Groupon University

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by Kizmet, Feb 12, 2020.

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  1. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Let's see, there's driving, iron play, pitching, chipping, sand play, and putting. Yep, that's six. Got 'em.
     
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  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    And don't forget 19th-hole play. :)
     
  3. cacoleman1983

    cacoleman1983 Well-Known Member

    While these unofficial Universidad Isabel I degrees are not up to par with the official accredited degrees we are aware of, it's interesting to still be able to either use these credit hours to complete an undergraduate, an additional undergraduate degree, or transfer to complete an official Masters degree. The fact is, the cost of ENEB programs does not even amount to one graduate credit hour in most accredited programs here in the US. People even spend more money on a math or science textbook than they would for an unofficial Universidad Isabel I degree.
     
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  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    A valid observation. I think it was around 1985 when I first had to spend more on a text than for the course. It was Abnormal Psychology - I went nuts! :)
    If you're going to score 30 grad credits from this and only pay for about one - I can't deny that's a huge bargain. Just make sure you get that. Have it eyeballed, shriven and blessed by the "right" evaluator.

    Textbooks are the third biggest racket in education - right after tuition and education loans. I'm glad to see some schools now including texts in the course price - as long as it's not simply camouflage. There are also legal sites where free texts can be downloaded - I have a bunch of them on CDs - really good ones, just probably not the ones the mega-university will insist you use.

    Best textbook advice I got in school was from my Economics Prof. back around 1997: "Don't bother buying the textbook. Spend $8 for the course notes. Everything I'm going to teach you is in there - and everything you'll need for the exam." 100% true. Not the easiest, but definitely the cheapest 'A' I ever earned. I wished back then there were more professors like her.
     
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  5. Thorne

    Thorne Active Member

    And that's the secondary value. I can leverage these credits to show other institutions that I can handle graduate work and probably waive many of the core finance and accounting classes in a university more friendly to transfers. I'm targetting unis in Australia, who by all accounts have discretion for transfer from foreign schools, so this, at a minimum, allows me to have a better chance in certain admission cycles. Plus, the worst case scenario for me is that I've pad $600 + 3 months for my degrees and maybe $400 for evaluations to get the equivalent of 4 bachelor's degrees comprised of grad credits. Not a bad trade if you ask me :)

    Even at my local CC I only had one professor like that. He wrote his own book, a 200 page binder with all the legal texts necessary for his class and the notes about what they meant. $20 all-in, but I had to write a 15 page paper twice that semester just to get a decent grade in a 200-level class.

    I miss him, that semester was very fun
     
  6. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Good point, but that's at the turn. We call it "swing oil."
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I had a prof. in CC - Residential Design class who wrote a comprehensive text, maybe 450 pages on how houses should be built -and why. All diagrams by him, hand-labeled etc. A work of art and one of the best textbooks on anything I've ever seen. It was cheaply printed (spiral binding IIRC) but a great book. Cost maybe $30. That was around 1998; I still have it and it's still relevant. Some good things just don't go out of style.

    No papers - I had to show I could cut rafters and figure out foundations & footings etc. to get a decent mark in his class. :)
     
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  8. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Yes but not what I hoped for.
    They evaluated it as an advanced bachelor's degree.
    I had so hoped they would evaluate it as a master's degree.
     
  9. Thorne

    Thorne Active Member

    Dang. I'm on the prowl to find one that will take them as PGCerts, but advanced bachelor's is still AQF Level 8, which is decent for the cost and time I've put into it.
     
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I think you have reason to be pleased. Remember those people who said "full up - no room" when you wanted entry to a bachelor's? Now you can finish your other ENEB courses, go back and say "You denied me entry. Well, guess what. I've since earned TEN Bachelor's degrees, all NARIC - approved, and they're all ADVANCED. It cost me about one year's worth of what you guys charge. So there!" :)

    Now you have your legal work degree, an advanced bachelor's and you'll be getting your valuable tax diploma. With that combo, you should be pretty darn employable. That's something!
     
  11. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Your answers always make me smile. You're such an optimistic person, Johan :)

    I hope I will find good employment when I start applying for job positions at the end of this year.

    I'm happy with the advanced bachelor degree but I had hoped that it would be valued as a master's.
    But I should be happy. At the cost it came for you can't expect everything.
    So I'm not gonna complain :p

    Thanks for cheering me up :)
     
  12. Thorne

    Thorne Active Member

    I'm not familiar with Belgian law, but what stops you from just listing it as awarded (Master's)?

    Either way, you basically got a minimum of an advanced Bachelor's degree with a large portfolio of high-quality research-oriented business writing to boot in, what, 3 months? That's not a bad tradeoff :D
     
  13. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Exactly my thinking. Barring anything prohibitive from the Belgian law direction, there would be no reason to list the credential as anything other than the title the school gives it.

    People are making too much of the credential evaluation. An evaluation is an opinion, it can be a respected opinion, but not a final conclusion. Besides, for most people who have no desire to enroll into a Doctoral program, it would be virtually meaningless.
     
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  14. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    ...possibly if you would want to enter public service in the EU. This would not work with a Titulo Propio either. But yes, I am going to list it as Master Degree, too.
     
  15. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I wasn't aware of that for the whole EU, I only knew of that being a situation in Spain. Even still, not a bad situation for the majority of people.
     
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  16. Thorne

    Thorne Active Member

    True enough, but then again, this degree is obviously being recognized even minimally as a Bachelor's, which is the highest degree required for public service in the EU https://epso.europa.eu/career-profiles/european-public-administration_en

    I'm not sure if a PGCert (like @TeacherBelgium is going for) will work in lieu of a Bachelor's, but now he has at least 1 Bachelor's legally recognized :)
     
  17. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    This is somewhat contradictory. Spain says specifically, that propio degrees (of all shapes and sizes) are not good for public employment. And yes, the EU says a bachelor's is the highest degree required. I don't think an applicant in Spain would have much luck with an end-run around this Spanish propio rule. He/she would likely be told "even if it's evaluated as a bachelor's, it's still a propio - So hasta la vista, baby!":)

    I'm not sure, but I think a master propio, no matter how it was evaluated, would only work for public employment in countries that don't have a blanket non-acceptance rule re: use of propio degrees for that purpose. Bachelor's or master's, the thing originated as a propio and cannot fully escape its heritage.
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2020
  18. innen_oda

    innen_oda Active Member

    From memory, wasn't this 'recognition' based on an evaluation in the US or Canada? Trying to get a European propio recognised in Europe based on an assertion from an evaluation in the North American context might be a bit of a reach.

    The wording 'legally recognised' is a bit odd in the sense of a university degree, but regardless, what is 'legal' in the US or Canada is not necessarily 'legal' in any other country. Indeed, the very fact that different countries have different standards and different systems is exactly why foreign qualifications have to be evaluated.
     
  19. Thorne

    Thorne Active Member

    TeacherBelgium got the credits reviewed by NARIC, which is European. Everyone's evaluator and need for evaluation will be vastly different, but your point is right.
    However, the fact that the UI1 degree carries 60 ECTS (UI1 is governed by an EQAR-associated accreditor and I've confirmed the ECTS carried by the degree with ENEB directly) kind of makes the work done valid in many EU countries by default.

    Some countries may have strict rules about it, some may have lax rules about it. My use for the degree is related to US and Australia, private sector work, so I probably won't ever need an evaluation, though having it evaluated in one country at least speaks to its legitimacy and good-faith actions if you inadvertently break a law after moving to a country whose standards are different.
     
  20. innen_oda

    innen_oda Active Member

    I must've missed this one. 300EUR for a Bachelor degree in 3 months is pretty good then, on that basis.

    However, aren't Bachelor degrees 180ECTS? So it was evaluated for 60 credits, but also as a Bachelor degree?
     
    Thorne likes this.
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