Anyone has any idea about Roberb Kennedy College?

I am considering to get an online course of Marketing there, any reference ?

 

Have to pick one , right ?:happysad:

 

go to www.geteucated.com for a list of accredited schools.

 

Go to Robert Kennedy College if you want to -- but I wouldn't.

(1) Its name. The school claims it hasn't just "taken" its name from the famous RFK, deceased brother of the former President. It's supposed to be named after some long-deceased New York banker, and nobody I know of can find any biographical info on this individual. AFAIK, the school hasn't provided any, either.

(2) This is (maybe) not as bad as it sounds - but the school itself has no institutional accreditation or equivalent. Its Cantonal permission allows it to confer degrees, but these degrees do not have the standing of those from Swiss Federation Universities. Due to requirements, it's pretty well impossible to set up a distance school in Switzerland that meets Swiss federation standards - at least 100 full-time professors, buildings, etc. etc. So private schools all incorporate under Cantonal provisions. Some are great - some are not. I don't think this one is.

(3) Most of its degrees are nowadays "validated" by one of two British Universities: University of Cumbria and York St John University. U. of Cumbria is only six years old and has had a financially troubled road, narrowly escaping bankruptcy in 2012. I'm sure they're glad of the cash they get from Robert Kennedy College "validations." Yes, it's legal - but do you really want a degree validated by this school?

My own thoughts on "validation." If the school can't stand on its own -- find one that can.

Johann.

 

Hey, the OP is looking at a marketing degree, isn't he? Then he should already know something about brand recognition! And this place has either negative or at best zero brand recognition. There are RA US schools where an AACSB-accredited Master's can be had for around $10K. Use the search-gadget and find them. They're posted on the forum.

Spending $13K on this school is simply NOT an MBA-worthy (or prospective MBA-worthy) business decision.

Like I said - find a degree that can stand on its own. You deserve better than a propped-up "validation." Nah, not even for $5K, let alone $13K ...

Johann

 

Roberb Kennedy College? Learn to spell before undertaking graduate school.

 

Cumbria and York St. John don't "validate" the degree. They award it. "Validation" is a form of approval/recognition we've seen a few times where an otherwise recognized university puts its stamp of approval on the degrees awarded by an otherwise unrecognized university.

In the arrangement in question, the student receives a degree from one of those to UK schools.

York St John has been operating for more than 170 years, but only became a university with its own degree-granting powers in 2006. (From 1990 to 2006 it was part of the University of Leeds, which conferred degrees earned at York St John.) The Guardian ranks it 96th in research (of 117 UK schools). By comparison, two other UK schools we talk a lot about are ranked 17th (U. of Leicester) and 27th (Heriot-Watt U.).

Cumbria (89th) is the product of a merger of several other schools that used to teach leading to the award of degrees from Lancaster. It was formed and given degree-granting authority in 2007. It had some financial troubles in 2010, but now has a positive cash flow. I'm not sure "bankruptcy" would apply here, as Cumbria is a public uni.

What does it all mean? Well, it is quite common to see British schools conducting programs that lead to degrees awarded by UK universities. Less common are arrangements where foreign schools conduct the tuition leading to British degrees, but it does happen. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, and it is not uniquely British. (UoP got its start this way.) But as noted above, there have been problems. And in the UK, the "post-1992" universities (those given degree-granting authorities during and after the big wave in 1992 when many existing schools were "universitized" and began awarding their own degrees) are not always well-respected. In fact, I know it is quite common for the "pre-1992" universities to require doctoral examiners to come from other pre-1992 universities. There are two distinct tiers, at least for now.

So, you have a dodgy school (RKC has not always been a nice player) conducting programs leading to degrees from two very new UK universities. Nothing illegal, and the process will lead to good UK degrees. (Again, not "validation" by them, but degrees from them.) But you might be able to do better elsewhere.

 

Why? One bad school deserves another! :jester:

Johann

 

Gee, 20 more typos and you're at 11,000 posts. All of which, I'm sure, have no typos. (To be fair, the OP did it twice. Perhaps not a typo, but instead a mistake?)

 

That's the way U of Wales validation worked. Your degree said "U. of Wales" but that didn't make the highly suspect process any better. If the school I actually attend can't stand on its own, I don't care if they print "Harvard" on the diploma. Well, in that particular case I'd make an exception, but it's not gonna happen. For this money, I'd want WAY better than the low-ranked stuff offered.

Yes, it seems it might despite that, Rich. The exact word was widely used by both the press and University officials themselves.
Quote: "If we didn’t get our £5m loan last July we would’ve been bankrupt." - Prof. Upton
News & Star | News | News Focus |

Want 20 more "bankrupt" quotes? I can find 'em.

Indeed we do. So why bother? Go get an AACSB-accredited degree at a RA school. And save $3K. There is no good reason and very little in the way of excuses to choose RKC over any number of better schools.

And the Nobel Prize for Understatement goes to...Dr. Rich Douglas. :jester:

Johann

 

Interestingly two popular definitions for typo include language to the effect of it being a mistake.

typographical error
n.
A mistake in printing, typesetting, or typing, especially one caused by striking an incorrect key on a keyboard.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

typograph′ical er′ror
n.
an error in printed or typewritten matter resulting from a mistake in typing or from mechanical failure.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

I for one never made erroneous entries on an internet forum. Good "typesmanship" is akin to cleanliness. LOL.

 

Johann might be on to something. It turns out a lot of the British unis are set up as not-for profit charities. They're expected to pay their way. If they fail, however, their assets probably wouldn't go to the creditors directly (like in a liquidation). It looks like the government owns and operates these and would be on the hook to pay the debts if the school fails. The government would also try to merge the failed school into others, or sell it to a private school. (Not just the assets, like in a liquidation, but the school's operations.)

But there is a real difference between "validation" and what RKC is doing. RKC is teaching as a proxy for the schools in question. Those schools aren't "validating" RKC's degrees. They're issuing their own.

Still, we agree that this is probably a bad idea. I don't see an advantage, unless it's easier to go this route and/or the others are closed to one.

 

Unfortunately, municipalities and counties officially file for bankruptcy on a fairly frequent basis in the US. These are "public" institutions, aren't they? I don't see much difference between that kind of event and a school going bankrupt. We even talk of the possibility of countries (e.g. Greece) "going bankrupt" though such an event would probably be referred to (officially) as "default" and be handled differently in practice than the bankruptcy of an individual or a corporation.

Anyway, the press and the University itself used the word "bankruptcy." They were comfortable with the word, if not the idea.

No, there isn't.

You pay/go to umm... Fazley College in Malaysia and get a University of Wales degree. They called it "validation."
You pay/go to RKC and get a U. of Cumbria degree. They call it "partnership." What's the difference?

U. of Wales came to grief. I think Cumbria might, too. Who knows?

Johann

 

The difference is in who awards the degree. When Southern Cross University was doing it, they were charging a fee on top of what the degree-granting school was charging in order to "validate" the degree. It was like an endorsement. But you didn't get a Southern Cross degree. But perhaps I'm too strident in making this distinction since some schools, as you point out, use the term "validation" when conducting the instruction that leads to another school's degree.

As for bankruptcy, I think we can agree that the term is used all over the place, but it doesn't appear these institutions actually go through a liquidation-type bankruptcy. But they can--even in the case of countries--default on their debts. But if Greece defaults, I don't think bondholders get a piece of the Acropolis.

All in all, I'm trying to draw clean distinctions where the term usage is anything but. This is folly on my part.

 

"It is approved by a Swiss canton, but its degrees are not recognized for use at other Swiss universities. Degrees issued by the University of Wales based on work done at Robert Kennedy are acceptable."

From the Oregon List. The RKC-earned degrees were issued by Wales. Just like the U Cumbria ones. No difference.

Johann

 

I don't think anyone said there was a difference between the previous situation with Wales and the current ones.

I would suggest that, if "validation" has multiple meanings, then prospective students would do well to ensure they know how that term is applied in whatever situations they contemplate. Because how that term is used really matters.