California Coast University or Pacific Western University(California)

Exactly what obscure RA schools? I know of none that would even consider the degree mill tatics that posters have already admitted CCU/CPU/etc. uses. (Beginning to think this is Ken's new persona)

 

Sure, but how strictly is it enforced nationally? Also many people have become officers in the Army, Air Force, etc. with Cal Coast degrees. Many companies and governmental institutions which *require* RA approved degrees have provisions for exceptions. Even RA universities accept Cal Coast credits at least in a limited fashion. Famous people and people with *life experience get accepted (and are awarded credit) to prestigous academic institutions all the time without fulfilling necessary requirements.
Like I said before, If you are in a position where you must be legally certified to operate in your profession RA is the way to go since you would otherwise be violating the law.

 

So when Brandon/Ken/AED spammer? is asked a question he either doesn't answer or gives a total false answer. "Sure political canididates are under a lot of scrutiny but I can take a degreemill degree and get elected." "Sure pretty much all jobs require an RA degree but I can get any of 'em with a totally unaccredited and unrecognized degree." Reality is going to slam this kid in the face.

 

Athabasca University, Charter Oak State College, Excelsior. Having to explain to my potential critic that these are RA distance learning facilities and that I'm not some hick is less appealing to me than someone questioning the acceptability of a state approved CCU degree. If one has the cash to attend the above schools, why wouldn't they just take distance learning courses form university of maryland, Cal State, or one of the other comparable institutions which now offer such programs.

 

I do not consider CCU to be a degree mill so that is a moot point.
An unaccredited state approved degree is not "unrecognized". In fact, a degree from cal coast is widely recognized as evidenced by the wide variety of acceptance of their courses for transfer and the plethora of cal coast grads teaching at RA institutions.

 

BRandon,

Now I know that you have not been doing your research and are making statements that are obstinate. Calling the above RA schools obscure is a huge misnomer. Graduates of these schools:

1.) Do not have to explain that their school is unaccredited.

2.) Do not have to explain why they attended an unaccredited institution.

3.) In far far far far far greater numbers than the very few (if any) Cal Coast graduates will get into the graduate school of their choice.

4.) Have an extremely greater acceptance of their degrees by employers and do not have to explain them (Explaining this is the early DL 1970s and 80s but diminishing fear of earning an external degree).

5.) Have an alumni base that far exceeds Cal Coast. Excelsior alone has over 100,000 alumni. (Definitely not obscure)

Thus, you have not really addressed my previous question of: "How do you come by this conclusion that the cost vs benefit of Cal Coast is greater than a cheap RA?"

I am concerned that you are just making your case in order to create an arguement and use it to put down RA schools. This does a disservice to readers who may think that you are right only to find that in reality that you are wrong. Present some real facts to support your position as you are arguing by exception. It would be like me stating that you can go out an get a Columbia Commonwealth Degree and then become the next John Gray, Ph.D. (alum of Columbia Pacific University I believe). If folks buy your books you may do well.

Good luck.

John

 

Of course they're obscure. If i told people I was attending a place called "charter oak state college" or "capella university" at a cost exceeding that of Arizona State University they would say it was ludicrous. So if i were going the accredited route i wouldn't bother with these absurd schools i would go for cal state etc. Cal Coast looks like a great school. It's even in orange county. Not to mention any school that gets bashed by the New York Times can't be all that bad. Most people outside of the little "distance learning cult" have never heard of any of those other schools, and there is enough precedent to demostrate the validity of cal coast degrees in the academia, the armed forces, and in government.

 

I will agree with Brandon...............a little anyway. A very little. The uninformed layman would probably be a little more impressed with the names of California Coast, Californial Pacific, or Pacific Western then with RA schools that are not well known to the public and do not have a state in their name (It implies acceptability). So in that sense, maybe.
For potential employers or further education, well, you guys are the experts and what little I have learned backs your facts up 100%.
So, if you are going to go into politics, and most people are uniformed, then these degrees would work.......right???
maybe for the first 15 minutes, but even (or especially) uniformed people do not like to be misled. And by a politician?

Tony

 

Sure, except i don't find it very misleading as long as it is represented fairly. Such and such's bio would read that "he received his Bachelors Degree in Business from California Coast University through corrsepondence courses."

It is of course the voter's responsibility to determine whether a degree from a NA state approved institution is worthy of acceptance in politics.

 

Brandon,

With all due respect, I think that you've *decided* that you want to do a Cal Coast degree and are now trying to justify a poor decision.

There are many, many schools (including most of the ones I mentioned in my previous post) that do not have time constraints (semesters/quarters), do not require online programs, are less expensive than Cal Coast, are legal to use in all 50 states, will never be an embarrassment to you, and, overall, are much better choices than Cal Coast.

It simply isn't possible to mount a bulletproof justification for getting a Cal Coast degree over a regionally accredited one, because there *is* no rational justification for such a decision.

However, as I said before, if you've got your heart set on a second-rate degree, have at it.

 

Ya know, Brandon, I just have to say, no disrespect intended, that your logic is typical of the people that hold or are otherwise apologists for unaccredited degrees.

As to the "widely accepted in society" claim, I'd like some citations to support that. You see, a sweeping statement such as that, without citations to back it up, is meaningless.

A citation to refute that is the study of registrars done by John Bear and Rich Douglas, who found that a very, very low percentage of bricks-and-mortar school registrars would accept a Cal Coast or similar degree for advanced standing. Likewise, there are many, many job listings that state "bachelor's degree from an accredited school"


Most of the regulars at degreeinfo are people who have a lot of background in the field; we're not "crazies" or zealots or whatever, just people with a lot more knowledge and experience than you. And we're genuinely trying to help you avoid making a mistake that you will almost certainly regret some years down the road. But if you're so sure that you are far more knowledgeable and worldly than the rest of us simple people who have been working in/studying in/following this field for many years, then take your own advice and ignore ours.

 

So, do you just not *read* the posts and the rest of the content at DegreeInfo, or do you selectively ignore that which doesn't support your argument?

You've already been told that you can earn a degree, all in, from TESC or COSC, for under $3000.

You've already been told that you can, if you choose, do "old fashioned", "nostalgic, 70's style" correspondence courses at RA schools for as low as $35 per credit hour ala carte.

and yet you conveniently ignore that info and continue to state that an accredited degree would cost $14,000 and would have to be online and would be bound to a specific schedule.

None of those things are true. So with that said, what argument is left in favor of Cal Coast?

None.

Unless you happen to shill for them, which is what it's beginning to look like.

 

No, in fact i actually think its a pretty good school and am arguing the case why CCU is of comparable quality to that of the more obscure RA schools. I haven't *decided* whether or not to atten Cal Coast or Cal Pacific. Perhaps I will look into another NA California school, but many of the others do not appear to fit my needs or are run by various religious cults.

None of them are less expensive than cal coast. Please just name one that is less than 3500 for an entire bachelor's degree program.

 

I hope that everyone realizes that they are arguing with a troll.

"Brandon" appears from out of nowhere, with no history of ever having posted here before. But somehow he knows all the buttons to push. His first act is to ask Degreeinfo participants to give their opinions on three non-accredited schools. Then when those participants predictably suggest more suitable alternatives, "Brandon" launches into a running argument with everyone.

It's obvious that he never was interested in hearing any of our opinions. We are simply having our chain jerked in order to make us bark.

"Brandon" isn't going to be convinced by anything we say. He's just going to keep posting inane responses to keep us going as long as he can.

So my response is going to be to tell him that he is making a dumb choice, but if he is as 100% determined as he pretends to be, I won't try to dissuade him. I'll just wish him the best of luck in his future education (assuming that he is telling us the truth about it), then I'll wash my hands of him entirely.

 

Obscure from the point of view that the degree is unknown and worthless and Cal Coast is better. Hardly. There are over 3000 RA high ed institutions in the US. How many can you name. For CCU, how often will you have to defend your degree --

Some links to ponder:

An older article where some legislation was brought up against unaccredited degrees in CA.

http://www.ncahf.org/nl/1990/7-8.html


A satisfied CCU grad:

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-514502.html?legacy=zdnn

A CCU grad incorrectly claiming CCU is "fully accredited:"

http://www.shasta.com/forgeryfinder/


CCU questioned:

http://www.epcc.edu/ftp/Homes/elcon/120601f1.htm

The CCU grad with an alternative:
http://www.ncahf.org/nl/1994/11-12.html

An interesting article on DL by the traditional ed community. I think it misses the mark in a few areas but you can see where they lump CCU as opposed to Regents (a.k.a. Excelsior):

http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/vol2_issue1/hanna.htm

John

 

So if i do not agree with your opinion i am a troll? Excuse me, but are that arrogant that you'd expect everyone who comes here to come around to your way of thinking? Quite honestly that's very be, I won't try to dissuade him. I'll just wish him the best of luck in his future education (assuming that he is telling us the truth rude. If one has to result to ad hominem attacks it means they've lost the argument. I didn't "launch into a running argument", one was launched upon me and i merely have been defending my choices while trying to steer the thread back to which of the NA schools i mentioned were the *most* recommended. I listened to everyone's opinions. I do not have to agree with them in order for it to be determined that I listened to them.

 

I did not say that a degree from one of the lesser known RA degrees was worthless. I only argued that a Cal Coast degree was would be more or less equal after all the advantages and disadvantages were weighed and various cicumstances taken into consideration. As for defending the degree, other than this board and the kooks on usenet, i doubt i would have to defend it anymore than i would a degree from "athabasca university".

"Hey what was that place you graduated from university of south africa ha ha".

"Yeah but.. but.. they're accredited"

 

Brandon,
I considered the same three school and picked Cal Coast. They were the best school on a low budget. One of the other schools required proctored exams that would cost and additional $50 per class (don't remember which one). I went with Cal Coast and I am happy with my choice, I got just what I expected. I know six other people that have attended Cal Coast and were all happy with the school (1 PhD, 3 MBA's, 1 BS, 1 BS/MBA).
If and RA school is ruled out, go with Cal Coast.

 

Thank you randell and everyone for your responses. They have been very helpful and informative. I think I'm going to end up going to cal coast after all. After that I'm going to look into UCLA, Cal State, or another california college for further studies and getting a certificate in public administration.

 

In that case, it would be a good idea to check out requirements at your likely picks for grad school before you commit to an undergraduate program.

For example:

UCLA
... The general requirement for admission is a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution, comparable in standard and content to a bachelor’s degree from the University of California. ...
http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/admissions/CRITERIA.HTM

California State University
... you will qualify for admission if you: have completed a four-year college course of study and hold an acceptable baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting association, or shall have completed equivalent academic preparation as determined by appropriate campus authorities...
http://www.csumentor.edu/Planning/graduate_req.asp#procedure