Degree From "Diploma Mill" Using Real Courses?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Filmmaker2Be, Jan 1, 2015.

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  1. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    The OP has been pointed to schools that accept 15-18 graduate transfer credits in another thread. I guess the OP is not interested in those. I don't know if there are any legally operating, unaccredited schools that accept close to 30 graduate transfer credits. Religious schools might be able to get around this, but unaccredited schools still have to meet standards set by the state. But, would a legitimate, religious school even have degree programs that will accept journalism and digital media credits?

    I agree with the others. If you are willing to attend a diploma mill, then you might as well create your own diploma. You'll probably be breaking the law either way by falsely claiming a legitimate degree. Employers are not going to respect you for breaking the law and being dishonest.
     
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  2. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I thought of an analogy that might put this into perspective. Using 28.5 legitimate credits to earn a degree from a diploma mill is almost like stealing $10 and bragging that the other $90 in your wallet were earned legitimately.
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  3. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    From what you describe, you don't really want to transfer your courses to a diploma mill. At a diploma mill, all you have to do is give them your name, the desired degree title, someimes even the date you want youyr degree backdated to, sometimes the name of your desired alma mater, and your credit card number. They don't deal with coursework, but some degree mills will issue you a fake transcript (which might cost you a little more if you want a 4.o GPA). You seem to be mixing up the difference between a degree mill and an unaccredited school. Some unaccredited schools are degree mills while other unaccredited are legitimate school. Dr. John Bear, who is a member of this very board, has spent years writing copiously about distance learning and degree mills. He can help you determine which unaccredited schools are good schools and which unaccredited schools are degree mills. But you don't necessarily have to settle for an unaccredited school. You couild find some accredited school that bases its degrees on establishing competencies rather than on passing coursework. New Charter University www.new.edu, Patten University Patten University offers the chance to earn a college degree debt free, and Western Governors University Online University | Online Degree Programs | WGU come to mind. You might also shop around at the Big Three: Charter Oak State College Finish your Degree Online - Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College Excelsior College | Excelsior College, and Thomas Edison State College College Degrees for Adults at Thomas Edison State College. Come to think of it, there are some certain states (though I forget which ones) that are in the process of establishing their own state universities based on establishing competencies (or establishing competencies based proigramns within their existing state universities).
     
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  4. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Outside of Excelsior accepting up to 15 transfer credits for its MA in Liberal Studies, the Big 3 aren't anymore flexible than other schools when it comes to graduate studies. Charter Oak doesn't even offer master's degrees. The competency-based programs are unrelated to the OP's previous field of study, so he or she would be learning about a different field from the ground up.
     
  5. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    Let's assume for a moment that we aren't talking about diploma mills, but rather just unaccredited schools. It has been mentioned that not all unaccredited schools are mills. There are schools which are licensed to operate in California, but not necessarily accredited. I'm not sure what their transfer policies are, but that is the one place I can think to steer the OP, other than unaccredited religious schools.

    https://app.dca.ca.gov/bppe/view-voc-names.asp?program_keyword=master&city=&Submit=Search

    I think the suggestion to seek out a competency-based program is a good one. While you may not get direct transfer credit for all the courses you have taken, you can quickly work through the rest of the requirements where you already have the knowledge.
     
  6. guyfawkes

    guyfawkes Member

    Sorry for posting on an old thread; I love this site and enjoy reading through various threads. What schools accept a transfer of 18 graduate credits? I've never heard of a program accepting that many.
     
  7. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Ram actually there is such a thing. I know prominent people who think and argue hard that NA universities are diploma mills. They attack NA graduates in discussion groups on Linked In etc.

    Again I don't know if they are mill or not.
    So what once calls diploma mill may not be a diploma mill.
    As to the tread obviously no one will recommend or suggest you get a milled degree.

    I was told by a friend that a university in Luxenburg will take all your credits and then let you complete by VAE.

    Suche » eufom European University for Economics & Management

    Accredited by Luxenburg Ministry of Education.

    I know very little about it.
     
  8. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    I don't remember reading this thread in the past. Which is a shame, because there's some funny shit here. It's certainly a great case study in d-e-n-I-a-l.

    But it does bring to mind an old, but very cool, expression: There is no such thing as ten percent pregnant.

    I can see it now - "I have an M.A. in Digital Media from, um, Andersonville Theological Seminary."
     
    Maniac Craniac likes this.
  9. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    Lots of people like writing off schools that are, in their subjective opinion, less prestigious than their own school. I believe that is the working definition Steve F. uses for a diploma mill, in fact.

    It isn't new. It has nothing to do with accreditation. The frequent write-off when I was in school was to call a place a "party school." In my neck of the woods that was frequently used to basically piss on anyone who graduated from Bloomsburg University, a perfectly legitimate school that woefully seemed to have a disproportionate number of alcohol related incidents. But the school itself didn't do anything wrong. I imagine if Harvard set up camp in a boring town in middle of nowhere Pennsylvania people would drink themselves into oblivion under that banner just as happily.

    So yeah, there are people who talk crap about NA schools. There are people who talk crap about for-profit schools. We have seen at least one account on this very board of an interviewer calling Excelsior a diploma mill.

    So here is my super special secret HR guy advice: ignore it and carry on.

    If your degree is legitimately accredited then you have nothing to be ashamed of. You can hold your head high and know that you aren't a con artist. Will it be accepted everywhere? Absolutely not. You can only really hope that most of the snickering is done behind your back and you just don't get the interview rather than be placed in an embarrassing situation. But if you do just realize that this is a big open country and other jobs will come along. Also, if your degree is that central to the job interview then you need to work on your resume. Unless this is your first adult job interview the topic of your school shouldn't really be more than a passing mention for most jobs and, I'll say many, industries.

    If you use a diploma mill degree then accept that it might just blow up in your face some day. And waving your transcripts from another school to show how you really earned those credits might convince a judge not to throw your butt in jail for fraud but it isn't going to win over employer confidence. And, as we've all said before, if that's the path you choose then just print out your own diploma. You receive no legitimacy by outsourcing that piece of paper to a diploma mill. And pick a name that doesn't sound fake as all hell, please. Take a little pride in your fraud. Meemaw Neuhaus always used to say that if you're going to lie don't get lazy about it.*

    *Never met my grandmother but I assume this is something she might well have said based upon nothing much at all
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 12, 2016
  10. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    No. What I've said is that (1) many people refer to any school less prestigious than their own, however slightly, as a degree mill, and that (2) those people are wrong.
     
  11. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    My mistake. I apologize for misquoting you. But I did lift your wording so I wanted to make sure I acknowledged that you recognized the trend before I did.
     
  12. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    No worries, I just don't want to get lumped in with the people I'm calling out. :smile:
     
    Pokebreaker likes this.
  13. mintaru

    mintaru Active Member

    That school in Luxembourg no longer enrolls new students. However, there is some kind of "successor school". (Homepage | ISEC)

    Here is a press release about it. (in German): https://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=de&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.eufom.lu/aktuelles-storage/2016/eufom-university-wird-zur-hochschule-der-wirtschaft.html It seems to be a quite complex agreement between the two schools. By the way, there is also a German eufom (https://www.eufom.de/), but there is no real German counterpart to VAE in Luxembourg and France.
     
  14. laferney

    laferney Active Member

    Years ago (the early 1990's) John Bear had a book out called "100 best degrees" or something like that. I got a Master's degree from Adam Smith University and it was all based on all regionally accredited courses.. I do list it on my resume and cite that it was based on courses from accredited universities, but under additional education -not my primary listing of degrees. John Bear is a " hero" of mine and I think that the info he gave about this school was based on the information he had at that time so I don't fault him.The idea was that Adam Smith was set up like schools as Excelsior and was a good place to turn a collection of credits into a degree. I also believe ASU was sincere in their original purpose as they were up front with their accreditation status and mainly awarded credits based on legitimate course, certifications or diplomas. Since then ASU has been seen as a less than wonderful school. The degree has been of little value in the work world. So I agree it might be best to just list on your resume that you have so many additional credits rather a a degree of limited value.
     
  15. Heiling Keller

    Heiling Keller New Member

    thanks. You can be rest assured you have something of value.
     
  16. Heiling Keller

    Heiling Keller New Member

    Lecture in 1755, quoted in Dugald Stewart, Account Of The Life And Writings Of Adam Smith LLD, Section IV, 25.

    …and human empathy

    How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.
    The Theory Of Moral Sentiments, Part I, Section I, Chapter I, p. 9, para.1.
     

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