APUS withdrawing DETC accredidation

I respect that, and I have no problem with a person disliking a particular program/accreditor/etc. it's just your point of view (a dislike of NA schools) and the type of building a DETC DL school tends to be in are two separate matters. They would have to be since RA DL schools have been occupying similar types of buildings as a number of DETC DL schools have for a long time. I just want to point that out, because I think people often forget that DL is supposed to be DL and anything resembling what a ground-based campus would offer in terms of facilities is of no value to the DL student.

 

I would have to strongly disagree with you there, or else places like Grand Canyon University wouldn't invest millions into their campus and create college sports teams to make themselves stand out as a "university" and not just an "online university." Apparently the investors agreed with that formula and made millions from it. I remember a little documentary put out by PBS addressing that subject:

Watch The Full Program Online | College, Inc. | FRONTLINE | PBS

 

In respect of sizeable DETC universities, Deakin University in Australia has three large campuses and a very good research record. It is a federally funded government owned university that is names after one of Australia's prominent Prime Ministers. It was constituted by an Act of Parliament. Monash University and USQ when targeting the United States market were also DETC accredited and both these universities are government owned and constituted by their own respective Acts of Parliament. They have multiple campuses. UNISA was also DETC acredited and is government owned and has been around for approximately one hundred years. Monash and USQ changed step for a strategic focus in Asia and no longer required the DETC, nor did they ever require it because of GAAP. You have to wonder why sizeable, well reputed, overseas govt. ownedresearch universities would seek DETC accreditation if it was so unfortunate, as some comments would have us believe?

In respect of the strip mall comments, I would hope they do use strip malls for their office space. They are cheap, accessible, and have good parking for their staff. In the electronic age, the number of staff in the office is not representative of the total number of employees. Homeofficing is low cost and and employee friendly. One very large insurance company in my country requires its staff to work from home for at least two days per fortnight. The website is more important than prestige office space. Corporates now use videoconferencing to make major business deals, presumably universities can use this methodology as well.

I expect service, good academic product, and low student cost from a university, not great office space and high overheads.

 

One might also inquire as to why some subsequently abandoned it. I was consulted by one of them for just that reason: they were contemplating dropping DETC. They'd originally hoped that DETC accreditation would help draw students from the U.S. It did not, and the school decided the cost and administrative burden--neither of which was particularly onerous--wasn't delivering any value. So they quietly dropped DETC.

(BTW, the costs were extremely low, IMHO. Money cannot be an excuse for any DL school to forego accreditation.)

 

I saw that PBS story some time ago on YouTube. But we're talking about schools that are strictly DL programs. GCU is not strictly DL, and their model is certainly not common to what strictly-DL programs aspire to be since it would defeat the concept of being a strictly distance learning institution. I doubt you'll ever see Thomas Edison State College, Excelsior, Western Governors, or Charter Oak State (all schools that only offer DL, and there are many more) build a sports program and start having ground classes, because DL is only what they want to be.

Having said that, if a student at GCU is taking classes online living in any other state besides where GCU is physically located, the physical campus has zero value to them because they'll never be required to take a class there or even visit it until they graduate (if graduation is even held there). Heck, DL students actually living in the state and city where GCU is located will have no reason to visit the campus besides feeding their curiosity, unless it's a GCU policy to do so.

The only difference would be a program like what Harvard Extension has, where you take some classes online and take some at the campus, and then the campus would have value to the DL student, but HE is not a strictly DL program so like GCU it's not relevant to the subject of schools that are strictly DL.

If anything, when a DL school decides to start doing all of the things campus-based schools do facility-wise, it would be detrimental to the DL student since inevitably it would bring about a tuition hike. I've studied at quite a few DL schools that had no campus and have studied at some that had DL and a campus that I never had to visit. I also studied at a school that had a mix of DL and campus-based learning where I had to attend in person; there was obvious value in having a physical campus with schools where I had to attend the campus, but no value with schools where I never had to set foot on the campus ever.

 

Thanks, Rich! I don't get around much anymore (even though I would like to do so). Between the day and a couple of night jobs (teaching, websites, etc.), it makes it tough. Nice to be remembered around these parts.


Tom Nixon
Best Online High Schools

 

In respect of the Australian Universities withdrawing from DETC, it is more a case of withdrawing from the US market to focus strategically upon Asia. Monash has, for example, expanded its campuses into Asia. The estimated Asian student intake into Australian Distance Learning, according to some political pundits, numbers in the millions in the forseeable future.

The Australian Minister for Trade would be a guiding hand in this process, albeit that the universities have their own extensive capabilities. Australian business strategy is now almost totally Asian orientated. The Australian Government is driving it that way. The education market is extremely important to government coffers and the universities are effectively captured in government economic strategy.

Universities here had an advantage in the US with the differential between our dollars. This has evaporated and now we are about parity. For some time, the AUD was above parity which eroded any competitive edge. The price of a Masters subject here is about $2,000 AUD, not very competitive in the US for an offshore university. Bond University is the now the only university that I know has extensive intakes from the US and they don't do DL. Even then, most of their intake is from Northern Europe.

Deakin U. has stayed in with DETC and obviously sees that it has some worth for the university,although I am surprised that Deakin has stayed in the US market. The point of the earlier submission was (1) there is at least one and there have been universities accredited by DETC that have a number of large campuses and a very credible research capability, and (2) large institutions with numerous faculties and expertise are not going to damage their brand by engaging with a less than reputable accrediting agency.

I think that the endless DETC V RA debate often disregards some very high end institutions that are or have been accredited by it. None of the universities I have mentioned have their office or campuses in strip malls. I personally would not have trouble with it if they did, provided the cost savings flowed down the line to the student.

 

I wouldn't say that it has "zero value." Bias exists in many circles against DL programs, particularly from DL-only universities. If a university has a B&M campus with on-campus classes, a sports team, dorms, etc., it may lend legitimacy to the DL degrees from the same university.

 

Capella University has a pretty nice home: Capella Tower in Minneapolis.

 

I get that part, but I was talking about the actual education the student is receiving. I mean sure, knowing the school has a massive science laboratory or a D-1 football team sounds great and may make my school look better in the eyes of the general public, but it won't help me write a paper or prepare for a final while I sit at my computer 3,000 miles away from it.