Continental University agents for UNISA

If only all business were so simple...

Perhaps I can provide you with an appropriate analogy of the business model. Suppose I opened a fast food restaurant. I have a location, and a proper business license, but I have not yet received an inspection by the health department. (It is a Catch-22 scenario: I cannot pass inspection until I start preparing food and serving customers, but I cannot legitimately prepare food and serve customers until I pass inspection.)

The menu at my restaurant consists of a single item: cheeseburger. When you order a cheeseburger, I run to the McDonald’s next door and pick one up for you. The cheeseburgers at MacDonald’s cost me $1.99 and I sell them for $18.99. There are no exceptions. Even if you have your own cheese and only need a hamburger, you must still pay the $18.99, and ingest the cheese I provide.

All of this is on the up-and-up, however, because when you come to my restaurant for a cheeseburger, you will see big signs everywhere proclaiming that I have not yet passed the health inspection, and the burgers are coming from McDonald’s. I also make it very clear that, as a customer, you have several options.

First, if, perchance, I pass the health inspection prior to you receiving your cheeseburger, I will repackage it for you in my own wrapper. If this were to occur, however, you must also purchase French fries at an additional cost. (Actually, this is not really an option, as you do not have a choice in the matter.)

Second, if I do not pass the health inspection before you receive your cheeseburger, you can either accept the McDonald’s burger, or I will refund you half the money you paid.

Bon Appétit!

 

Gus, 2 burgers with fries, no certificate required, make sure that its wrapped in Continental's motivational diploma.

That was straight up with no toppings.

I think the store was closed down..restaurant that is.

J.R (ic)

 

John Craparo: "There was even a more recent non-accredited Georgia school using the name [Continental]."

John Bear: Fascinating. I would have said that I have the most complete database of non-accredited schools in creation, and I have no record whatever of this, nor does a Google search find anything. Do you have any further information? Thank you.

_________
PS: Conceivably, I guess, you may be confused both about the name of a Georgia school (American Inter-Continental University) and their accreditation status (regionally accredited).

 

Hi John B,

I have to find the information. I believe it was being run by a Dr. Anjo, or something like that. He was offering free courses in all sorts of disciplines. He seems to have vanished about 6 months ago. When I am back from my trip and near my paper files, I will post the information.

John

 

I couldn't agree more! I experienced John Craparo to be very ineffective. I placed over twenty calls to this man before getting any type of response and then this man never provided any insightful information regarding gaining admission to UNISA and for that matter I even phoned UNISA and was told by a representative of the admissions office that she didn't even know who he was and that none of my paperwork or transcripts -- which I forwarded to Mr. Craparo -- had ever been received.

 

Re: If only all business were so simple...

What an excellent example. It's not often that we agree, but with regard to this post, I can't applaud you more.

 

Poor John Craparo. Everybody seems so skeptical of everything he says! But he’s absolutely right about the former Georgia diploma mill that used the Continental University name. Dr. Ajo of Clark Atlanta University set this up. It’s now defunct, but you can see the remains at the Internet Archive: Continental University.

An amusing, but I believe inaccurate analogy. First, as I have suggested in previous messages, I believe that the problem that Continental will face is that their Computer Science program is too deep to compete in the U.S. DL market (where I personally believe the standards are generally weak, at least in the CS field). So the McDonald’s analogy is off base. Perhaps the story could be used if we substitute “Chez Panisse” for “McDonald’s”? Second, Gus suggests that Continental’s prices are the equivalent of $18.99 for a cheeseburger worth just $1.99. But the Continental web-site shows that the price per semester credit-hour is very low: $135.00 (with each course being 3 credits). So perhaps one could argue that Continental is offering the equivalent of a Chez Panisse burger (if we could persuade Alice Waters to make us a burger) worth $18.99 for the price of $1.99.

Why are we so cynical on this board? I would think that DL aficionados would be happy to see a different (and clearly legitimate, though perhaps naïve) attempt to set up a new DL option. Personally, I applaud the effort.

Finally, a word to John Craparo: You mentioned in one of your earlier messages that you had stopped posting several years ago following some serious online unpleasantness (Max Jackson etc., I presume). This thread has now descended to the point of insults. Where can this go? I hope you will refrain from responding.

 

Gert, you are allowing your epicurean proclivities to bias your perception. The cheeseburger analogy had nothing to with the quality or depth of the offering; any other product could have been used to make the same point. My analogy simply illustrated the repackagng (and according to Continental University, perhaps not even that) of an identical product at a markup. As such, it was not only accurate; it was extremely generous in granting Mr. Craparo copious quantities of "benefit of the doubt." However, in order not to offend your gourmet sensibilities, yet utilize your own scenario, perhaps a Bachelors degree (however rigorous) would equate to a cheeseburger, and a doctoral degree would be your Chez Panisse degustation experience. (With so many excellent restaurants in New York, why you would use a Bay Area culinary icon for your illustration is indeed puzzling, but I am formulating a theory [which involves Levicoffian references and a unique ability to delete posts].)

Once again, I believe you missed the point. At $135.00 per credit, a 120-credit (as there are no allowances for transfer, testing or portfolio credit) Continental University degree would run $16,200. If one were to pay the tuition directly to UNISA, what would be the cost? If anything, it is quite possible that in my analogy the ratio of $18.99 to $1.99 underestimates the true markup involved. Moreover, there is no guarantee of an accredited degree or even a UNISA degree. For whatever it is worth, there is only a corporate guarantee of a 50% refund (which assumes the corporation would be solvent at the time). We have no knowledge of who is funding the venture, but we do know that any legitimate startup requires massively deep pockets (e.g., Phoenix, Jones, and Touro).

The simple answer to your question is, in one word, experience.

I never inferred the effort was illegitimate (although, I would like to know on what you base your opinion that it is clearly legitimate). I will reserve judgment, however, on whether the effort should be applauded. At the moment what we have looks like an enterprise that is solely in it for the money (witness the aforementioned repackaged materials at an extremely high profit margin); is piggy-backing on a legitimate off-shore institution, but is a bit evasive about the degree granting institution, authority, or relationship (hmmm, now where have we seen that before); and is being run by an individual with a poor reputation for customer service while affiliated with an entity that, quite possibly, might present a conflict of interest. Moreover, with offices, phone numbers, and testing centers in Texas, I wonder what the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board thinks of all this. It could be Déjà Vu all over again.

I see no personal insults, intentional or otherwise. If legitimate questions cannot be adequately addressed, then indeed there would be cause for concern. If, however, Mr. Craparo is interested in creating a legitimate institution, then I’m sure he values the feedback on how not to be perceived (deservedly or not) as a mill. Moreover, nothing would make this venture look more like a mill than John not being available to answer questions.