Why is everyone looking for the "easy" way?

I've browsed this forum for a long time, but I finally decided that enough was enough.

I am sick of all the "What are the easiest CLEPS? DANTES Exams?" & the "What's the easiest (insert degree here) I can get?" posts.

Over in the "Distance Learning Discussions" forum there are currently two such threads at the top of the list. I respect the posters who offered suggestions, but noone said anything in response to the "I want the least demanding degree there is" statement.

Can anyone offer a rational explanation for this?

 

What is "easy" for one person can often be difficult for another. For me, the American Government and US History CLEP exams were easy, as I have been an informal student of politics and history my entire life.

Since I already had the knowledge of someone who had taken courses in American Government and US History I & II (which is what CLEP exams are supposed to measure), why wouldn't I want to get credit for that knowledge?

 

Because life is short. Simple as that.

When getting a degree was a means of differentiating oneself for purposes of getting a better job than the next guy, that was one thing. But today, even "the next guy" must have a degree of some kind or likely be consigned to a life of substandard pay and a less-than-desirable living and existence.

So, many people just want the credential... by hook or by crook.

Of course it's better and more interesting if the learning is, at least in part, just for learning's sake. But with three kids needing shoes, the mortgage payment due, etc., etc., some just want the piece of paper (legitimately, as opposed to just going out to a degree mill and buying it) and don't really want to debate the issue.

It's that need, incidentally, that is making these the best-ever of times for diploma mill operators. Some people take short-cutting too far and go, wrongly, straight to just buying the degree instead of earning it -- even if partially by a few life experience credits, alot of CLEP or DANTES credits, and the cheapest and quickest-and-dirtiest (accredited) coursework.

That's how I see it, anyway.


EDIT: Oh. I see I should have read Steve's response first, before making mine, because he would appear to basically agree.

 

While I agree with Steve, I would want to emphasize one specific point. Most people posting to this forum are working adults. Many have a family as well as other responsibilities. When I read a thread that says, essentially, "I'm looking for the easiest way to..." what that says to me is that this person is juggling a lot of balls already. They've determined that they can handle just one more ball. If it gets more complicated than that then the balls start falling to the floor. At that point the person has not completed their school program yet has invested time and money and has probably neglected their other responsibilities. All for nothing. Someone on this forum once said that the best degree program for a person is the best one that they can actually complete.

Beyond all that, I would say that there are several ways to define the word "easy" in the above context. It doesn't necessarily mean "least academically challenging." It might mean, "most flexible." It might mean, "will accept the most transfer credits." It might mean a small bunch of other things. Sometimes getting newbies to be explicit about what they're seeking, what will work for them, is the best favor you can do for them. Sometimes they don't know the answers to those questions and you have to tell them the various options that are available. I would be willing to bet that there are numerous people who have posted such questions, or at least who have read through the threads on this forum and who, having done some research, have decided that they can not complete a degree program. They don't have the time, the energy, the money or whatever. I'd also bet that there are people who have browsed this forum and gone out and bought degree mill degrees. We'll never know, I guess.
Jack

 

Re: Re: Re: Why is everyone looking for the "easy" way?

Ahh... good one. Point taken. I should have written: "...because we appear to be saying basically the same thing and he said it first... and probably better."

 

Sure. As one who has focused his research on the credentialing aspect of universities, I'll give it a shot.

Universities have three basic functions: educating (including research), credentialing, and serving the public. The first two are typical topics on this board.

You can get an education in many places, but you go to a university to get a degree. So it seems natural that a discussion board with "degree" in the title might actually be focused on that, and not on education.

Many people seek degrees not for the education those credentials represent, but rather for the opportunities they present.

Many people want to know how to get credit for things they already know and can do, they don't want to start at the beginning if they can begin in the middle (or later).

The resentment towards others wanting "easy" degrees often comes from graduates. But they're often short on memory when it comes to their own degree experience. We like to think we did the last hard degree, that the ones that followed had it easier. (This dynamic is present in the military and in other schools, too.) We see someone taking an alternative route to getting what we sweated over and think they're taking the easy way out. Not always. Different, perhaps, but not usually easier.

Finally, school is arduous, expensive, time-consuming, and so much more. It would seem natural to want to take the simplest path. Given the hundreds of threads on this board active in just the last month alone, I'm not surprised a few ask this question.

 

I want to thank everyone for their input. It's a little hard for me to see things from the "juggling a lot of balls" perspective. I'm in my early 20's and the only responsibility I have outside of work is my dog.

I just (incorrectly) assumed that when one says "easy" they want to take the shortcut. I honestly can't believe I didn't look at that a little more objectively and say "Alright. Why do they want an easy way?'. But, now I understand. Thanks.

 

Hello Mr. Wolf - It has been stated in another thread that people in your position should push forward toward their educational goals while they remain without the responsibilities that frequently come with more advanced years. It'll be so much easier now than it will be in ten years. Regardless of all that I will say without hesitation that I'd never trade my present life for any future degree. If I ever earn my PhD it will just be gravy on the gravy. Good luck in all your endeavors.
Jack

 

It is a misnomer to think that the rocky path is always the best path to travel.

 

I will agree with what has been stated above. I will also add that quite often, someone needs a few credits here or there to fill out their electives. In such cases, taking a fairly easy CLEP or DANTES exam can fit the bill nicely.

Cheers.

 

Without wanting to negate anything that has been previously stated, it has come to me that I have one specific pet peeve. That is when someone is taking an exam related to a piece of literature ot related to an specific author and they are seeking shortcuts...spark notes...cliff notes...etc. I don't mind if they read these resources in addition to the original text. I do object when they use these resources in lieu of the original text. I realize that this probably happens all the time and I'd suggest that this is a component of the "dumbing down" of America.
Jack

 

I think that Lone Wolf had also made his observation of this forum on the basis that some participants would be happy to find a sub standard school that was fully accredited through which they could pursue an 'easy' education.

I think this fact is evidenced by many posters who get excited about some university in the US or abroad that appears to have 'recognition' from some authority that may lead ultimately back to RA accreditation. And not all these posters are mill promotors either!

I am sure there will be a flood of objections to what I state. However, before responding, search your heart...

 

I don't agree. As someone who has wrestled with issues related to measurements all his life, and someone who completed two bachelor's degrees almost entirely by testing, I blame this one on lazy measuring. If someone can get by with only reading the Cliff's notes, then the examination isn't sufficiently in-depth.

I lay this right at the feel of multiple-choice testing. While it has its uses, this form of measurement cannot discern a command of complex knowledge. Without getting into a lot of technicalities, these exams measure one's ability to recall, list, identify, etc. They don't measure one's ability to analyze, synthesize, etc. At least not very well, which is why shortcuts work. And since shortcuts work, don't blame the students for taking them. They're not cheating, they're meeting the standard! Blame instead the schools that award credit for this stuff, either by CLEP/DANTES/etc. or in traditional classes where examinations are limited to such superficial levels.

NB: It may seem odd that someone who has benefited greatly from credit-by-testing would harshly criticize the process, but that's called "not being biased." Just because I used the system doesn't make the system good.

 

Personally, I agree, but in reality this is no different than the B&M student who sleeps through class all semester and then does an all-night cram session prior to the final exam. These notes predated CLEPs and DL! How many students "borrow" notes from another student because they were too _______ (hung over, drunk, lazy) to go to their morning class?

From an efficiency standpoint I leveraged these "shortcuts" as much as possible as well as videos and (gasp) an actual textbook, albeit an older version purchased on half.com. However, in several cases I also did additional reading after the exam was done because I found the subject interesting or knew that additional knowledge would help me in a subsequent exam.

Also, in some cases these types of notes are actually better in conveying knowledge. For an example, I bought the Wheelen & Hunger book for Business Policy and Strategy. It was a little abstruse and given the limited timeframe available I then purchased the W&H "principles" guide that contained the same material but was about 1/4 the size (it had limited case studies). I found it much easier to assimilate and ended up with what I wanted.

I concur with Rich's comment - I was provided with a standard that allowed me to CLEP and DANTES my way to a degree in a very short period of time, so I took it. While for someone like me in my 30's I already had a significant amount of knowledge to apply I'm not sure I would necessarily recommend this approach to someone in their teens or early 20's who has no existing knowledge and who is looking for a real education.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Me too. It really makes Degreeinfo look like an accredited-degree-mill board sometimes.

You can't fight it though. Too many people are deeply into that stuff.

In a perverse way it's a good thing. It indicates that Degreeinfo is a student oriented forum. Consumers are always looking for the most for the least. Some of the other education fora out there are aimed at education professionals and are dominated by their own labor issues.

What bothers me isn't so much that people want something for nothing, it's the fact that they reportedly can find it, and from accredited institutions too.

 

I did an AA and two bachelor's degrees, largely via testing, before my 21st birthday. I got the exact same "education" as someone older doing the same thing. More precisely, I demonstrated the exact same knowledge--to the extent the examinations measured it--and was given credit for it.

My bachelor's--earned a full year before my high school peers--was accompanied by 3 years of military service completed concurrent with the degree. I was way more qualified than most my age when job hunting; my experience was much stronger than most of my peers (new salespeople) at Xerox, and I was just as educated.

Being older would not have made my degree, and the education it represented, more valid.

NB: IIRC, Tom Head also graduated from Regents at a similar age. He's done pretty well, and is as clear a thinker as you'll ever meet.

 

For a great many people, the whole point of the DL exercise is to obtain a credential that has maximum utility while suffering minimum inconvenience to get it. That desire is certainly understandable, even though it's also a prescription for abuse. It goes a long way to explaining why the degree-mills exist.

We trust accreditation to ensure that a degree program really demands mastery of a body of knowledge and expertise. But frankly, based on some of the posts that I've read here on Degreeinfo, I don't think that I completely trust accreditation to do that. Particularly in the case of prior-learning credit, abuses seem to exist.

Yeah, I think that 'recognition from some authority' is too often confused with academic credibility. That's the whole point of the currently-popular off-shore accreditation game.

I agree with everything you said.