The "best" of the unaccredited universities??

The most legitimate reason for pursuing a degree from an unaccredited DL school--not being able to pursue one from an accredited school--is rapidly disappearing. Other than schools addressing a particular niche (like the University of Fairfax in Virginia), there doesn't seem to be much point in it anymore.

Taking one's degree from a legitimate, unaccredited DL school (and I contend that description fits California Pacific) is difficult to justify anymore, except on cost. Availability alone--with the rise of DETC-accredited schools, availability of foreign degree programs, innovations by existing RA schools, and innovative new RA schools--doesn't seem to cut it.

We seem, these days, to have only a handful of credible, unaccredited, DL schools around. Many (like Columbia Pacific and Clayton) have gone out of business, many others (Walden, CCU) have become accredited. We're left with California Pacific, SCUPS, and a few others. And where are the new schools? Getting accredited from the start (Jones International, Capella).

 

As has been pointed out earlier, "the best" is a subjective rating and depends on at least a few different factors including academic interests, cost, etc. With all that said, I think that Western Institute for Social Research should be on the general shortlist of really good unaccredited schools.
http://www.california.com/wisr
Jack

 

A few more clarifications and points...

I recieved literature from Clayton College that I requested a while ago. I was interested at first not in the degree program but looking for a certificate program for personal enrichment as I am a big fan of Complimentary Medicine. I eventually threw it away not only because it was unaccredited, but because it was #1 too new agey and #2 for what you pay for it, I can just as well learn about CAM from books at B&N or Borders- even one of Dr. Weil's audiobooks and for much cheaper.

Also even with Complimentary or Alternative Medicine I feel that in time it will seep it's way into the RA schools at least as electives- maybe not the new-agey stuff but at least the herbs and all that...

I also will say again:
I DON'T necessarily consider ALL unaccredited or non-RA schools degree mills (esp DETC), but never-the-less RA is a better investment of time and money IMO. It's also not my goal to attack anyone with on opposing viewpoint or a non-accredited degree. I guess my way of defining a "degree mill" is a school that KNOWINGLY DECIEVES it's students or the public with either lies or BS(abstract or implied lies) or gives out degrees for work below-RA level academic rigor. Defining them may not be a perfect science. I am all for free enterprise, but not deception, and a surprisingly high amount of the general public do not fully understand "accredidtaion" the way many of us do here! That is why I'd say don't be to quick judge the individual student.

RULE of thumb: If a school seems too good to be true...go with your gut!

Also anyone who worked to earn a LEGITIMATE RA or even NA degree should be concerned because the ILLEGITIMATE schools can hurt the credibility of our degrees.

Also remember BAin4weeks.com...? That person got a legitimate BA in 4 weeks from an RA school for an affordable price! I'm sure that guy is exceptionally smart, but even if it took 4 months or a year. What unaccredited school can beat that (time and price)? Unfortunately not enough people know about the big three and don't understand accredidation.

 

Thoughtful post. Thanks.

 

Thoughtful post. Thanks.

 

Rich,

What then might be the credible reaons for attending these unaccredited schools? Are CPU, SCUPS, and Fairfax in niches that accredited schools don't fill or is it just cost factor alone?

Bing

 

Clearly I'm not answering for Rich but I have some sense of at least a part of this issue. The folks at SCUPS advertise in the national newsletter for the National Association of Social Workers. The vast majority of the subscribers are fully licensed Masters level Social Workers who can already practice Psychotherapy in any state in the USA. Most of these have some substantial experience at the Masters level. Some of them would very much like to have a few extra letters after their names. The idea is that John Doe, MSW, PhD looks better that John Doe, LCSW.
Jack

 

Clearly I'm not answering for Rich but I have some sense of at least a part of this issue. The folks at SCUPS advertise in the national newsletter for the National Association of Social Workers. The vast majority of the subscribers are fully licensed Masters level Social Workers who can already practice Psychotherapy in any state in the USA. Most of these have some substantial experience at the Masters level. Some of them would very much like to have a few extra letters after their names. The idea is that John Doe, MSW, PhD looks better that John Doe, LCSW.

 

Another Honorable Mention:

Magdalen College - Warner, New Hampshire

Now I'm pretty sure it is Nationally Accredited though but not RA or DETC from what I see.

http://www.magdalen.edu/_facts.htm

"Magdalen College is accredited by the American Academy for Liberal Education." (I don't know much about that agency though)

This is a Catholic institution approved by the Ordinary of the Diocese of Manchester, NH

The degrees offered are: Bachelor of Arts and Associate of Arts degrees in Liberal Studies
Apostolic Catechetical diploma (Vatican authorized)

I'm trying to post the facts but don't want to cut and paste too much cause I'm not sure of your allowed to do that. My point is however that given the approval of the Catholic Church I would NOT call this school a "degree mill".

 

quote
posted by LTinPA
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess my way of defining a "degree mill" is a school that
(1) KNOWINGLY DECIEVES it's students or the public with either lies or BS(abstract or implied lies) or
(2) gives out degrees for work below-RA level academic rigor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

I like this definition of a degree mill a lot! Thanks for sharing.

 

Here's the non-RA schools on WASC's site visit schedule:

California Graduate Institute
This is the oldest and one of the largest of the CA-approved Psych schools. Its graduates have a pretty good record of passing the psych boards.

California State University, Channel Islands - A new CSU campus. I believe that it took over the former Camarillo State Hospital, which includes some historic buildings.

InterAmerican College
I think that this is a small college in the San Diego area that caters to Mexican Americans with a bilingual undergraduate program.

Soka University
Very well funded spin-off of Japan's Soka University. Has a spectacular campus. I believe that it's now AALE accredited.

University of the West
This specializes in Buddhist studies up to the doctoral level, but is broadening out into a full service university with conventional undergrduate majors and the inevitable MBA. It has an attractive physical campus (it's nice, but not as impressive as Soka's). It's currently a WASC candidate.

South Baylo University School of Oriental Medicine
This introduces a new trend: ACAOM-accredited acupuncture schools going for RA.

American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Another ACAOM acupuncture college.

American University of Armenia
This is located in Yerevan Armenia, and is funded by Armenian Americans. It's currently a WASC candidate.

National Test Pilot School
This is my absolute favorite CA-approved school. There's nothing in the world, accredited or not, that's cooler than this place. Its students fly supersonic jets! But it probably has some work to do to create all the committees and internal procedures that WASC demands, so accrediting this baby will probably take some time.

Academy of Art University
This is the largest art school in the United States, by enrollment. It offers a huge assortment of online programs, ranging from certificates to MFAs. It's currently accredited by ACICS and by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

UC, Merced - A large effort to create a major research university in California's San Joaquin Valley.

Intercultural Institute of California
This is a tiny school that operates out of a large Victorian house in San Francisco. It only has one major, in Korean Studies, offered both through classes in their building and online. (It's probably the only DL program in Korean Studies in the world.) IIC is currently a WASC candidate (which kind of surprises me, considering the school's small size).

 

In my opinion, there aren't any anymore. There was a time when a practicing professional was restricted to these options, but as I said, most have either become accredited or have gone away.

In California, there are some residential schools that meet people's unique needs. But tell me a program that can (a) be delivered legitimately at-a-distance, (b) is offered by one of the better unaccredited DL schools, and (c) isn't available from an acccredited (or foreign equivalent) school. (That's a rhetorical question to Bing, but certainly open to him and anyone else.) Schools like SCUPS and CPU aren't diploma mills, but the degrees they offer are available from accredited (or equivalent) schools by either short- or non-residential means.

Bottom line: I'm not against legitimate, unaccredited schools because I think they're bad. (They might not rise to the level of accredited schools in some cases, however.) I'm against them because they're no longer good choices.

 

I don't know of any that meet this criteria. Maybe I have not researched it enough. I really have not looked at unaccredited schools for my own learning interests(although I recall getting a good education on non-accredited schools when i told levicoff about a degree mill prof at mercer years back. the board was fired up on it for a while.). For all I know CPU might have some PhD graduates that had better supervision and even better disserations than ones at a Brick and Mortar state school.

Someone on the board made a comment regarding continual comparisons of dissertations between DLs and B&Ms(both being RA). Maybe this same challenge should be proposed for unaccredited schools. Likely we won't get many takers...if any. Bob Jones might be an exception.

Maybe CPU and SCUPS have "good enough" programs to meet many needs. Maybe the question of yours could be twisted to one around cost. Are there many accredited programs with costs that low if all other things are equal? Of course, what is the determiner of equal? RA? Chicago, Yale, and Stanford might disagree on RA alone.

My wife worked at a Purdue satellite campus when they were going through accreditation. Wow! That's an expensive endeavor. It gets passed onto the student in one form or another. Maybe a higher cost ensures some sort of quality.