The school must be feeling pretty good about accreditation - they have almost doubled the cost of the Ph.D. ------------------ Howard Rodgers
Howard, have you been hiding under a rock? NCU announced months ago that tuition would go up. Maybe you are just trying to stir the pot a little. Huh? FWIW, I am still in the program and intend to see NCU through to accreditation. Bill H
Bill, I live in the country, so maybe I have been hiding under a rock. But I reviewed their web pages regularly and have recommended it to friends in business and psychology. Didn't notice on the web page any notation that tuition was going up. Did it go up for enrolled students as well. Give me the benefit of your experience with the school, please. Thanks, ------------------ Howard Rodgers
Howard, when I enrolled it was $165 an hour, and that is still my tuition cost. New students pay $230 an hour. Bill (I am the one that needs to crawl under a rock)Hurd
Bill, in which of the doctoral programs are you enrolled? I requested a catalog from Northcentral since I have now reviewing doctoral programs to commence in 2002. The truth is $230 per credit is still a relative steal. I'm concerned about the university's capacity to secure accreditation. I know they have candidacy, but I know nothing else about them. What is their financial situation? Who is on their faculty? Are they a "for-profit" institution? And if they manage to secure accreditation, when is that likely to take place? How long will they survive in a fairly competitive market? Any thoughts from you and/or Howard? ------------------ David Fraser
Hi David, A steal is a steal only if there is a benefit. Yes, the price is low but if they do not achieve RA then you have paid too much. I am sorry I can not answer the question about when and if they will become accredited. I have a RA PhD in Human Services from Capella and was considering a PhD in psychology from NCU. My plan was to ask for a tuition freeze and then take courses slowly for a couple of years - no big investment - and then fininsh if and when they become accredited. I am not sure if the school will go for this but all they can do is say no. You may want to try that approach. But, if not look at Capella - a great school, fantastic faculty - and they will work with you any way possible. ------------------ Howard Rodgers
Your points are well taken, Howard. I don't see myself taking a chance that a university will be accredited because they have candidacy. Additionally, I think I would feel a bit more security if the university has been accredited for at least a few years. I would like to consider Capella, but they don't offer my primary area of interest. I am interested in Public Administration (PhD). However, I will consider Capella's PhD in Human Services, with a specialty in the Management of Nonprofit Agencies. Thanks again, Howard. David
Well, to be fair about things, a school has to do a *lot* of work even to reach candidacy, so by the time a school has reached candidacy status, the chances that they will acheieve accreditation are probably pretty good. HOWEVER, even if the odds are 70% (and I don't know if they're that good or not), that means you have a 30% chance of having your investment go totally down the toilet. On the other hand, if the *do* get accredited, you've gotten a really good deal on an accredited degree. It all depends on how much of a gambler you are. Personally, I generally don't like to take risks like this with high-dollar investments, but Howard's approach is a relatively low-risk approach (not considering the schoolwork and effort that would also be effectively down the toilet).
And the chances for a DL school are much, much better. (I suspect because they're put through much more up-front scrutiny.) I know I sound like a broken record, but the past is prologue. Going two decades, I'm aware of only two DL schools that reached candidacy but failed to become accredited: Prometheus and the International Graduate School. In order to demonstrate that the numbers are even better than 70% (which I realize Chip just used for an illustration; he wasn't suggesting that those were the true odss), I offer: Capella, Walden, Union, Jones International, Beacon, Fielding, Sarasota/Argosy, Saybrook, and CIIS. That would be 9 of 11 (81%), and I haven't even cracked open BG to find the rest. We do not know with certainty what North Central will do with Northcentral. But NCA has been willing to work with NCU to allow the school to shape its programs to meet the agencies requirements and expectations. That relationship has resulted in candidacy (to my surprise, I might add). Candidacy status is conferred upon schools that seem to meet accreditation requirements; the agency uses that period to further observe and evaluate the school's sustained operations. All indicators seem to point to success. A sure thing? Hardly. A safe bet? No. But very likely? I think so. Rich Douglas
Rich, Howard, Others: Any information on how long the initial accreditation period is for once the accrediting agency grants its approval? I'm also wondering if there are any schools known to have secured regional accreditation then lost it in short order? This is just a curiosity question. ------------------ David Fraser
I understand that five years is normal, but I'm sure there's variance to that. The only DL school I can recall in the last 20 years to have its accreditation pulled is Beacon College. That happened about 5 or so years after initial accreditation. My conversations with some of their grads indicated it wasn't academics that caused the action, but financing. The District of Columbia pulled its licensure of the school, followed quickly by the Middle States Association. The assets of the school were sold to a school in San Diego, William Lyons University. (Wm Lyons was unaccredited, but hoping to benefit from affiliating with the accredited Beacon. When Beacon went under, Lyons got the records. Now William Lyons is also no more.) Rich Douglas
I am going to complete my MBA in April, 2002 and will start the PhDBA program in June. NCU raised the tuition in Nov, 2001. I discussed my situation with NCU and they accepted my application with the OLD tuition at $165/credit. According to their catalog, as long as a student continues his/her enrollment, the same tuition rate is locked. I also plan to start my doctoral program one course at a time and speed up when the full accreditation is attained. Jason
Good move! I have elected to take one course at a time until NCU attains RA. I have completed two courses and am 80-90% through the third. Write me (if you like) after you start Bill Hurd [email protected]
Rich refers to Beacon transfering people to "William Lyons University." Around the time you joined the Air Force, Rich, the Chief of the Air Force Reserve was Major General William Lyon, the money and name behind the university. Singular. Just one Lyon. And, incidentally, William Lyon University, which later became Huron International University, is another distance school that had and then lost recognized (ACICS) accreditation. LaSalle Extension University (which had and lost DETC accredittaion) is another.
