Is NCU a degree mill?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by RFValve, Sep 17, 2010.

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  1. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

  2. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I am not sure but is a great one, "This is what it takes to buy a PhD from north Central University... The requirements to buy this diploma are very easy – The PhD online / correspondence course requires 25 graduate semester credits in addition to 24 semester credits in dissertation preparation. At NCU you can do your own stuff in correspondence at $350/credit, basically buy your online degree for under $15,000. No real or proper accredited university would dole out a doctorate with 50 credits of do your own courses over the internet. It’s a sham of a PhD used to peddle fake influence."

    What does Capella and Walden require regarding credits for a PhD? Also, I wish it was only $350 a credit. Those simple misses on cost make me just discount anything they say. I can not imagine a "real reporter" would have a critial fact wrong. He/she must have graduated from a B&M school... :eek: ;)
     
  3. RFValve, I'd hardly dignify that blog entry as an "article".
     
  4. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    Very interesting to see Northcentral University characterized as a degree mill. Could it be the date of degree conferral? It seems NCU has been accredited since 1997 (not sure). Could it be that some "Jihadists" against online-only schools are at work here? It doesn't seem this perception is peculiar to only NCU. I think we will continue to see some of these online schools called degree mills on purpose by those against them. It will also be incumbent upon everyone with a degree from online-only schools to vigorously defend their investment. We shall see...
     
  5. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    I was in the DBA program at NCU, and frankly I grew tired of defending the school, the delivery method, and the degree.

    In my view, a school should not have to rely on the efforts of its students and alumni to establish credibility through defending the rigor of a program - the school should be proactively doing this on its own.

    I transferred to Valdosta and have not had one negative comment directed to me by the same people who would actively disparage NCU. I have an MBA from NCU that I do not even list on my resume for the same reason.

    I know the classes at NCU were hard and I definitely learned a lot, but the perception of those without an understanding of accreditation, etc. is hard to counter - even with the facts.
     
  6. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    Whoever posted that blog entry is an idiot.

    I'm no fan of for-profits, but a PhD from Northcentral is legitimate and accredited.

    It may not be APA-accredited, but that was not specified.

    Besides, the graphic says "unacredited," indicating the ignorance of the author.
     
  7. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    NCU was founded in 1996 and didn't receive regional accreditation until 2003. The resume holder list their graduation date as 2001 on one document and 2002 on the other document. Thus, their NCU degree wasn't regionally accredited at the time of those graduation dates.
     
  8. okydd

    okydd New Member

    NCU is not a mill. I feel sick to my stomach saying that, but it is fair. As a dropout of NCU, I would recommend another school but not because I think NCU is a mill. I have great admiration for those who stick it out at NCU. I feel sympathy for those who announced that they are planning to enroll. You will be face with constant tuition and fees increases, automatic enrollment in course you may not need and penalty to cancel, terrible customer service, eroding value, uncertain future, and your endless defense of NCU
     
  9. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    "Constant tuition and fees increases, automatic enrollment in course you may not need and penalty to cancel, terrible customer service, eroding value, uncertain future, and your endless defense of NCU" But other than that, it's great. :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 18, 2010
  10. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    Was it in candidatecy status in that year? If so, does that mean all degrees conferred in that status are actually accredited?
     
  11. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    NCU is not a mill.
     
  12. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    I agree. NCU may have its warts, but it is in no way a mill. From my experience attending there, I can safely say that it is rigorous. They give you no help and the mentoring and the customer service is terrible, but the work is difficult, academically sound and the programs and texts are well designed.
     
  13. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Good question!
     
  14. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Perception is a big issue. The School can be accredited and even rigorous but the public perception might be that you are just buying the degree. The article cited is just a small sample of what a lot of people might think about your education if earned from an online institution.
     
  15. GeneralSnus

    GeneralSnus Member

    From the HLC entry for Northcentral University:

    The same page defines Candidate for Accreditation as follows:

    I couldn't find anything that explicitly describes the accreditation status of a degree earned at a school that was in candidacy status but subsequently gained accreditation. From the HLC's definition, it appears that if the degree is awarded while the school is in candidacy status, the degree is not from a regionally-accredited institution.
     
  16. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    When you put it like that, NCU doesn't sound so different from traditional B&M state schools.....
     
  17. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    How ridiculous. Sounds like the blogger has some axe to grind.

    Northcentral University may have a reputation problem as some have noted who say they keep having to defend it, may have customer service issues and a host of other problems but it is not a diploma or degree mill and it IS accredited by a regional accrediting agency.

    Even if this person earned the degree during the accreditation phase, so what? Someone has to or the school does not get accredited.

    The blogger evidently is clueless, vindictive or both. This sort of thing has created a new market for companies like Reputation Defender.com who go after and try and remove these vindictive things from the net. If I recall they try to contact the net entity to have the items removed. What level of success they have I do not know.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 18, 2010
  18. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    NCU was the first (or one of the first) universities to offer a 100% online regionally accredited doctorate. In those early days, the perception was common that if you're not sitting in a classroom and if you're awarded a degree, then it's not worth the paper that it's printed on.

    As more state universities begin offering 100% online Bachelors and Masters degrees, the stigma against 100% online degrees will eventually breakdown, if it hasn't already. For example, if you have a 100% online Masters degree from your state university, is there a stigma against it? No!

    When NCU first received regional accreditation in the year 2003, my state university system did not offer 100% online degrees. Today (2010), my state university offers 100% online Bachelors and Masters degrees in multiple disciplines. That's a significant change for the state university and it is influencing public perception of 100% online degrees.

    In a conversation with about 15 people last week, I met someone who said he is enrolled in a 100% online Masters degree from our state university. He said he is going to use it as a stepping stone to get hired by the FBI (he's currently a street cop). During the conversation, no one belittled him for attempting to get a 100% online degree.

    Online degrees are unequivocally the future and the future is now. Everything else is going online too, such as banking, paying bills, doing research: and it will continue.
     
  19. I agree completely. I wonder when the 100% online PhD will become as common for state universities as the 100% online masters and bachelors that are out now.
     
  20. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Evotional change

    It will probably never become common; it's just a niche in the marketplace that is being fulfilled.

    In order to complete a dissertation, a student must have an exceptionally strong understanding of research methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative or both (mixed methods). There are very few people at B&M institutions who are able to pass the dissertation phase; as a result, there will also be very few students who will be able to pass the dissertation phase in a 100% online doctoral program i.e. it's even harder in a 100% online program because you can't walk-up to your dissertation professor after a B&M class to have a casual Q&A session about dissertation problems that you're having, although a case can be made that the same Q&A session can be accomplished during telephone conversations in a 100% DL program. It's still evolving.
     

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