Unaccredited vs. AASCB...same exact program...

i have been attending Carland College off and on for the past few years. i absolutely love the program and have learned so much from the instructors.

Carland College was established by the same people who wrote the curiculum for Western Carolina university's Master of Entrepreneurship program. Dr. Carland decided to go out on his own and teaches the same material that he wrote the text books for. i have read the syllabi for the WC program and have found them to be pretty much the same. WC even uses Dr. Carland's texts for the program.

The funny thing is that since i have a scholarship to do the unaccredited degree my commitment has been off and on. i love the material but in the end i know i will get an unaccredted degree. The WC program will cost me about 20k but it will be AASCb accredited and give me more options, i feel. Still, there is not much demand for a M.E. there. i own a business and do not have plans to work for anyone anytime in the future but i don't want to eliminate that option.

Am i crazy for considering spending 20k on a degree that i am halfway through through an unaccredited school?


PS - for some reason my iPad has a serioud glitch that occures when i capitalize certain letters. Just so you know...

 

Spending $20K for an unaccredited degree doesn't strike me as a very good decision.

 

With my respect, yes, you are crazy to spend $20K on an unaccredited degree, unless you have the money to burn and want the degree just for personal edification. It is possible that some businesses might recognize it as a legitimate degree, but it is likely that your degree will not be honored in many places.

You could earn an accredited degree for roughly that amount and it would actually be worth something for you. The material will probably be very similar to what you currently study and love.

 

Sorry for not being more clear. The unaccredited degre from Carland College is free. The same degree from Western Carolina is 20k.

i could get the same degree using the same material for free or spend 20k for the AASCb accredited degree. i've already done about half of the courses at this point.

 

Some things are worth exactly what you pay for them.

 

Degrees are obtained for different reasons. I think that some get degrees for credentials for a career, others simply to reach personal goes, vanity or pride. Some for their family's expectations and others for knowledge and practical application.

My options are to earn a degree from a skilled expert that has very little in the way credentials. This one is free but I have gained much from it already. I thoroughly enjoy the work and the people.

The other option comes with AASCB accreditation and was created by the expert that now offers the free degree.

The question is: is degree that comes with more respect worth 20k more than the same exact degree that is free?

 

Are you sure that you will be accepted to do the AACSB accredited degree? You seem to have a CCU (california coast university) that is normally not accepted by AACSB accredited schools. There is also the GMAT that most schools required.

You are assuming the admission to the program is taken for granted and it might not be the case.

The accredited degree gives you more credibility and opens the doors for teaching and large companies that only accept AACSB accredited degrees.

If you are planning to run your own business, it doesn't really change things.

 

Yes, I have verified with the dean of the graduate school that my degree will do.

You ate assuming that I am assuming, lol.

Plus I have 100+ applicable credits toward my BLS at EC.

 

Well, you can learn anywhere and anytime. Especially with the modern technology, and free educational resources online. You can do almost everything, but the question is your knowledge recognizable? Unless it is proving of your capability. So, sometimes that $20k does not pay for the knowledge, but it pays for recognition. For example, look at this guy...he is smarter than most of college students out there, but he is only 14 years old. I am sure he does not pay anything for college to gain his knowledge.

[video=youtube;uGfZeJR0ApI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGfZeJR0ApI[/video]

 

I just found out that I may be able to get in-state tuition. This could possibly make the decision much easier for me. I could save a bundle and get a very reasonably priced degree.

 

The big question is whether you want the knowledge or the credibility that you have the knowledge. The mentor is everything if you want the knowledge. If you want a credible degree, then accreditation is everything in most instances. If I was self employed, I would want the knowledge because the credibility comes with my business performance, not the degree. Bill Gates received his degree from Harvard only relatively recently as he had dropped out of college to become what he became.

I wonder whether any university would like Gates teaching class after dropping out of college? You betcha! Why not spend the 20,000 dollars on building your business and use your knowledge obtained from your mentor, lecturer or what you want to call him, to build it. A huge case study and action research. That would be impressive way to show the value of your degree, a real world credibility - most employers would be happy with that. I think you would learn more from that paying it to a unversity at the expense of your business.