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  1. nj593

    nj593 Member

    Ok, just curious why do people go to a DETC school? The only way these diploma's or degree's work for anyone is for promotion or self gain. Even for promotion that really depends also. 9 out of 10 times employers want normal accredited degrees RA or NA that take financial aid.
    If anyone can provide more insight into this I would appreciate it. Because I found a couple that look interesting. But, when I looked deeper into them there is no license allowed for the degree choice and the employers will not take them.

    thanks
     
  2. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    Ignorance is one reason. Other times, refusal to listen to....
     
  3. cravenco

    cravenco New Member

    I believe there are other factors, Cyber.

    I was going for personal enrichment, but a situation has occurred in my life that I had to re-evaluate the NA program, and as such no longer will pursue it.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 29, 2010
  4. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    For those people who desire a legal, accredited degree program that is eligible for federal financial aid and whose circumstances do not require a degree from a regionally accredited institution.
     
  5. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Some students like the school and the flexibility it offers so they enroll.
    The school happened to be DETC accredited.

    I like DETC schools, from what I hear they are student friendly, efficient, people get jobs with DETC accredited degrees.
    The transfer credit improved as well.

    The MBA for 3600 at Aspen is for some a real bargain, wile not USC or NYU, the advanced degree in their case can be from legitimate recognized accredited provider.

    I take CIE for example, I know many successful technicians who earned their AAS degree from Cleveland Institute of ELectronics. YOu get the labs at home, or if you are studying for AS in IT you earn couple of certifications as well.
     
  6. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    I believe DETC schools are just another N/A which give them recognition among the vast array of online colleges popping up all over the place claiming to be "accredited." DETC seem to be respected in the college community, as are many N/A on a case by case basis, but any R/A school is a better option as their influence in the educational community is superior.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 30, 2010
  7. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    I realized my mistake but its too late to edit. DETC is R/A.

    Carry on.
     
  8. Cyber

    Cyber New Member


    In case my initial opinion was taken wrong, I meant "ignorance" as in lack of knowing the difference between the accreditation types. Refusal to listen to the differences in accreditation, if told. Here's an example
     
  9. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    You were right in the first place. DETC is a national accreditor, not a regional accreditor.

    -=Steve=-
     
  10. Shawn Ambrose

    Shawn Ambrose New Member

    Well, promotion is a huge issue. Let me give a hypothetical example:

    I teach at a community college. Suppose I had an MBA, and I decided to pay out of my pocket for a doctorate. Rest assured, if it were my $$, it wouldn't be Capella (no slight to my Alma Mater intended). Would I look at an inexpensive DBA or EdD from a DETC school? In a heartbeat. My cc would accept the degree because DETC is an accrediting agency recognized from the Deparment of Ed. I'd get 2 bumps on the faculty pay scale. one for MA/MS/MBA + 18 credits, then one for the completion of the doctorate.

    Also if you are in the military, a DETC school is a viable alternative because of the flexibility of terms. DETC schools are not tied into the 16 week semester or 11 hour quarter like RA schools. When juggling deployments, long times on field training exercises and such, that flexibility would be attractive to a service member.

    Shawn
     
  11. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    Good points, Shawn. DETC schools offer a lot of value for the money and the interpretation of achievement of a degree is always subjective and context specific anyway.
     
  12. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Some DETC schools fill (or used to) a gap in the offerings by RA schools. For example American Graduate University started offering programs in contracting and program management oriented to government contracts; and still do. I do not know their current size but I would guess they are too small to become an RA school. A few RA schools now offer similar courses but tend to be more difficult to locate. The several companies I worked for were willing to pay employees to earn AGU credentials plus I have met a couple of govt contracting officers with AGU qualifications (I saw their diplomas in their offices).
     
  13. BrandeX

    BrandeX New Member

    If we are going to randomly make up numbers, I'll counter with "9 out of 10 employers don't know school A from school B". I wonder who is more accurate?
     
  14. nj593

    nj593 Member

    Thank you very helpful and makes sense.

     
  15. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    10 out of 9 people have trouble with fractions... ;)
     
  16. OpalMoon34

    OpalMoon34 member

    You appear to be a bit confused here, DETC is NA. So, their programs are within your definition of "normal accredited degrees."
     
  17. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    I just realized that I made a mistake. This entire time I was confusing DETC with HLC.

    My fault.
     
  18. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    I'm sure that most DETC graduates are employed in the field of their studies.
    I think DETC schools would have been long time gone out of business if their graduates didn't become successful.

    Some view the degrees more vocational etc, I think that DETC has been around for a long time and it came far from what it used to be.

    Many factors are mentioned.

    I would recommend DETC graduates to have a show case web site to display the success.
    Real People with real degrees and real careers.

    Today the only market that has significant limitation for DETC degree is employment as faculty at University or College.

    The rest of the markets are with various level employ DETC graduates and accept the degrees.

    I have written to DETC to allow and begin to have 30% of their faculty DETC graduates.

    Also some countries (Lobbied by RA) not to accept any other then RA accreditation.

    DETC is corresponding with NARIC and others so there maybe some changes in the air.
     
  19. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    Just my opinion - feel free to flame on. I personally do not see a reason other than financial for pursuing a NA degree over an RA one. One thing to consider - just because an individual's circumstances at the time do not call for an RA degree, is it really worth the gamble that one could not be required in the future?

    Case in point - I regularly follow job postings in my field. After several national cases of people in the public sector submitting non-accredited degrees for pay raises, many of these job postings now specifically state "regionally accredited" with the desired degree. A few years ago there was no such criteria on a majority of the postings.

    Yes, I know NA is not the same as non-accredited, but it really does not matter to the few executive search firms in my industry who manage the searches and advise employers on what criteria to use. I doubt most executive search firms goes to the HLC to determine the differences between RA and NA. Just throw "RA or NA degree" into Google and it does not take long to see the perception that RA is superior. I am not saying it is right or wrong - it is what it is.

    How much time and effort is spent by people on this board just trying to determine which RA schools will take NA credit? Is the uncertainty and continual worry that an NA degree will be accepted in certain circles really worth saving a couple of grand? You can get some decent RA graduate degrees from B&M state schools for well under $10K and never set foot on campus. Given the choice between RA and NA, I really do not see there being much of a choice.
     
  20. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    I think that credit transfer is the most painful issue for the NA degree holder.

    As to employment, majority of DETC accredited degree holders are hired and do get employed. In some cases a specialty accreditation is required such as ABET, then yes DETC will have disadvantage.

    Also NAIT for example has certification that if you hold Eng Technology Bachelor degree that is ABET accredited you get registered and certified but if the degree is not ABET accredited then you don't get certified by them, I'm yet to see employment adds with requirements to hold such certification.

    I hold 2 DETC accredited degrees and one Soviet degree. I supplemented the degrees with graduate certificates in the same major form Florida Tech and Stanford. Each of my Grad cert's hold significant credit toward Masters degree and I get recognition for them on my resume.
    Also my Soviet degree is evaluated as RA equivalent only it is more then 25 years old, the systems we studied you can't even find in museum :).
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 6, 2010

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