University of The People Masters in Education M.Ed

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Futuredegree, Aug 19, 2020.

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  1. Futuredegree

    Futuredegree Well-Known Member

    I am not sure if it has been posted up here but I found out today that the University of the People is offering a Master's degree in Education which requires 39 credits. This could be an option for some people looking to get into the education field or looking for an alternative graduate degree. This university is nationally accredited by the DEAC and does not charge tuition. For every course there is a $200 assessment fee which is for every end-of-course examination that they take. This price will raise on August 22, 2020 to $240. Even still at $240 x 13 required course this will result in a total of $3120.

    Link:
    https://www.uopeople.edu/programs/ed/degrees/master-of-education-med/overview/
    Fee link:
    https://www.uopeople.edu/programs/ed/degrees/master-of-education-med/paying-for-school/
    https://www.uopeople.edu/tuition-free/fee-update/
     
    novadar likes this.
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    We have quite a few threads on this school. UoTP is presently seeking Regional Accreditation and I don't doubt it'll make it. There have been recent complaints from undergrad students about peers with not enough knowledge of English or the subject matter, marking students' papers. I don't like that idea either - papers should be marked by the prof. or a TA as I see it. Peer student marking - what happens if you get someone who just plain doesn't like you?

    I have no idea if this persists in Grad degrees here. I hope not! The undergrad situation I described is the only persistent complaint I've read about. The worst thing about UoTP may be the school's name. Kinda reminds me of this place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hall_of_the_People#/media/File:China_Senate_House.jpg

    BTW - can you get a job in education with a DEAC degree? Just asking...
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2020
  3. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    I think the short answer is yes. In this specific case, an M.Ed. would not qualify an individual for entry into education (as a career switcher). The MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) is designed for career switchers to become certified teachers. I know many alternative certification programs do not specify an RA degree for admissions. So, I would think people with NA degrees have been accepted and obtained certification. Alternative certification programs in Texas have been criticized some years back for accepting people who had unaccredited degrees. These alternative programs are for-profit entities, who apparently weren't verifying the accreditation status of these institutions. In Texas, to be certified as a teacher, you must have a bachelor's that is accredited by an agency recognized by THECB. These agencies include RA and NA http://www.highered.texas.gov/institutional-resources-programs/private-postsecondary-institutions/recognition-of-accrediting-agencies/

    I have an NA bachelor's degree, and I work in education - teaching business and criminal justice (might I say at a prestigious Catholic college preparatory high school). However, I couldn't say my bachelor's degree had anything to do with me getting the job since my position requires a master's degree or higher. Thankfully, I had master's degrees in both content areas. I am not certified as a teacher, but I toyed with the idea of moving to Texas and becoming certified. Now, I am more looking towards certification in another state or maybe leave education after this academic year.
     
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  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Thanks, Chris. Good to know.
     
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  5. Futuredegree

    Futuredegree Well-Known Member

    If you have a bit of extra money and free time you can do it one class at a time. I might consider it in the future. It might land you a job in education and if not the military and federal government always accepts NA degrees. Might help someone land a teaching job there.
     
  6. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    Am I correct that the UoP M.Ed. can result in some sort of IB certification? Might that make it a good deal?
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    About certification - doesn't say, exactly. It does say that it'll make you appear well-qualified to IB schools - what they're looking for, etc. It also says that "excellent students" get a chance to participate in an IB School internship which is worth 3 extra credits - so at the very least it'll be on your transcript, if you're one of those "excellent students." (Excellence is undefined here - I don't know how high your standing would have to be etc.) If your ambition is IB track, this might be a very good deal, but I think you need to ask the school about certification. I'd have asked the school, for you. on their web-page chat-enquiry thing - but I'm on too many people's email "pester-lists" already. It's all yours. They should be able to answer it straight away. If they hem and haw -- I'd forget it.
     
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  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    It also strikes me that if you DID get an IB school internship - you'd be making the right kind of contacts to help you find employment in that arena. I daresay that could be worth a whole lot, if that's your goal. Succeed in that and you'd earn that $2600 back in no time ---and THEN some! The ROI could be astronomical, if it all worked out. Plus job satisfaction, no doubt.
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2020
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  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    If it doesn't work out, however - you've lost $2,600 and your time - which is likely a worse loss than the $2,600. Money like that can be replaced. Time cannot. It's a gamble.
    As the famous, pioneering African-American disc jockey, "Professor" Nat D. Williams used to say all the time on WDIA (Memphis) "Now, whatchubet?"

    Mr. Williams was a very accomplished gentleman, held a Master's degree and taught history in Memphis high schools for 42 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_D._Williams

    Since we're talking teaching, I just thought I'd throw that story in . :)
     
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  10. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Time is the most valuable thing we have besides ourselves and we need to do all we can to use it wisely. I agree 100% that we should avoid situations where licensure is not clear or possible for professions that require it.

    What concerns me is that lately I've seen time mentioned as a reason not to pursue a degree that isn't wrapped in a neat U.S. RA bow. Why does this concern me? Because the learning is supposed to be the most important thing above all. If your goal is to get licensed, then you know better than to go anywhere that might not help you produce the proper outcome, but outside of that if we're not factoring-in the value of learning then we're losing sight of what education is about: LEARNING!
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2020
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  11. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Perhaps. But you can learn almost anywhere. You go to a university to get a degree, and that degree is supposed to perform in expected ways.

    When we pursue a degree we, according to Bourdieu's Capital Theory, give two forms of capital to a university and we get two. We give (1) our academic effort and (2) our money. We should receive, in turn, (1) an education and (2) a degree. The exchange is not complete unless both are delivered.

    John Bear used to do an imaginary exercise where he would give students four options:

    -- a degree and an education
    -- a degree but no education
    -- an education but not a degree
    -- neither an education nor a degree

    We can agree that the first is best, but so many people opt for the second or the fourth and, push come to shove, would forego an education as long as the degree was available.

    (The fourth option, by the way, describes a diploma mill. They do a big business.)
     
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  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    True - but too often the exigency of a needed degree (for work etc.) COMPELS a person to lose sight of this.

    Trouble is -- some of the real quality learning takes place outside of university walls - and some of the worst takes place inside. . You know how it is - you get an expensive course that you need, to piece your degree together - and find out it's horribly taught, and deadly boring. Plus, it's a gen-ed the school says you must have and you'll never see it in the workspace. Then you decide - you need the degree, you've paid the money. So you say "Oh well, I'll just learn the crap, try for a good mark and forget the experience as soon as I can." Afterward, you find something that's maybe no credit, but fascinating and well-taught. It stays with you for life and costs under $100. I've been both places, quite often.

    Necessity is often the mother of degrees without education.
     
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  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Plus - I'd like it remembered that my sole objective in post #9 was to stress that money can be replaced, time cannot. I think we're all agreed on that. I believe in what LearningAddict said - but that's a separate issue from what I was talking about. The OP wondered if the course would certify him - and what the likelihood of employment was. My opinion: it could work out very well, or if it didn't -- the time was a greater loss than the money. Nothing is certain. That's all. It's a gamble - as I said. Some people will gamble - others don't like to. Up to them. Now whatchubet? :)

    And as far as "RA wrapped up in a bow" goes, I never took the school's accreditation into consideration. I figured the OP knew it, I knew it and he had already considered that NA (and working on RA) fit his needs.

    Well, yes-siree, it's Nat Dee on the Jamboree, coming at thee on seventy-three (on the dial), WDIA. Now, whatchubet?
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2020
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  14. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    Seems like the UoP M.Ed. doesn’t give you an IB certificate but it does equal an IB “Category 1” workshop. Apparently, the IB workshop normally costs about US$450. That’s almost 1/5 of the entire cost of the UoP M.Ed. if my math is correct.

    I wonder if UoP courses count toward continuing education credit for maintaining teacher certification (at least in some places). If so, plus the potential for RA status, coupled with the IB workshop waiver, this looks like it has potential. Perhaps especially for someone who is already a teacher and looking to build-out the ol’ portfolio.
     
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  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Seems like a lot of things UotP does have plenty of potential. Shai Reshef, the man in charge, founded this school at least in part with the capital raised from the sale of his previous company (Kidum Learning) to Kaplan. That company, Kaplan, seems to have done all right since - didn't they morph into Purdue Global? Success begets success, they say. See and believe, I guess.
     
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  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Your math is certainly correct - but the workshop counts as an extra 3-credit course. It's not compulsory for the degree; in fact, they say only "excellent" students get to take it. I have no idea what it goes for - the regular price of $450 or the usual zero plus $200 for testing that UoTP charges. Either way if you DO get to take it, any extra cost is no biggie whatsoever, when you figure the potential benefits.

    I figure it's probably full-whack $450 - the IB people have to get paid, I'd think. As I said - still a good deal.
     
  17. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Kaplan is being turned into Purdue University Global because it wasn't doing all right -- that's why it was sold off. Fortunately, that has no bearing whatsoever on either Reshef or UotP.
     
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  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Good to know, Steve - and I didn't. And right - no bearing on founder or his school.
     
  19. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    If UoP gets regional accreditation, will their tuition go up?

    Also, if someone starts the UoP program now, and the school gets regional accreditation (RA) during or after completion of one’s program, will that program count as RA?
     
  20. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Their tuition is at zero. Exam fees only. Well, I can't see it going DOWN... Usually I'd say yes - up quite a bit, probably. But UotP as far as I know is well-financed - and savvy and careful with their resources. Maybe THEY could tell you. They're the kind of outfit that plans FAR ahead, I think. They have smart people running the place. I'm not a particular fan of their instructional model - peers grading papers etc. but they definitely know what they're doing - and think ahead.

    And the rule is - if they're RA when you graduate - your degree is from an RA school. If it gets RA later - you graduated under whatever accreditation was in place. DEAC in this case. No "grace period" whatsoever, AFAIK.
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2020

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