pleased. Shocker.

It is neither prudent nor accurate to term Chadwick a degree mill, as one poster has. Rather, it would be wise to explore the plethora of foreign, RA, and DETC-accredited options, many of which would be as flexible and low-cost, but would certainly be more acceptable anywhere a college degree is expected.

Rich Douglas

 

Thanks for the great info! What does RA stand for, by the way?

 

RA= Regional accreditation. As a general rule, you can't go wrong with a school that has RA. Schools that are DETC (Distance Education and Training Council) accredited are also 100% legitimate, but there are sometimes issues transferring credits and/or gaining admission to RA graduate schools with a DETC degree.

If you're interested in a business program, there are many, many RA options available. If you let us know what you're looking for specifically, I'm sure you'll get several excellent options.


Bruce

 

Thanks, Bruce. I've done a lot of research on MBA programs online -- pretty much the race is down to Baker College and Capella University. I already have 37 credits toward an MBA at a traditional university, but I need something more flexible and (please God!) quicker.

 

You might want to look into Amberton University in Texas. They will allow more transfer credits than other schools.

If you have 37 credits what are you missing for the MBA?

Dan

 

Thanks, I'll check out Amberton.

I go to a cruel university that considers 37 credits not nearly enough punishment for an MBA candidate. They demand 61 credits til they'll fork over the degree.

 

P.S. Amberton looks interesting, but the maximum transfer credit they'll accept is 12 credit hours. Capella University & I believe Baker College accepts 16 credits or 4 courses.

 

Keep in mind Baker calls for 50 quarter hours and Amberton calls for 36 semester hours.

I think Capella is also a Quarter hour shcool ( They will only allow 3 classes-12 quarter hours to transfer into the MS in Health Science)

Amberton will allow 4 classes transferd into their program. they are also less expensive than Capella.

Dan

 

What school are you attending? Is it on a semster hour or quarter hour system? Seriously, either way you are probably best off just finishing where you are at. You'd be lucky to get another school to take enough transfer credit to bring the requirement down to what you already need if you keep at the one you started. If you got really lucky you might be able to find a 30 semester hour MBA that would take 9 in transfer (e.g. Cal State Domiguez Hills might), but really since you only have 24 more to go you ought to stick with it.

Unless there is something else going on that is forcing you transfer, that is.

 

I'm going to Florida International University in Miami. Their program is very math-heavy, with multiple required courses in Accounting and Finance. These are my worst subjects.

Also, the class scheduling is inconvenient -- everything starts at 6:25pm. I work at a newspaper and I can't leave that early.

 

Hmm, the FIU web site lists the requirements for the evening MBA program as 46 semester hour credits (plus 9 sh of background if you need them). If the requirements were different when you started then maybe you could change to the new requirements? Also, it does say that you can transfer in 6 sh after you have 15 sh completed in the program, so you could still take a couple of courses via distance learning from another school if you wanted. I did notice that they also offer some of their grad business courses totally online.

Most MBA program that I've seen require at least one grad accounting and one grad finance course, in addition to the undergrad level background requirements in those subjects. FIU just requires two finance and one accounting course at the grad level, as far as I can tell. If these are weak areas for you and you don't want/need to improve in them then maybe you might consider another degree, like an MS in Management. At it's core an MBA is a general business degree, even when an emphasis is allowed, so MBA programs will hit all of the major areas of business, including finance and accounting. A more specialized degree might work better for you, since the coursework may be more relevant to your strengths and goals.

In any case though the fastest route will still probably be to work something out with your current school, and maybe transfer in a couple of courses from another school if needed. It seems that you should already be mostly there.

Good luck!

 

Gary, thanks for telling me about Cal State at Dominguez Hills -- what an amazing program! I'd only have to take 7 courses, hopefully.

 

FireOpal, if scheduling is a problem, you might speak to your advisor and consider taking a few courses online at FIU. Their Online Learning Course Catalog can be found here. For example, Fall 2001 they offered Accounting for Managers, Business Analysis for Decision Making, and Corporate Finance. Moreover, Saturday classes are also available.

On the other hand, if you are simply having difficulty with your courses, you might want to consider a tutor. Especially since any course in which a grade less than “B” is earned does not count toward your requirements (is this the reason you now need 61 credits?), although is does factor into calculating your GPA.

You might want to reconsider seeking another program, however. Most of your credits will not transfer, and FIU, although accredited by the AACSB, is not considered all that rigorous; simply changing programs will not guarantee anything more flexible or quicker.


Gus Sainz

 

No problem. For what it's worth, my wife emailed them about transferring credits into their program, and the response was pretty much that the courses would have to exactly match courses in their program, and that they normally only accept 6 s.h. of transfer credit. I think they said that you could appeal to the Dean for the other 3 s.h. That's not to say that you couldn't transfer in 9 s.h., you just might have to put in a little bit of effort (and persistence) in order to do it.

If you haven't checked it out yet, you should look at Jonnie Liu's site at http://www.geocities.com/liu_jonathan/distance.html . It might take you a while to wade through all the programs listed, but it would be worth it if you found the perfect one for you.

I still think that you should really try to finish at FIU though if it's at all feasible. Between their online courses and the ability to take a couple of courses somewhere else to transfer in, you might be able to avoid the scheduling problems.

 

Oh, I just *couldn't* let that slide by without the obligatory rude comment about ACCIS/AICS (another Clayton less-than-wonderful program in the rich tradition of Chadwick and CCNH).

ACCIS is indeed DETC accredited, but I would still have a serious problem calling them "100% legitimate" given their past history of deception and fake accreditation.

Sort of like the jokes about Ivory Snow's "99-44/100% pure"

 

Chip writes, "Sort of like the jokes about Ivory Snow's "99-44/100% pure"

Well if they advertised themselves as "Guaranteed only .56% impure," how much soap would they sell?

 

Yes, their history is quite odious, but I would have to say they are *now* legitimate {while I hold my nose). The same can be said of Andrew Jackson University and Columbia Southern University, they wouldn't be my first choice if I was in the market for a DETC school, but I no longer consider these shady or a scam.


Bruce