A friend keeps trying to persuade me NOT to do DL, because...

I put as much stock in this story as I do the UoPSucks websites. I would love to know what drew them to this conclusion - In testimony before Congress last year, investigators for the General Accounting Office identified California Coast as a diploma mill.

 

Maybe this:

GAO special agent Paul DeSaulniers told The Seattle Times this week that his investigation showed that California Coast University sold degrees for a flat fee.

 

All regionally and nationally accredited schools in the United States sells degrees. They are in the business of selling degrees. The only difference is that a degree requires work. The student may receive the purchased product once the work is completed. Did California Coast sell degrees without any work on the part of the student?

Northcentral University is regionally accredited and they allow students to pay a flat fee for the entire degree program. "A Learner may pre-pay the tuition for his or her entire degree program at any time during their program with NCU."

MisterTEB, you could consider NCU. The university is self paced and you can start a course or two every month.

http://www.ncu.edu/financing/payment_plans.aspx

 

U.S. Officials Sport Fake Degrees
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2004/05/63436?currentPage=all

 

A government employee is supposed to produce an accredited degree. All this shows is some government employees used a UA degree for a promotion or raise when they should not have. CCU has never officially been identified as a "mill", otherwise it would have been shut down. Several years ago, many distance learning schools were investigated by the FBI as part of "mill" sweep. CCU was one of the schools. It was determined CCU was not a mill.

Why is CCU mentioned in the GAO report? Because some government employees used UA degrees for promotions. Any branch of government requires NA or RA for a promotion or position qualification. Bear in mind, as the article states, there are legit UA schools that require coursework. CCU was one of them until it received NA in 2005.

Abner

 

"But unaccredited schools range from legitimate distance-learning programs that include course work, tests and teacher feedback to "schools" that grant degrees solely based on life and work experience."

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2004/05/63436?currentPage=all

Not all unaccredited schools in California are bogus degree mills.

Does anyone know if California Coast sold degrees for a fee without any work required? If cal coast was state approved before accreditation in 2005 and required some amount of work, I would not necessarily call them a bogus degreemill.

 

The article you are posting were written before CCU became an accredited school.

It became DETC accredited in 2005.

 

No they did not sell degrees for a fee without coursework. As a matter of fact, I have catalogs pre-NA showing the required coursework. Randell can tell you this himself as well. He attended CCU pre-DETC.



Abner

 

Getting back to the original post...

There will always be "friends" who will try to talk you out of something. They will give you helpful advice like:

"Don't start that business, there's a lot of risk involved."

"Don't go into acting. Most actors are unemployed."

"Don't try to become a TV reporter. It's a highly competitive business with little chance of success." (a piece of advice I received, before I became a TV reporter and worked in broadcasting for more than 20 years).

"Don't try to get your degree online, it will never be taken seriously."

If you let well-meaning, but misinformed people who are unwilling to take risks or chances in life talk you out of something, you will always be in the same position you are right now. I have disassociated myself from people who were always quick to give me advice but had little success in their own lives. As a result, I have seen and done things they could only dream of.

Check out this article: http://www.genomeweb.com/bioregionnews/roger-stoll-norman-hardman-jason-stein-john-gill-steven-nichtberger-reid-dulberg

One of the principles is a graduate of CCU and later earned an MBA from Harvard. I don't think Harvard is in the habit of admitting students who graduated from so-called "diploma mills".

CCU was never a diploma mill. It has a checkered history, as do some other NA schools prior to their receiving accreditation. There are also people who graduated from well-respected universities who later turned out to be bad actors. Bernie Madoff, who pulled off the largest Ponzi scheme in US history, is a graduate of Hofstra University. That piece of information has as much relevance as the FEMA official who graduated from CCU.

 

Tcord, thanks for those words.

 

What is the general consensus on Western Governors University? (If I end up not finding a Social Work program that fits me, I definitely want to go for Elementary Ed,and WGU has all I need: self-paced, very affordable, accredited, etc)

 

I think this may not be entirely accurate. Are there reputable schools out there that would care? Absolutely. Is that number shrinking daily? Absolutely.

I think what many of us have been working toward is that residential and online degrees and diplomas will be treated as identical by all schools. I think that we are getting closer, but I also caution folks to do their due diligence.

If you are thinking about graduate school after completing your bachelor's degree, it's probably a good idea to ask potential graduate schools about acceptability of your potential online degree.



Tom Nixon

 

Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) offered via distance education from universities in Canada. All post-secondary institutions in Canada are regulated and approved by the appropriate provincial or territorial government.

Dalhousie University: Bachelor of Social Work
University of Manitoba: Bachelor of Social Work
University of Victoria: Bachelor of Social Work
University of Calgary: Bachelor of Social Work

 

If it wasn't for the NA Ashworth College it is unlikely I would have ever gone back to school or at least not beyond the AS level. I remember that my educational goals were to earn an associates degree and that's it, I didn't think I could pursue a BS or grad degree as the option to just not work wasn't an option. The self paced learning method allowed me room to make mistakes in my scheduling, etc. and get up to speed on becoming an effective student with relatively little or no pain. After I completed an AS I figured I might as well try a BS and well, the rest has been history.

I have no problem with NA schools. For me they were the most flexible and inexpensive option available. They were non-threatening, easy to finance through without incurring a ton of debt and the method of learning was comfortable. I don't think I would have gotten the same results from a RA school at that time. I was also able to later transfer in to a RA BS program, though not without some difficulty.

Oh and the people who kept telling me what a mistake I was making? None of them have a degree, even to this day.

 

Are degrees from Canadian institutions accepted/validated here? I mean, will a potential employer give me a hard time for graduating from a Canadian college?

 

It depends mostly on whether licensing is a requirement to be a social worker in the US and in that case you are advised to check with the appropriate licensing authority in your state.

Canadian universities have very high standards to be meet and since all are publicly funded institutions the government serves as the sole arbiter regarding the opening of any new university and the continuing operation of such institutions. The closest equivalent in the US are regionally accredited post-secondary institutions. Do not confuse this with state-approved schools as is practiced in the US. If law school graduates from Canada have successfully worked in the US as lawyers, after passing the appropriate bar examination of course, you can rest assured universities in Canada are well regarded internationally.

 

Most American employers won't even ask you for a foreign credential evaluation if your degree is from a Canadian School. Canadian schools are normally considered the equivalent to second tier American schools.

 

Is that a good or a bad thing? I am seriously asking...I honestly can't tell.

The thing is that the National Council On Social Work allegedly has to accredit Social Work degrees in the USA, and they usually don't accredit online SW courses (except for one they did, Metroplitan State College in Denver...don't ask me why they chose that particular institution to be the only one in the country to have a NCOSW-approved distance learning SW degree, they simply did)...

I'm confused...

 

Hi Mister,

As a graduate of CCU, i strongly recommend you if CCU's programs suit your needs and the method of study is what you are looking for. Graduated with a BSc from CCU. I have no difficulty in applying for Masters programs with Rutgers University and CUNY. Both RA with AACSB accreditation. BUt i chose CUNY instead.

Just my 2 cents

 

How has the CUNY thing been going? Did they admit you? Did they give you a hard time?