California Coast University

Going from DETC to RA is a huge jump. I don't believe any school has successully done so although AMU appears to be approaching it. While CCU becoming RA isn't impossible, it is very unlikely.

 

According to whom?

I'm not a big fan of the US News & World Report rankings, but I do think they at least get close to the target, and Amberton isn't even on their radar screen among best liberal arts schools;

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/libartco/tier1/t1libartco_brief.php

 

No, no school has done it yet. But APUS might--they're the first DETC-accredited school to gain candidacy status. Only two DL schools have become candidates for RA and not gotten it: Prometheus College and the International Graduate School.

It is a huge leap, and there seems little reason to think CCU is going to make that leap any time soon.

CCU was the first 100% DL, unaccredited school in California to have each of its programs State-Approved, almost 25 years ago. Back then, very few DL schools had approved programs--and those schools that did often had one or two approved while the rest of the school's degrees were awarded under the State-Authorized category.

But CCU was not one of the first of these schools to receive DETC accreditation. They took their sweet time deciding to drop their doctoral programs and go after accreditation. And they weren't successful at first.

What does it all mean? I don't know. But it took CCU 30 years to become accredited; I'm not so sure they're working on their application to WASC just yet. But that's just an opinion.

 

I'm not sure they were the first, but Education Direct (DETC accredited) was also a candidate for RA at one point. They recently dropped out of candidacy status. Does anyone know the story behind that?

Also, I think there actually is a school which made the jump from NA to RA. It's Western Governors University. Weren't they NA first?

 

Nope. They applied for both at the same time. They did receive DETC first but it is clear they didn't move from DETC to RA. From your two examples it would also be reasonable to believe RA is much more difficult to obtain than DETC accreditation.

 

Disregard my comment about them being #2...maybe it is time for glasses

 

Why, I wonder, IS it such a big leap from DETC to RA? Does WASC require D/L schools to have a B&M campus? Or what?

I find this phenomenon disturbing because it might indicate one of two troubling things:

-Either the R/A agencies are arbitrarily withholding recognition for reasons of their own such as a prejudice against distance learning in general (unlikely) or proprietary schools in general (quite possible),

or

-DETC programs really ARE significantly inferior to similarly titled DETC programs

or I suppose a combination of both.

 

Inferior to R/A programs, I meant.

 

It could be a matter of money and requirements by the RA...such as "maintaining a library with 30,000 volumes" which would be useless to a completely DL school.

RA all have different criteria anyhow...I suspect that a school would be turned down by one RA that would qualify at a different RA.

 

Why would it be reasonable to believe that? WGU is RA. I have attended RA courses, and I can tell you that the "Introduction to Business" course I am currently taking with Education Direct is every bit as challenging as any B&M course I've taken, if not more so.

I'm not a devout "NA all the way" student. I'm taking courses with ED because of cost, but so far I am very pleased with the experience. I will attend an RA school after receiving my associates degree.

The snobbery towards nationally ACCREDITED schools on this board is really getting old.

 

I'm with TCord on this.........

I have been struggling a bit on Constitutional Law (from a NA school) in writing a midterm thesis using legal citations and MLA format ...yadayadayayada...........

Funny thing is...this course has been WAY harder than anything I've done at the B&M schools I've been to.

I don't think rigor and accreditation have anything in common except in the case of certain A-holes...(WAUC)

As for being open to NA...I think this board is okay. NA has it's limitations fair or not. It would be naive to completely ignore them.

I don't look down on NA degrees and that is because I am informed...those who do look down on NA degree tend not to be informed...and those who are informed that look down on NA degrees do so because of the ones who are not informed looking down on such degrees.

A hermit is a hermit unless it's a crab....dang I need some coffee.

 

Hi TC

I am glad you are pleased with your classes at ED, but that has nothing to do with the facts. AMU achieved NA without effort but is working harder to achieve RA. WGU quickly gained NA but it took quite sometime to become RA. Many NA schools would love to be RA but so far none (that I am aware of) have made the jump. There is nothing wrong with NA but it "ain't" RA. I don't see any snobbery here just recognition of the real differences.

 

TCord....


I wouldn't sweat a NA undergrad degree...especially if you are seeking a graduate degree in the future...there are a lot of schools that will accept your NA undergrad degree into their programs...such as U of P or NCU etc.

And if all you can get is a NA degree...I wouldn't be ashamed of it or feel like I got a second class education at all. Remember, most of America does not have any kind of degree at all...you're already way ahead of the game. In fact...according to the Census Bureau...only 30% of the U.S. population age 25 and over have completed an Associates degree of any kind. I'm sure the number drops a bit more if you investigated how many of those were accredited degrees. So you've got a leg up on at least 70% of the population.

Source http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf

Keep NA and RA in perspective. They are both good...sometimes we split hairs talking about which is better.

 

I wasn't trying to make this yet ANOTHER "RA vs. NA" discussion. I know full well that RA is better than NA. It is more widely accepted by both other schools and employers. I recognize there is a difference. My comments had more to do with the thought that "well, they just ain't GOOD enough to become RA." Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. However, I don't think we can paint ALL NA programs with that brush. That's the snobbery I was talking about.

I suspect the reason some NA schools don't make the transition to RA has more to do with $$$ than it does any perceived difference in academics or rigor of their programs.

 

Hi

I don't think it is a matter they aren't good enough they are just very different types of schools. Both CCU and Ashworth offer a very striped down version of DL classes. They seem to work well for many. Again I am glad to hear your classes are going well.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: California Coast University

Please post a photo or two.

Thanks

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: California Coast University

I am asking around to see who has a digital camera. Give me a few weeks on this. Once I get the pix, I will have to have a friend show me how to post it into this forum.

Have a good one!


Abner

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: California Coast University

No problem...I really want to see a picture or two of CCU and I didn't want this request to get buried and forgotten among all of the other threads.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: California Coast University

Abner,

You can e-mail me the photos, and I'll make them available on the forum. With proper credit, of course.

[email protected]

 

Hi Sensei Abner: Boyoboy is this off-topic, but can you recommend anything on samurai and Confucianism?

_______


OK. Back to CCU.