Although I have only posted here a couple of times, I can honestly say that I visit this site about 10 times a day and have read probably every single post. I have seen the debates about RA and NA schools and the utility of NA schools in particular. I have a B.S in Criminal Justice from a NA school and currently a student in the M.S program at a NA school. All of this came up in my recent job interview with the Secret Service. Like many people, the agent that interviewed me had never heard of "College for Professional Studies" or of Columbia Southern University, the two schools I have attended. I showed him my official transcripts with the DETC logo stamped on it and he asked me if they had a website and I said yes it is www.DETC.org. He actually signed on during the interview to verify that the two schools were listed. He looked at the site and read that the DETC is approved by the U.S Dept. of Ed. to accredit colleges. He looked at me and said, " yep, there they are, fully accredited" To be honest, if I had a degree from a well known RA college, this would have never happend. I dont regret getting an NA degree, because it just might be enough to get me a job. He did seem pretty impressed that I finished a degree as a fullt time police officer, and currently trying to get a M.S. Our discussion changed from the job I was applying for, to the platform and process of getting a degree online. He told me he had been an agent for 26 years, but with no degree. He said he always wanted to go back to school, but thought he didnt have time. He actually wrote down the DETC.org site and said he would look at it when he got home about his options. I just thought this was an interesting exchange. Thanks for reading.
Great deal. Online and distance education is on the rise, and hopefully the acceptance of DETC too. Maybe one day the regional will be dropped, and most requirements will only read accredited.
Best of luck on the job hunt. I have a lot of respect for the Secret Service... they get little credit for the all of the criminal investigation work they do outside of their most visible role of protecting the President. They are some of America's finest. All of the best to you. Tony Maranto
Don't be so sure that he wouldn't have checked out an RA degree as well. He might well have done so; there are THOUSANDS of RA institutions, the majority of which are pretty obscure.
Given the job of the Secret Service, that is all a little scary. I hope his due diligence extends beyond an internet search. If that is the best that he can do, I wouldn't want to be the person he is guarding. And congratulations on the job search. I hope it works out well for you. Tom Nixon
This is soo true. Even a RA school would probably have to be verified as well. I believe the majority of the population in the business world generally know of the reputation of schools that have football teams etc. or are known for some public reason or another. ( hopefully not bad ). Heck, many of the posters here on the forums have RA degrees from schools I have never heard of. 1000's of schools like nosborne48 said are RA. Good luck to you.
I appreciate everyones feedback. On a side note, I have actually withdrawn from Columbia Southern, due to what I feel is an inadequate platform/teaching standards. On my second course, Crime and Criminolgy, I had three online quizzes that I completed and I knew for a fact I got a 100% on. When I got the grade back for the 3 quizzes it gave my score as 80% for all 3. I actually had to email student services and my professor and give them the question and answers. They have since rectified the situation, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. If this happened on just my second course, how many more times could this happen? Well, I dont want to find out, so I withdrew. Now I begin my search for another accredited M.S degree. Thanks again.
So he is or was an Agent. A far cry from the days when Al Capone's brother was a guard for Calvin Coolidge.
