advice one step abv. degree mill?

I have 210 cr. hrs. from SUNY< fully accredited. REally. An AAS and BS. 72 cr. hrs. are post BS. I did all but thesis in a suny MS in ed. rdg. I am looking for a non diploma mill. Legally chartered as a school to award degrees. I want to add MS to my business card, probably Resume, maybe apps. I have a job and MS is not required. I would not ask my employer for the extra pay. Can anybody help. This is essentially how I got my BS from Regents colege. I never took one course. Many of the schools I have checked are in ch 21 of Bears, not the mills ch., but they are universaly slammed here. My BS work was done in SUNY in a converted factory across from Utica Club Brewery. If you get my perspective.

 

No offense, but the best advice that I can give you is to take a writing class. The ability to present yourself (and your company) well will probably be of more value to you than a degree from an unrecognized school.

Uh... didn't you just say that you have 210 credit hours from SUNY? You're trolling us, aren't you?

So what is it that you want? Do you want us to recommend a crappy school and tell you that it's great?

 

I am not trolling you. I am extremely informal with email. I guess I see it as an extremely informal forum. I did say I did not take take a single course "for my BS from Regents College." They accepted the transcripts for the courses I had taken at MVCC, Utica, NY and the Upper Div. College at Utica/Rome, now College of Tech., Utica, (then in the factory across from the brewery) and I essentailly CLEP'ed out the remainder. My Regents College Diploma # is 2311. The total fees for that evaluation and issuance were under 500.00 through my military base ed, ctr.
It is true that Bear has a number of schools listed other than in the Diploma Mill Chapter, so that would allow one to infer that they are not diploma mills. However, here, those schools are referred to as diploma mills or phraseology to that effect.
What I am asking is do you know of a non accredited school that might take all my transcripts and award an MS for purposes of my self satisfaction post nominally. I am trying to show that Ihave used non traditionalmeans in the past. It is OK if the venue is not accredited. Is this that unclear. Could I have recieved some help without this degree of explanation?

 

What I distill here is that you want to obtain a graduate degree and are wondering if there are programs that will accept your graduate credits in transfer just like what Excelsior (Regents) did for your undergraduate degree.

First at the RA level, schools that accept graduate credit are very limited in the amount of graduate credit awarded. One of the most liberal is the Excelsior MLS but it still requires original work. Some students have also had good luck with transfers into Capella University.

You may want to check into DETC schools as they may be a bit more liberal but I expect also have limits. I haven't looked into too many DETC master programs to be certain here.

As for an unaccredited school it just depends what you want the MS for? Hang it on the wall? Show that you have done some graduate learning! If you want to spend your money and do this a school like California Coast U is an option. If you are going to use this for any future job placement then look into RA options.

John

 

Reminder -- Even a non-RA (but either state-licensed or DETC) university will require that you complete a minimum of 10 courses, exams, essays and a thesis in order to earn a Masters degree (if such a university is credible and legitimate.)

Good luck.

Working, CBM, MBA, BS, BA, AAS, AAS, AA

 

This is usually true, but there are some well-respected RA programs that only require 8-9 courses (assuming no transfer credit), without a thesis/project, for award of a master's degree. For example (off the top of my head): University of Southern California and University of Illinois.

However, I don't know of any legitimate graduate program that would just award an MS without completing any work through that school. Personally, I think that TESC, COSC, and Excelsior should offer graduate degrees using a model similar to that of their undergraduate programs. Maybe the accreditor's won't allow it (I don't know), but it seems to me that the approach would be just as legitimate at the grad level as at the undergrad level, and I imagine that there would be a pretty decent demand for it.

 

thanks

Why does Bears's guide not list the ch. 21 schools in with Diploma Mills? I got the idea (a respectful criticism of the 14th edition) that if I was not in the 'mills" ch. I was legit.
Just for the record, what is one step up from a Diploma Mill.?
What school is the first one to get listed in the unacredited?
What would a dip. mill have to do to get out of that neighborhood.
What is the minimum venue for truly being able to say, I have thus and such degree, period.
OBTW Excelsior now is tighter they wanted 18 Cr. Hrs.
I apologize to the admin. I have used too much bandwidth and will go back to lurking unless I can help you.

 

The University of Indiana offers graduate degrees in Reading, if that is where your interest lies. It is not "one step above a degree mill", but if you are looking for a good progam, with a degree that will be accepted without question, then it may work for you.

Also, SUNY is now offering an on-line program of courses through the various colleges in the SUNY system. I haven't checked them out, but my wife and daughter are both teachers and have looked at the programs and found them acceptable.

Wes

 

Is a non-RA college or non-RA university not a diploma mill if it is licensed by the state department of education where the school is located?

Thank you.

Working, CBM, MBA, BS, BA, AAS, AAS, AA

 

i) There is more recognized (by the US Dept of Ed/CHEA) accreditation than RA.

ii) If you mean by 'non RA' a school without recognized accreditation, I suppose it depends on the school, the state, and how you define diploma mill.

iii) a non accredited school is quite likely to be substandard in some form. This form may range from quality to limitation of utility.

iv) Not all unaccredited schools are mills. Bob Jones University is unaccredited, has well regarded academics, successful graduates (score very well on teacher exams). Yet, a graduate may find some doors closed. Eg. no graduate of an unaccredited school would be employed by the organization I work for........none.........ever..........if the degree were required for the job.

North

 

I agree with the previous posters.

Even most state approved schools will still require coursework completed within their program to be awarded the degree. For example, I am enrolled in the MS in Management program at Pacific Western, CA Approved. The program can not be completed under nine months. Ten credits can be transfered in/ACE portfolio granted, the remaining 30 are completed thru coursework, and a Thesis is required.

The PW HI MS program although more liberal, still requires 30 credits to be earned within their program, which is comprised of a series of asssigned correspondence courses, a qualifying project and Thesis.

RJT

 

Russ 177: "Why does Bears's guide not list the ch. 21 schools in with Diploma Mills?"

Bear: There are quite a few that I'd love to, but I cannot, in good conscience do so, if they operate legally in their place of business. The state of Alabama, for instance, seems to automatically approve anyone who applies, even if their "campus" is a mailbox address. But if I called a school that has official Alabama approval a degree mill, I would be way out on a legal limb (and I have been sued 7 or perhaps it is 8 times by schools that didn't like what I said about them and/or which section I put them in).

So the best I can do is make it clear that certain schools and degrees have little or no acceptance in the academic world, which is information the degree-seeker can use, along with other information, to help make a decision.