Rank These Schools: Quality Perception

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by pugbelly, Aug 7, 2008.

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Which of the following schools would you rank highest in terms of your perception of

  1. Devry University

    2 vote(s)
    2.7%
  2. University of Phoenix

    2 vote(s)
    2.7%
  3. Kaplan University

    1 vote(s)
    1.4%
  4. Bellevue University

    11 vote(s)
    14.9%
  5. University of Maryland University College

    36 vote(s)
    48.6%
  6. American Military/American Public University

    21 vote(s)
    28.4%
  7. Capella University

    6 vote(s)
    8.1%
  8. Strayer University

    1 vote(s)
    1.4%
  9. Liberty University

    23 vote(s)
    31.1%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. pugbelly

    pugbelly New Member

    Which of the following schools would you rank highest in terms of your perception of quality and academic integrity? The following 9 schools were chosen because they are either fully online or because they offer a substantial selection of online degree options. The Big 3 were excluded because they are assessment schools that require no residency. I have set the poll to allow for multiple selections in the event you believe there is a tie.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 7, 2008
  2. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Based on my research with HR managers, the school with the "state college" sounding name will likely prevail: UMUC.
     
  3. Vincey37

    Vincey37 New Member

    1. Liberty
    2. UMUC
    3. Bellevue
    4. Capella
    5. Kaplan
    6. APU/AMU
    7. Strayer
    8. DeVry
    9. Phoenix
     
  4. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I like Vincet's list but I might mess up the top three a bit. I'm thinking about putting Bellvue first followed by Liberty then UMUC.
     
  5. PhD2B

    PhD2B Dazed and Confused

    I have to side with Rich on this one. I gave rankings to more than one school, but I think UMUC has the most "normal" sound to it.
     
  6. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    If included, I would have ranked Cal State U Dominguez Hills equal to, if not higher than UMUC:
    + Several DL degrees
    + Well known B&M school
    + Has had DL program since 1974
    + Reasonable tuition costs
    - A little bureaucratic
    - No cycling program even though the only indoor velodrome in USA is located on their property ;)
     
  7. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    This is very interesting to me. I'm not disputing it in any way but it blows my mind because I had assumed many people would be put off by Liberty because of its affilitation with Falwell.

    Please note that this is no commentary on the school's quality as I'm not affiliated with them in any way nor have I taken classes there. I'm just wondering if others might feel the same.
     
  8. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    Not at all...Liberty has a strong B&M presence. It's academic reputation continues to grow each year. I had the pleasure of touring the campus about three years ago and even got to check out the new law school facilities. Very well done.
     
  9. skidadl

    skidadl Member

    There are different characters behind universities. In academia you can find many who are far left in their personal approach to life.

    Even though I fall in the middle between both Falwell and the far left (closer to right), I would never use either of those factors to chose my education choice.

    But that's just me.
     
  10. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    Don't get me wrong. I'm not demeaning the choice at all. I'm just surprised as I used to live close to that area and the university wasn't always viewed in a positive light. I suppose much of that had to do with politics, however.

    It's good to see that they're doing well.
     
  11. Vincey37

    Vincey37 New Member

    This is an interesting point. Although I doubt Dr. Falwell would ever have admitted it, I think there is a clear conflict between the development of a modern, reputable university and the restrictive, traditional dogma of strict followers of religion.

    It's rather telling as to which path Falwell chose when he envisioned Liberty as a Protestant Notre Dame. With the development of the huge distance learning program, the ABA law school, the ABET engineering school, the future medical school, and a likely eventual move to the ACC/Big East for athletics, I think Liberty, whether they like it or not, will resemble Notre Dame or BYU far more than Bob Jones in a decade. And I think this direction is a very positive one for the academic reputation of the university.
     
  12. skidadl

    skidadl Member

    I think that the conversation is very interesting.

    Disclaimer: I do not agree with many of Falwell's former ways. I wouldn't attempt to defend some of his stances either.

    Saying that, I'd be interested in hearing how or why it is a conflict, as you put it?

    I forget the numbers, but for something like the first 100 years of the history of our country there wasn't a secular university established. All of them had Christian roots.

    What are some examples of something that Falwell would do to impede students being educated?
     
  13. Vincey37

    Vincey37 New Member

    Sure. Take for example, the controversy kicked up by Falwell's decision to allow the Liberty debate team to argue in favor of abortion.

    This kind of excercise is a critical part of modern educational theory - allowing students to be exposed to, and even having to support, opposing views develops analytical and high level thinking skills. A master of debate can argue any issue, at any time.

    However, there are a good number of people associated with the Christian conservative movement that unsurprisingly saw this as an unacceptable compromise towards secular cultural values.
     
  14. skidadl

    skidadl Member

    I read that over and over making sure that I understood what you were saying was as I was understanding.

    It seems that you are saying that Falwell, who represents the furtherest right possible, allowed modern education to go on without interruption.

    So in this instance, in your opinion, everything worked out?

    I think that we are looking at proof that religion doesn't impede education in an institution such as Liberty.
     
  15. Vincey37

    Vincey37 New Member

    No, my point is that Falwell, while holding personal views which are very far right, made a conscious decision not to take Liberty in that direction.

    There are many schools which take on the conservatism of their leaders, most notably Bob Jones, which will never achive mainstream acceptance because of it.
     
  16. skidadl

    skidadl Member

    Ah, gotcha.

    In fairness, I think that if a school is not looking for mainstream acceptance, it's OK for them to be restrictive in their approach. I think that would be the case for schools like Bob Jones. They probably want as wide of a reach as possible without compromising who they want to be.
     
  17. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    I've never studied with any of the choices that were given, so I can only go by perceptions, not by experience.

    I think that I agree with Rich. UMUC probably has the best name, public-perception-wise. The words "University of Maryland" suggest basic credibility.

    Liberty is harder to characterize. It's a school with strong distinctives and a sense of purpose. Around the San Francisco bay area where I live, Liberty's got a reputation (rightly or wrongly) as a religious-right finishing school and its graduates run the risk of being stereotyped as to their religion and politics. I fear that Liberty might be kind of polarizing.

    My own vote was for American Military University. It offers some interesting and unusual majors and it seems to me to be reasonably credible academically.
     
  18. pugbelly

    pugbelly New Member

    Agreed 100%. Liberty continues to grow every year. Of the schools on this list, it is the only one that is ranked by US News and World Report. It's listed as 4th tier in the southern region, but it's ranked. There was a time when it wasn't ranked at all. I believe it will continue to climb the ladder.

    Pug
     
  19. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    In my dissertation research, I gave HR managers a list of 11 schools, ranging from RA to out-and-out diploma mills. I asked them to rate each for acceptability (for hiring, promotion, etc.), without providing any information about each school. (I did encourage them to use whatever resources they normally would to check out the schools.) The RA state university on the list, the then-Southwest Texas State U., was rated highest. The second? The very-state-school-sounding COLUMBIA STATE UNIVERSITY! Schools with odd names, like Capella, finished well below this outrageous (and highly publicized by the press) diploma mill.

    Name recognition means a lot, for a lot of wrong reasons.
     
  20. pugbelly

    pugbelly New Member

    I am not surprised. Anything that sounds traditional, particularly if it has the word "State" in it, is going to be perceived well in most cases.

    I am a little surprised that AMU/APU is doing as well as it is in the survey thus far. I think they're a very solid school, but they have no campus presence and have been accredited for the least amount of time. I thought that might hurt them a little.

    Pug
     

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