New MBA offerer in Barcelona, collaborates with English universities

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by TeacherBelgium, Sep 4, 2020.

Loading...
  1. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Came across this by browsing Spanish Groupon (www.groupon.es) and found an education centre called www.voe.world

    Veer seems to work together with Aspire Business School in Barcelona.

    They offer an executive MBA for 199 euro through Groupon whereas the official price was 6300 euro.

    They have partnerships with many UK and US universities according to their own claims and they say that you can ask for a dual degree.

    Honestly, I'm so tempted to take another MBA (I already bought the Isabel I one from ENEB) if this can give me an MBA accredited by Uni of Chichester for example.

    What can I say... I'm too poor for those $100k programs so I have to look in dumbsters and hoping that someone left a gem in it :-(

    Opinions on this programme?
    Will I be throwing money away or is there a good ROI?
     
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Too much vagueness (which is in itself not a good sign) on the site. One "bargain" DBA degree (About 6000 UK pounds) was co-awarded by a "top Swiss Business School" which they didn't name. Not a Swiss University (or they'd have said so) so not offering Swiss Federation approved degrees. My guess: It has to be one of the Cantonal schools which can legally grant degrees - of less than mainstream standing - and of limited use for employment etc. Swiss distance schools have no choice - they can't be qualified as Swiss Universities; by law, that requires 100+ highly-qualified professors, buildings, library holdings, research capabilities etc etc etc. So the distance schools register in the Canton and legally award degrees which do not have the standing of Swiss Federation degrees. No other choice. Some of the better ones offer dual awards with known British Universities. I doubt the one here is one of those (more expensive) schools Again, if it was, they'd have said so - because doing so would make the program irresistible.

    They don't name any of the Universities, either. Here's their statement: "The school is affiliated through our accreditation agency with various UK universities." Again, that's vague. Who is the accreditation agency and what role does it play? Which British Schools? Will any/all of them validate your degree? Choices? You might find this out, but you have to call them.

    You gambled and won, once - or at least it seems so - with the ENEB Isabel ! degree. I wouldn't push my luck and leave money on the table. Just my take. Yeah, it'd be nice if everything worked - but how many MBA's do you need? I don't want the casino to set you up with an addiction. Now if they'd give you a Groupon deal on a DBA...

    If you call them and you get info that sounds good or you want to check further -- give us a shout. But I won't think any less of you if you decide not to call.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2020
  3. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Interesting, it'll all depend on the ROI and that's after the evaluation from an academic evaluation agency. I would say if they are equivalent to the ENEB, then it's a pretty good deal. Having said that, do you have a link to the site? I want to see what they offer and what Groupons are available for their programs. I was on their www.voe.world webpage and noticed they offer a DBA, if that is available through Groupon, I'll be looking at it further if all the "accreditation are valid and/or evaluations" are equivalent to US.
     
  4. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I see no recognition in the UK or in Spain, and EduQua is a quality assurance body, not an accreditor in the sense an American would need.

    This one seems murky.
     
  5. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    The only thing I like about it...is the interactive website and the board members look like stock photos. :D
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  6. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Now, if they are really having their MBA's awarded by the University of Chichester, then that would be pretty cool. The big question is, are they still being awarded this way even with the Groupon deal?

    http://www.aspirebarcelona.eu/mba.php
     
  7. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Hmmm that's a good point you raise there. Would the Groupon deal still accredit the degree through Chichester...
    But what would there be to earn for Chichester at that low a price per degree, so I think that would be too good to be true.
    Maybe I'm too pessimistic, I don't know.
    Somewhere deep inside I hope so hard that I discovered a gold mine but then there is that little voice that says : '' What school with some common sense would be so out of their mind to give you a UK degree for +-200 € (199 euro is the price on Spanish Groupon currently)? ''

    What worries me is like Johann already raised, the vagueness of the descriptions.
    Swiss business schools ask over 40k Swiss francs (about 40k dollar) for a degree and then there is this school that offers DBAs for 12100 euro all in and 3 trips included (Genève, Barcelona, London).

    Maybe I'm being too naive.

    I hadn't even heard about Aspire Business School before and if they only gave out a degree from Aspire it wouldn't even be worth it because it would be of no standing so it should include uni accreditation to have some value.

    They also seem to be pretty new unless I'm mistaken...

    So many questions...
     
  8. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    They claimed their accreditation agency is OTHM but have never heard of that one either. Pearson and ofqual itself seem to be the mainstream accreditors in the UK and CMI.
     
  9. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Honestly, yes, those photos look so unprofessional.
    That director looks like a used car salesman and those faculty members don't look like professors either. The quality of the photos is low too and they don't seem to understand punctuation on the website which raises a red flag too.
    Still, the 199 euro makes you wonder what's in the box of hidden gifts :-/
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  10. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    That Swiss top notch school claim worried me too.
    What Swiss top notch school could offer a PhD for 12k€?
    Swiss is one of the most expensive countries in the world.
    So it could be a mill somewhere registered in Swiss territory but with their headquarters somewhere else...
    I am worried about their vagueness too.
    Their English also seems so poor. I can't say that their English is better than for example those axact websites like University of Oneida and that kind of stuff.

    Still, they offer a DBA which makes you languish instantly :-/

    Maybe I could get them so crazy that they make a Groupon for the DBA?
    Offering myself as a Guinea pig of some kind...
    I mean, a DBA is like a huge dream to me.
    But I worry that DBA in this case might as well mean dumpster bullshit association :-/
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  11. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    I was looking through the Spanish Groupon and I had chosen as location '' Tarragona '' and I used Google translate to browse the Groupon. I filled out in the search box (buscar) '' master '' and then somewhere halfway through the results there was a deal for either a master in digital marketing or a master in executive business management.
    I don't understand the credit system they use though. 120 credits seems an awful lot for a year. A normal year is 60 study points here in Europe (every study point equals 25 to 30 hours of work) and 120 seems crazy for 1 year.
     
  12. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I would try to get in touch with Chichester to verify. These types of associations are not uncommon in that part of the world. I've seen quite a few of them, however, not as inexpensive as this one would be if it's legit.
     
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Not saying for sure anything's wrong here but - Chichester seems to have a large number of these validation schemes with other schools. It was mentioned recently in another thread concerning a UK school that offered courses. The school couldn't offer degrees itself but it had a validation agreement with Chichester. You were taught by the school, your degree was from Chichester.

    The arrangement is quite common in UK and there's nothing wrong with it, in and of itself. The red light goes on (for me) when a lot of them happen. Especially if an out-of-UK school is involved. Sometimes these validation deals get out-of-hand and disasters result. About 10 years ago, the University of Wales Consortium broke up. The cause: over 200 overseas programs had been validated (grads got a U. Wales degree). Very little (if any) academic oversight. Schools included one run by a Cambodian supermodel, another by a Malaysian pop singer -and an unaccredited Bible School in the US Midwest - that has since gone under and the buildings sold at auction. Eventually, the whole validation scheme broke up - and so did the consortium of Universities. It's since been re-formed with some juggling and I'm told they've been very careful and selective with overseas partnerships. They are doing some good work, providing students in delevoping countries with low-cost education at good Welsh schools.

    I don't think Chichester has anything like 200 programs, but then again -- I'm not sure how many it has or of what quality. This Spanish one was the first out-of-UK Chichester partnership I'd seen. How many others? I have no idea. Or how many it would take to tip the scales.

    I saw another multi-school arrangement today that worried me a bit, although I believe it must be out-of-date now. Can't remember which site. It involved a Swiss Cantonal school of very iffy reputation and two very good European Universities - one in Poland, one in Ukraine. The deal was a triple-award DBA. The problem was that the DBA is not a degree in Poland. The authorities do not list them as an award. The Polish school was in effect, awarding non-degrees (in the eyes of Polish authorities) to foreigners. The "degrees" could not be endorsed by the State authorities and therefore had no standing. The Ukrainian school had been fast-talked into setting up a separate Distance arm that awarded the degrees. These could not receive State endorsement as degrees of the original Ukrainian school. As degrees of the hastily-constituted Distance wing, they had very little standing.

    So, for 6000 euros or so, you got THREE bad DBA awards - Swiss (no Federal approval) Polish (no such degree in Poland) and Ukrainian (satellite school without same level of approval.) These international deals CAN be minefields and rackets. We're lucky we have Polish- and Ukrainian-orbit DI members, who really know their stuff!
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2020
    LearningAddict likes this.
  14. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    I am going to get in touch with both VOE and Aspire Business School. There are a few UK schools that they partner with and the programs seems pretty good for the "top up" options for a US/UK Masters. I am in favor of top up programs over Titulo Propio any day of the week.

    If they do partner with the UK schools, I'll get more details from the schools themselves on how to obtain the 'top-up' degree. The Groupon link is found here: https://www.groupon.es/deals/veer-online-education - Application Link: https://voe.world/application-form-2/

    Here's the link to the OTHM University Progressions page for those wanting to take a UK Level 7 Diploma and top up to a Masters: https://www.othm.org.uk/university-progression.html

    And in regards to the DBA, it's $5900 Euro/year, it's a two year program, so that's $11800 Euro total. Which is still a good deal IF and only IF it's evaluated as recognized or similar to a US RA DBA.
     
  15. Johann766

    Johann766 Active Member

    I guess you didn't want to explicitly name the Swiss school that is offering the triple degree award for all levels:D?! This school is by the way very expensive considering that you get a questionable degree.

    Which one would be the Ukrainian DBA Option you mentioned? IUBL?

    I'm still waiting for the great 1000 Dollar or less Groupon DBA degree program :D
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  16. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Veer/Aspire Business School blocked me on WhatsApp after asking the following question:

    For me it's cristal clear now.
    I won't even be enrolling here with money on top of it.

    Why would you block someone for asking a normal question if you have nothing to hide?
     

    Attached Files:

    Maniac Craniac and Mac Juli like this.
  17. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member


    Guess this is an Res ipsa loquitur...

    I did not think that you get an enrollment for the MBA with Uni Chichester, anyway. This thingy was WAY too cheap, compared to the costs Uni Chichester or OTHM would normally charge, and it did not have enough credit hours to be comparable.
     
  18. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    To be continued.

    I told the institution how unprofessional they are through my second whatsapp number.
    In a matter of seconds I got a phone call from an Indian guy who speaks terrible half assed English and he flat out begged me not to disclose anything on any website about them. He expected me to help them improve their programme.

    He then admitted that this is not a master's degree at all. He flat out admitted that it's just about the knowledge, not about degrees because that would be too costly.

    He then started to panic.

    I told him that I would file a complaint with the uni of Chichester for deception from Veer education's part.

    He then started to panic and freak out.

    He asked me for advice and I said : '' Take a very good attorney, you will need it ''.

    Oh and he claimed it was too expensive to just offer it as a MOOC. He claims that the structure would be too expensive so that they have no option but offer it on Groupon.

    Then I also told him what a terrible website they have and what a mess their entire school is.

    "What can we do to improve?", he asked. I replied : '' shut the entire place down and sell hamburgers instead ''.
    He was pissed...

    You know what was funniest? This guy emphasized : '' Think about the students. ''

    I'm thinking about the students, sir. Those students you are selling a bunch of bollocks...
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2020
    Mac Juli and Maniac Craniac like this.
  19. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    My goodness. Thanks for the red flags! I won't be contacting them anymore (I sent them an email to both VOE and Aspire). That was a very interesting read - indeed. My, if they did actually get approval to partner with U of Chichester, that would have been the right path.

    But they're most likely using them as a possible outlet but haven't signed any articulation agreement. Oh wells, at least there's the ENEB programs for just a few bucks more at $249 US vs $199 Euro!

    Side note: I should share this with the sister board, haha, it was a funny read...
     
  20. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    It doesn't sit well with me that they can just get away with this.
    This person didn't even talk decent English. I heard screaming kids in the back and then connection fell away and this dude calls back and asks: '' Am I audible? "

    So unprofessional.

    I'm enfuriated.

    I want them to bear consequences for doing this.

    Who knows how much they earned by selling poor students air.

    I'm glad I got to confront this guy though. I'm sure he will remember this call 10 years from now.




     
    Mac Juli and Maniac Craniac like this.

Share This Page