Utility of a University of Wales validated degree?

Australian Schools follow the same approach, Charles Sturt in Australia have several partnerships with schools in Asia that teach their courses. Some Canadian Universities are starting to follow this approach with Chinese schools. At the end of the day, education is business and schools franchise their name as any other brand. In the long term this might hurt them, the value of UK and Australian qualification have decreased for the same reason, some Australian and UK schools are losing credibility in the world and it might not take long before their granted degrees have the same value as any other qualification from a third world University.

The reality is that is more cost effective to have teachers that are paid peanuts in developing countries to teach their qualifications and have the big name schools just as quality assurance. A professor in the UK makes probably 10 times or more than a professor in India or China so the outsource of education will continue as a way to decrease education costs and increase profits.

 

Look at the ranking of UK universities and you will find that the uni of wales and its constituent colleges are mid ranking. The uni of london and its constitutent colleges are actually admidst the top rank. These unis are respected worldwide. If there are unis which are you have to worry about getting proper respect, they would probably lie at the bottom of the league tables.

I am not aware of the adam smith thing. But the uni of wales probably has no control over whoever TASMAC works with. The adam smith program is also different from the uni of wales program, both programs have entirely different course content and assessment methods, in another words, they are seperate and different. So even if a private instituition overseas offers a somewhat questionable program, it doesnt mean that all its other programs are also in question or that it is a scam instituition.

Actually, if you have been monitoring the higher education scene long enough, you would know that quite a few respectable universities in the UK have worked with overseas instituitions who had at one time or another offered somewhat "questionable degrees" from other unis. Most of these overseas instituition are actually legitimate instituitions who offer legitimate degrees from proper unis but might have been misled into working with a "questionable" unis at one time or another. I have even noticed listed and rather reputable private education companies at one time or another offering a "questionable degree".

I think I shall rest my case here. I have registed 4 names (JEEE, JEEE!, JEEE!!..etc) whose passwords I didnt bother to remember because I thought I would not bother replying to any further posts after making my last post under that name. But I did. But I think I have typed a plenty and explained a lot, so this will probably by my last post on this topic. For real now!

Good luck to all you distance learners and remember the uni of wales and uni of london degrees are respected degrees! And yes, RDI is a decent school.

 

I think you will find that you are wrong. Australian, UK and most Canadian universities are public unis, they are not private and for profit unis. The academics at these unis will never give away their degrees for money.

I think what the australian and especially the uk unis are trying to do is tjat they are trying to extend their education to the poorer countries to give the people there a chance to gain a respected qualification and carve out a better life for themselves. There is probably the slight motivation that they can also rake in some extra money for the university to spend on new facilities, research etc but it is clearly not the main motivation. They are not just trying to make big bucks that is for sure. If they were they wont be charging fees that are so cheap. They would be doing what many schools in the US are doing - charging 30000 gbp for a degree and 20000gbp for a masters. In comparison, many of the uk unis offer degrees at a much cheaper price, for example the durham distance learning MA costs only about 5-7k gbp.

Have you been to China? In quite a few universities there the teachers actually ask their students for a bribe openly. Australian and UK unis will always be 1st world, becase the 3rd world countries have a long long long way to go to catch up. It will take generations for them to become 1st world that is if they ever do, by then you and I should be dead.

 

Really? Let's take the example of Charles Sturt:

http://www.itmasters.edu.au/


The master's program takes pretty much anyone for admission even if you don't have a bachelor's degree. The program can grant you up to 50% credit for your Microsoft certification that can be tested out with multiple choice questions.

The program takes hundreds of people every year, I have a friend following one of these programs and he tells me that each class has at least 100 students.

So do the math, 100 students at $2000 AUD a pop for a course that is not given by Charles Sturt but a company hired by the University to teach these courses.

So you are telling me that they are doing this just to help third world countries right? You are also telling me that these qualifications are very strong even when they grant graduate credit for technicians certifications and admit everyone in the planet that is willing to pay the money.

I can give you few examples for UK schools as well. Let's don't kid ourselves thinking that these schools do this to save the planet.

 

Hello RFV,

I checked out that site and dont really see how charles sturt is admitting everyone into their master program like you claim they were.

The entry requirement states a bachelor degree. If you do not have a bachelor, you may be admitted into their graduate certificate program if you have 7 years of professional experience. I dont really think that is "everyone" is it? Do you have 7 years of verifiable professional experience in IT yourself?

I also read that they grant credits for prior study. What is wrong with that? Apparently their IT master degrees does cover some certification and so they are giving credit to those who already completed these certification. I have looked at their credit granting criteria it seems to meet the standard for any university.

Even if you get into the program, you got to work hard and pass all your assignments to earn your master. It is not like they get admitted and play computer games all day long and at the end of the year, receive their master degrees, which is what you are making it sound like. If they manage to pass the assessments set by charles sturt they receive their degrees, fair enough for me really.

Admittedly I am not too familiar with Australian university but many respectable UK universities are not really into it for the money though it is possibly a slight motivation for them. Just take my previous example of Durham charging 5-7k gbp for its distance learning masters. Durham is a top quality school well known throughout the world. If Durham wanted to make money, it could easily enter the US market and start charging the rates (20k-30k gbp) that some of the private US schools charge easily given its prestige and reputation. I am sure plenty of enlightened US students would gladly choose to study with Durham as compared to many of the private schools in the US. The same goes for the uni of london, uni of wales and many many others.

Actually it seems that Durham is charging those in India only 3500 gbp for its masters programme though I am not sure if the price is updated. Take a look at http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-education-onlinecourses-ma-mgmt.htm

The British council there also provides a classroom for the distance learning students to gather and discuss their school work. If Durham was into it for the money, it definately wouldnt be so cheap and they definately wouldnt bother with India which is a low income country. Believe it or not, the UK government under Brown actually spent 100 million GBP dollars buying mosquitoes nets for Africa to help them eradicate dengue fever

Charles sturt is not exactly a top australian university, but no one is kidding you, even they are not giving away their degrees. I am not telling you that all these qualifications are "very strong" there are some lower tier unis who are obviously "less strong" that respectable ones. If you want a strong qualification study with a "strong" school it is as simple as that. But as long as the uni you are studying with is properly accredited by the country it is in , your degree would be recognised for all official purposes.

 

In 2005 this firm was boasting that the U. of Wales had given them responsibility for overseeing quality assurance for U. of Wales validated programs throughout South Asia and the Middle East. They are still selling those kind of services and still feature a link entitled "Representative of the Validation Unit of the University of Wales, UK".

The problem is that if the overseas firm was unwilling or incapable of recognizing a business partner's let's say less-than-wonderful qualities, then how could that firm credibly perform the kind of quality assurance duties that Wales had delegated to it?

That in turn casts a shadow of doubt over many Wales validated institutions in that part of the world, to say nothing of the Wales validation unit's care and competence in choosing its international partners.

 

Bill dayson. I don't get what you are yabbling and babbling at. The tasmac india website with the link "Representative of the Validation Unit of the University of Wales, UK" is just bad English. They are just trying to say they are authorised and validated by the Uni of wales to offer their degrees. It does not mean their are trying to say they have power over the whole of SE Asia or whatever crap you are driving at. Sometimes the English spoken by Indians in India is not exactly "standard English" if you know what I mean.

As for adam smith or whatever, I don't see Tasmac offering that course anywhere at all on their website.

You say the validation proccess by the uni of wales has been casted "a shadow of doubt" over blah blah blah. I tell you that the QAA in UK has given the validation process used by the uni of wales a verdict of "broad confidence" which is the highest possible rating. So between a "Bill dayson" on the internet and the QAA of the UK, I guess I have to believe what the QAA says. Sorry about that! Go read the QAA report on the federal uni of wales when you are free...and if you have enough intelligence to read that is.

Yes yes I know, keep attacking the uni of wales if you want , you can go on and on forever. It is your right to say what you want even even if you are delusional. The bottom line is I wish for the readers to know I am very proud to be an alumni. There are so many MPs in the UK and prominent people in every industry that have the same uni of wales degree that I have. I am very proud and honoured to hold the same degree as they do!

PS: pardon my english it is 3am here and I am sleepy.
PPS: i wont be replying to anymore of these nonsense because it is apparent that replying to fools and delusional idiots is a waste of time

 

It is good that jeeeeeewhatever has decided to stop posting for a bit because I just sent him on a 30 day vacation. The repeated rude, insulting comments are a violation of the TOS as are his multiple registrations.

Please don't try to re-register under another name.

 

I want to study Newcastle College for MBA which is validated and awarded by the University of Wales. This cost around 10000GBP. Are there any better and cheaper options I can get in England? Here to inform you that im outside EU. So i need work permit. And in Newcastle College website they told extra 24 month work visa. Please someone describe me about all this. I am not so familiar with all this UK system....thx

 

It's not true that there is always a difference between external and internal degrees (apart from the obvious mode of attendance). At least in the U.S., it's becoming quite common for universities to offer a distance degree that is exactly the same as the on-campus version - same entrance requirements, same assignments, same tests on the same day etc. No distinction is made on either transcripts or diploma on how the degree was earned.

It's true that UoL does not use this model. However, I can vouch for the quality and rigor of a UoL degree, as a graduate of the external program. The assignments and grading were extremely tough, and the exams required complete preparation. The awarding of honors upon completion is extremely difficult to obtain.

I'm not sure what it means that an employer won't "acknowledge" the degree. I think what you mean is that there are individuals who don't approve of that mode of earning a degree. Perhaps they don't think it is rigorous enough when compared to UoL internal degrees. That's a personal opinion. Strictly speaking, the degree must be acknowledged, as it has the UK-equivalent of U.S. regional accredidation.

You need a better reason for why students prefer the Open University to an UoL external degree. You say locals know that a UoL external degree is not a real (internal) UoL degree? Ok, fine, so they opt for a degree/institution that has no "real" counterpart for comparison.

 

20k usd doctorates

Next stop DOCTORATE DEGREES at around 20K USD

Hitting RDI next year.....

You might want to get two of them, and get a second frame for 1 cent.

 

How do you define "local"? In the North of the UK I knew several people who obtained the Bachelor degree from UoL (by correspondance in pre-Internet times). It was the only way to earn a degree in earlier days apart from attending a university full time. The Open University is a relatively new concept.

One of the UKs best known engineers, Barnes Wallace, obtained his engineering degree from UoL back in the twentes via correspondance.
(One of his inventions was the topic of my ERAU masters thesis.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_Wallis