APUS withdrawing DETC accredidation

First of all, I don't think any school really needs national and regional accreditation. Since RA is held up as the gold standard in accreditation, it would make sense for a school to eventually drop NA and just go with RA. I wouldn't read any more into it than that.

Second, no...NA schools aren't as widely accepted as RA schools for employment, transfer credit or continuing studies at other RA schools.

Third, this is irrelevant to me, as I have gained employment in part based upon my continuing studies at NA schools, and my NA credits have been accepted at RA schools. Everyone else is entitled to their own opinion, but NA schools have helped me further my education. That's really all I care about.

 

I never said there was. I just said, "This is exactly why I never recommend people go for a DETC BS thinking they can roll into a RA or dual accreditied masters - you may have plans but the rules can change in a day. "

I have a CCU BS and MBA and it has served me well...actually I got it before they were even accreditied and it served me well!

 

Wake me up when a school drops RA in favor of DETC accreditation. That's when we'll be witnessing an act of true equity. Don't hold your breath, though.

 

I don't think anyone has claimed equity.

 

Does Ellis Count?

 

Have you posted your story in the DETC Success Stories thread in the Accreditation sub-forum?

 

No. Ellis has never been RA as a free-standing uni, just when it was Ellis College of NYIT. Odd that it didn't get candidacy for RA right out of the gate, or even accreditation (as TUI did when it split from Touro College).

 

Of course not; that would be an absurd and easily refuted claim. Instead, the claims are murkier and rather dodgy when put to light.

 

Perhaps the "accreditation game" has changed some? What I mean is that DETC was NECESSARY only a few years ago before RA would consider fully distance programs for accreditation. Things have changed significantly with the flood of online learning in the last decade and a half. It was only 15-16 years ago that UOP was cutting edge with entire degree programs with coursework one night a week.

Has DETC become now a tier-2 school accreditor in a world that has caught up with them?

 

You crack me up. Like I have always said, that is just my experience. Every school operating out of a strip mall appears to hold DETC accreditation. I haven't traveled the world checking out all of the DETC schools, but from the schools I've seen, I've never been impressed. But that's just my experience, and your experience may differ. So take a breath and have some fudge . . . its not the end of the world.

 

That's a major exaggeration, considering that the DETC only accredits 94 schools in total. Quite a few (probably most) of the DETC schools aren't operated out of strip malls.

I also don't quite understand what kind of facility expectation you have on schools that teach by distance only, or even what difference it's supposed to make? It would seem kind of ridiculous to have a massive building for a school where students can't attend it in person, and this has nothing to do with accreditation since you can find RA schools that only engage in DL having humble facilities.

At the end of the day, it's more important to worry about the type of education a program can provide you rather than worry about the impressiveness of a building where you'll never be taking a single class.

 

Liberty almost did for TRACS, but dropping RA wouldn't have been voluntary. :biggrin:

 

Let's not be quick to denigrate strip malls. Not only do they contain many fine universities accredited by DETC, they also offer some of the best dollar stores around.

About a decade ago I toured what was then called the California College for Health Sciences (now Independence University, still accredited by DETC). Occupying several buildings in an office complex, CCHS looked every bit the part of a DL-only school running a good operation. Well-staffed and well-run, it appeared.

About the same time (perhaps on the same trip home), I "toured" California Pacific University's offices in Miramar. (They've moved around a few times over the years.) Office about the size of a dental practice with just a few employees. It wasn't clear how students' work was administered, measured, etc.

I guess what I'm saying is you can run a DL only school from an office, but it should be one big enough and staffed enough to get the job done.

 

It cracks me up how a distance learning expert is now trying to discredit distance learning schools because they don't have enough office space.

That is exactly what DL naysayers do. Some feel superior because they sat in a fancy building learning while all of us idiots sit in our underwear somewhere in a trailer park learning nonsense.

Union almost got their tiny school shut down by the state and was close to going broke. Matter of fact, the school seemed more unstable than many DETC school. I'd say that you could probably get a great education at a tiny, almost broke school that is under question by the state.

 

Your right, it was an exaggeration. . . . but my point of view remains the same. Might not be a popular opinion, but that is what makes this country great.

 

There are other conclusions available from the same conversation than that one is trying to "discredit distance learning schools."

This is unfortunate hyperbole that fails to reflect the actual conversation in any way.

Yet it operated multiple campuses and held residential sessions around the country. Go figure.

You might. You also might get a great education at a DETC-accredited school. Sadly, you'll get a degree that will not be accepted in some situations. And all this whining won't change that.

 

I will take your advice, wise one, I will head straight to Virginia Beach and go to the first trendy overpriced fudge shop and get a slice of dark chocolate and a glass dolphin statue

 

lol.......

 

Wow...we've gone 4 pages and even have delved into the "strip mall" language and still not one mention of ACICS?

By the by...it wasn't too long ago non-profits like Amberton University (among others) and for profit schools like Phoenix were being criticized for operating out of professional office space rather than a "campus". Not that I have seen a lot of distance ed schools in strip malls (other than some career schools) but I thought I'd bring that up.