Why go DETC????

I don't want to get anyone worked up, but I thought I'd share my personal experience since I'm new here.

I am active duty in the Air Force and plan on getting my bachelor's in business from Excelsior via clepping/dantes/ece and community college courses. I did a 2 class stint with Grantham University because they had a military scholarship where the books/sofware were provided free of charge. I found their method of administering classes rather odd. Send tests via email and then wait til you want to take the proctored tests. Are all DETC classes similar to this? While my tuition assistance covered it, I still feel that 250 bucks a credit is WAY too steep for this kind of thing. The acceptance issue came up while I was halfway finished and stumbled across this site and became aware of RA and DETC. My curiousity led me to look at the air force's policy on getting a commision. It clearly states that a regionally accredited degree is required. While OPM may feel that an accredited degree will suffice whether it's DETC or RA. I find it strange that the air force specifically states RA. Why would this be? Outside of this forum, I know Excelsior may not be a big name school, but my goal is a bachelors in business, and this is my quickest way of getting it done RA style. While I may not be staying in the military, at least I know if I wanted to I could use this degree and apply for a comission and possibly a masters at a "big name" school. I was ignorant when I enrolled with Grantham, but thanks to his forum I've seen the light and haven't wasted anymore of my time/money.

 

I suspect that you've answered your own question. I think (and it's just my opinion) that a large number of people who enroll in DETC programs just simply don't know the difference between DETC and RA accreditation, other than both are DoE approved.

There are some outstanding DETC schools, American Military University being one. They offer programs that can't be found at RA DL schools, and their faculty is top notch.

If someone has fully researched their options and understand the limitations of DETC accreditation, then I wouldn't think twice of their decision to go with a DETC school.

 

Without qualifying, merits or otherwise, the methods used by Grantham I can tell you that each DETC accredited institution is as different in these processes as one RA school is to another RA school.

 

I can not speak for other DETC universities, but this is not the normal protcol. I am a student in a DETC university in which the course content has 4 tests, term paper due and a proctored final exam scheduled with in the 10 week semester.

 

Thank you DETC

HBullworth,

I doubt that I would be seven classes into a regionally accredited masters degree right now, if AMU did not have DETC accreditation. AMU's status as a nationally accredited university allowed it to build a substantial student population of mostly military personnel utilizing tuition assistance.

When I enrolled at AMU, I had a pretty good working knowledge of the difference between national and regional accreditation. Primarily, because my Navy College Office, which controls my TA purse strings, was adamant that I be well aware of issues such as recognition, acceptance of degrees, and potential difficulty in transferring credits.

I elected to earn my degree from AMU because I believed, and still believe that it is a quality school and because the price was right.

This might interest you. AMU's webpage states that nationally accredited degrees and credits are now accepted for Air Force Officer Training School.

"Officer Training School (OTS)
USAF Headquarters recently clarified their policy with regard to applicable credits toward Officer Training School. As a result of a petition by AMU, on behalf of a student applying to OTS, credits and degrees from nationally accredited schools are now accepted toward the qualifications. "

http://www.apus.edu/AMU/navigation/visitor_center/accreditation/accreditation.asp

 

Re: Thank you DETC

I thought this had seen this posted before. It makes sense as a policy due to the fact that the military accepts Nationally Accredited classes for promotion points, advance degrees that are NA, etc. For the Chaplaincy as an example, both ATS & TRACS are acceptable.

The Navy Chaplaincy even accepts graduate (seminary) degrees earned by DL as long as they have either RA or NA recognition. The army is not quite there yet and will accept RA or NA but they want them earned residentially.

North

 

The acceptance for DETC schools is getting better all the time, and why not? The schools offer good solid education. I have to work hard to pass the exams from my DETC school. It's education based on the formula of books, testing, and proctored exams. It's also a uniform accreditation from one end of the country to another. If you want to really learn something, then DETC is for you. If you just want a piece of paper to call accredited and stick on the wall, go elsewhere, you'll work at the DETC schools.

 

Are you implying that, in general, DETC schools are better than RA schools?

 

The model used by DETC schools, books, thorough testing including proctored exams, is superior to that used by some RA schools.

 

I would like to underscore that the DETC accreditation process does not prescribe a standard model for instruction or assessment. How each DETC accredited school designs the processes is potentially unique to each institution. While there may be similarities from school to school, it does not necessarily connote a DETC standard.

 

I've seen you use this wording often lately and I'm a bit confused. Every RA course I've ever taken has involved books and testing, including proctored exams. To what RA model are you referring?

 

My son graduated with an MBA from the University of Southern California last year. Over 50% of his courses had no proctored examinations.

 

RA schools that provide DL aren't required to have proctored examinations but for some reason they hold a higher prestige and are widely accepted by other institutions. Go figure

 

There is no reason to think that higher learning can only be assessed by examination. And when students take their learning back to the workplace, it isn't measured by examination there, either. It's measured by performance. Wouldn't it be logical to measure higher learning in the classroom by performance, too?

 

You know, before I started taking online classes I always liked the idea of not having to take proctored exams (it seemed like it would be a hassle and it would be more strict than an online exam). Now that I have taken courses that have exams online, I kind of dread these exams because the instructors who make these exams make them harder. Open book or not I have sweated quite a few tests I had online. When I take proctored tests the questions seem to be a little more straight-forward than a similar test that is on blackboard. I think they tailor the questions to make them quite hard to look up if you don't know the material.

Best Regards,
Bill

 

Rich The discussion was about distant learning.. not sure how a proffessor // teacher can access someone on the other side of a computer network with out giving them some type of test !

 

Gee, after 3,600-or-so posts, now I find out the discussion is about distance learning? I take back everything I've ever written!

The term "classroom" now includes the virtual one, especially when used in the discourse contained on this board.

That you can't fathom how learning assessment in a virtual envrionment can be done without testing doesn't mean it cannot. Universities do it all the time. In fact, online learning places an even greater premium on being able to communicate ideas effectively. I can learn far more about my students by reading what they write (and comment about) than I can by handing them a test. It is the difference between demonstrating knowledge and actually using it.

 

Rich, I agree with you there is other ways access a student besides an examination. In terms of distant learning why are people so quick to bash a school accredit by DETC and praise a Regional accredited school?

I stand by my statement RA schools that provide DL are not required to have proctored examinations and thats a fact.

I’m enrolled in a school that is accredited through DETC and I would put my education up against any community or online college. I do the same level of course work. The same publisher publishes the textbooks! I have to go through the material myself I learn on my own. I'm required to submit periodic projects and I also have take-proctored exams. That’s how the school access me I know what the standard is and it's the same for everyone who takes the program.

If you as professor // teacher can access student via a message board or chat room isn't that more subjective than a test ? What’s the standard? Is each an every student treated // graded the same way? Would your peers grade the student in same manner ?

 

===


Leave it to me to come up with a religious example.

One course I took at Western Seminary, RA/ATS was DL (most were not). The course was the Greek Exegesis of what we theology types call The Pastoral Epistles. The professor was quite able to judge my competence by the manner I discovered and stated about 50 problems in the Greek text (in writing) , outlined the arguments for several proposed solutions on each , then chose and defended one position lexically, grammatically, textually, contextually, and syntactically (just showing off now ). No test was required as my written work evinced my fulfillment of the course objectives.

 

Who "bashes" DETC-accredited schools? The only criticisms of the schools themselves that I can recall is with the fake accreditation claimed by two of them prior to DETC accreditation, and some whining from one poster (now long gone) about his/her experience with one school.

Subjective? Tests are every bit as subjective as other forms of assessment. Also, the world is subjective.