California Coast University Time Bomb???

Dennis, I assert that you are plain wrong. My experience is that in the general population you will get two main reactions when it is learned that CCU is unacredited.

1. What does accreditation mean?
2. If it's unaccredited then it must be a degree mill.

The more informed on this board are more likely to say,

3. CCU is one of the better unaccredited schools. Are you absolutely certain that an unaccredited degree will satisfy your needs now and in the future?

 

I agree with Bill. The number one question I hear is. "Is it accredited?" Of course, most people have no idea what they're asking. I firmly believe this confusion allows unaccredited degrees to "get by." I'm sure statements like this get such degrees a pass: "Sure. It's approved by the state of _______." Or, "It's accredited by the state of _______."

I also agree that CCU is one of the better nonresident, California-Approved, unaccredited schools. My criticisms of CCU have centered around the non-doctoral nature of their DBA (and a couple of other degrees) that do not require a dissertation, and any "puffing up" of the validity and/or acceptability of their degrees.

 

I agree with both Bill H. and Rich. CCU is one of the better CA state approved schools. It is not accredited, and based on their history may never seek accreditation. If they sought accreditation they may/may not achieve it, who knows (cf. Northcentral)? CCU has filled a niche for a small group of professionals who appear to have fared well with the degree (e.g., some CA psychologists, more within business/industry and a few within academe).

 

I'm not sure that I believe that.

The list of what I consider to be the best CA state approved schools consists largely of on-campus programs.

CCU may be one of the exceptions, but I'd really like somebody (anybody, not necessarily Russell) to try to make that case.

What features does CCU have that lend it academic credibility?

 

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I believe Bill H. and Rich just assumed we were talking about non-resident schools when referring to CCU as one of the better CA options.


Bruce

 

Yeah, I was. I'm with Bill Dayson on the notion, however, that the best of California's state-approved schools are primarily residential. I think many of them might be accreditable except for their size or narrow curricula. But seldom does a distance state-approved school go on to become accredited. (That's changing a bit with schools going to the DETC.)

 

correct, thank you Bruce.

 

I'm more inclined (but not 100%) to agree with the assertion that CCU is one of the better CA-approved non-resident offerings.

But that's not my primary concern here. I'm interested in how the better non-resident offerings compare to the better resident offerings. And I'm interested in how the best CA-approved programs, whether resident or non-resident, compare with programs with recognized accreditation.

The thesis of this thread is that while CCU isn't accredited, it is "one of the better CA state approved schools" and, by implication, CCU should be receiving more approval from Degreeinfo than it is getting.

But to make that argument, you need to demonstrate,

1. That the best CA-approved programs are credible. I believe that I can successfully make this argument in the case of schools such as the NTPS, Hsi Lai, SF Law School, Soka and Expression Center.

2. That the best non-resident CA-approved programs are included among the best CA-approved programs. This argument remains to be made, and frankly I doubt that it's true.

3. That CCU is one of the best non-resident CA-approved programs. This argument has also not been made, although I'm tentatively inclined to accept it.

If all one is asserting is that CCU is one of the best non-resident CA-approved programs, but if the non-resident CA-approved programs suck, then the conclusion that Degreeinfo should be more tolerant of CCU doesn't necessarily follow.

I'll also add that my deeper interest here is in finding some independent criteria of academic credibility besides accreditation (hence my interest in the "Google test") that can be applied across the board, to RA, NA, state-approved and to GAAP schools. That's why I want to see proponents of non-accredited schools make the attempt to actually defend the schools that they like. I want to see how they go about doing it, and to assess the credibility and persuasiveness of their attempts.