Union Institute & University

Does the Union Institute & University have good online programs in education?

 

Hi - Union has a generally good rep although some alumni seem intent on saying not so nice things. We should take this seriously as generaly alumni want to pump up their school. Aside from that Union remains RA and so it enjoys those benefits.

You are interested in the field of education but you do not say what level. Bachelor? Masters? Doctoral? The answer matters.

Then you ask if their program is "good." At the risk of getting all philosophical, what does this mean? Cheap? Acceptable? Respectable?

You're going to get a better answer if you ask a better question.

 

The Union Institute & University www.tui.edu offers the following programs. All of their programs are accredited by the Higher Learning Council of the North Central Association.

BA in Educational Studies www.tui.edu/undergrad/edst.asp
BA in Teacher Licensure www.tui.edu/undergrad/tl.asp
BS in Education www.tui.edu/undergrad/ee.asp
BS in Early Childhood Studies www.tui.edu/undergrad/ecs.asp
MEd Florida and MEd Vermont www.tui.edu/med
EdD in Educational Leadership and EdD in Higher Education www.tui.edu/edd/index.asp

It's up to you to determine how good these programs are.

 

Since they are all education programs the question to ask is are they NCATE accredited. As far as I know, the only online school to do so is WGU.

 

You could look at the MEd Sticky. While Western Governors University www.wgu.edu most certainly is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education www.ncate.org , they are most certainly not the only DL education program accredited by NCATE. However, you are correct in noting that the Union Institute & University www.tui.edu does not hold professional accreditation from NCATE.

 

I didn't say program... I said online school. WGU is the only one 100% online.

 

I am curious about this and since I'm sure that you know more about it than me, maybe you can answer this question. In some fields professional accreditation is all-important. We talk a lot about the professional accreditation of business programs but I've also heard that earning a Masters degree in Library Science from a program that is not professionally accredited (sorry, I don't remember the acronym) is an exercise in futility. It's been said that you'll have a very hard time getting a job. How does this NCATE accreditation fall on the scale of importance? Is it "nice but not necessary" or is it imperitive?

 

It is necessary if you live in a state that requires NCATE. If not, then it doesn't make or break the deal. It is really for teacher preparation and there is no better accreditation for it because of INTASC standards. These help any teacher with an NCATE degree conform to most state standards while other degrees aren't really tailored to this widely excepted format. When administrators look at a resume they will check to see if your teacher preparation has NCATE because they want highly qualified teachers. To graduate from an NCATE school, you most often have to be HQ upon graduation. If you are already HQ then it doesn't really matter unless your administrator has a certain opinion about the NEA. They are almost one and the same entity considering the funding and resource base. They would have to be pretty anal to make a determination based on that but it has happened.

 

Many of my higher education faculty and administrative colleagues have doctoral degrees from Uinion. Whether or not NCATE accreditation is important really depands upon your career goals. NCATE can be important if your goal is teacher education-related. Is is far less important if you have other education-related goals (e.g. instructional technology, special education, counseling, administration. research & assessment, etc.)

 

Hmm... certainly adds credibility, but I'm not sure that would be a very reliable indication of whether the program is good.

It is interesting to note that the majority of the heavyweights in the field of education (per USNWR's top ten schools of education in the US), such as Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Texas are NOT accredited by the NCATE. And you'll find more of them as you go down the list.

 

Are you looking at the grad list? NCATE is for preparation programs only. Harvard's graduate school of Ed., and schools like it, are for post-certified studies.

 

Yes, which is why the original poster might need to go beyond the NCATE criterion because his/her question is very general and if s/he's planning on doing graduate studies, basing his/her judgment and selection on NCATE accreditation might not even apply.

 

Considering UI&U only offers one M.Ed degree which is only in two states and is non-licensure... I figure it is for certification. Unless she is interested in an Ed.D, I see no other way.

 

Had you actually bothered to read the M.Ed. website, you would have known that if you are interested in licensure, you will build the requirements into your program. As far as the program being "only in two states," never does it say that it is available only in two states; what is being said is that there are some short residency requirements and, depending upon which program is chosen, one will go to either Vermont or Florida to fulfill same.

 

Not sure that it is ever a total exercise in futility to earn a degree that is without the relevant professional accreditation, though a professionally accredited degree would certainly have greater utility that one that is only regionally accredited, nationally accredited, or state approved. The controlling factor there would be the state licensure requirements in the state wherein one resides or plans to reside. The relevant acronym for the library science field is the ALA, which stands for the American Library Association.

 

That university prides itself in tailoring one's studies toward the student's individual interests. While its programs might provide preparation for licensure, I don't think they're limited to those who only need some kind of certification. Likewise, if s/he's interested in the doctoral program, the NCATE wouldn't matter at all. Of course, I'm not saying that the NCATE should be ignored. My point is that in many programs, NCATE accreditation is immaterial and can't be used to gauge what a good program is.