Central University of Nicaragua Degree Scheme

It sounds like UCN is the kind of degree that will be passively acceptable--not a time bomb in your resume, but don't push things, either.

As we know, in most situations no one is going to go looking at it. If they do, they'll find a recognized university. Thus, no embarrassment. But as soon as you press--licensure, foreign degree evaluation--things get a lot more dicey. That should not be.

As John Bear reminded us, be as sure as possible that the degree you seek will meet your present and your future needs. This is an argument for being as mainstream as possible in your nontraditional choices. I'm not judging the Azteca/UCN scheme--"scheme" as in "procedure," not "scam." But you're not really attending the university and the quality controls are not really in place. Having such a degree won't likely trip you up, but you probably don't want to submit it to any real scrutiny, either.

 

I agree, a good example is the professor below, it looks like he just wanted the PhD designation and to do a dissertation in a subject he loves. He does not need it but it was a just another diploma in his large list of degrees:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-kirk-macon-ph-d-ed-d-ba45b25/

Nobody can say is a fake degree but he is not applying for tenure at Harvard either.

 

Yeah the UCN PhD credential would be good for adjuncts in terms of ROI as most adjuncts only make 2-4k per course. To teach at only one school as an adjunct would leave that instructor with a poverty level salary as a sole income that would likely be even lower than a fast food worker who works full time. For-profit schools are a disastrous qualification as an adjunct in terms of ROI. It would be best in almost all scenarios to get graduate credit or degrees from local schools to meet this requirement. My PhD will attract others to my profile but I would still need to take some additional courses to teach subjects such as mathematics (transferable/credited courses) and business. I'm thinking about possibly completing an ENEB Master's degree in addition to the free graduate certificate from ASU's Thunderbird Business School to meet the qualification for teaching business. I'm already qualified to teach education and technology courses.

 

Yes, it does not make sense to ask for a 80K loan to end with a 50K a year salary grading 100 papers a week. It is a choice, you can just get a regular job and make better money with less education but some people love the teaching field.
There is evidence of some people doing the UCN PhD for an adjunct career but most likely these people have solid experience and previous credentials. The PhD from UCN just becomes the check mark to get the job.

 

This could be said about for-profit schools as well and really any school for that matter. People should do their due diligence even with top-ranked schools because that education still may not pay off and meet individual goals overtime.

I believe everyone who does the Azteca/UCN degree are doing it for personal development/enrichment that are on this forum. I don't think anyone has any unrealistic expectations or trying to cut corners. We are all just life long learners and I would not have known or attempted programs from ENEB, Azteca, UCN, and the like if it had not been for this forum. I knew all the risks before diving in which are extremely low compared to these for-profit institutions.

 

“This could be said about for-profit schools as well and really any school for that matter.“

Oh, no. Only on a very steep sliding scale. In fact, I’m not sure we’re even talking about things that are on the same scale.

“I knew all the risks before diving in which are extremely low compared to these for-profit institutions.”

Sorry, but I just cannot buy that. I have to think a degree from, say, Capella would be far more acceptable in many more situations. These simply are not the same things.

I tend not to bash people’s choices. For example, the whole “NA vs RA” thing. I’ve always felt the proponents of NA degrees—almost always someone who’s graduated with one—earned properly accredited degrees. But they would say things that were so obviously false that it was those statements that practically demanded refutation.

There is no way the Aztecs—>UCN degree can be compared to the same degree from ANY accredited for-profit school in the US.

Again, I’m not interested in criticizing people’s choices, just their statements when it seems appropriate. And I don’t care how little or how much utility this degree can, will, or won’t bring. I don’t have a dog in the hunt anyway. But I think there’s room for both thoughts:“it’s a legitimate doctorate” and “it comes with some potentially significant limitations.” But if we’re going to go around categorizing these things, this ain’t that.

 

I was not putting them into a category per se. I was meaning to say that all schools won't serve all purposes. You are right to say that these schools cannot be compared because it is comparing apples to oranges. I was looking at Capella and other for-profit schools based on ROI. The cost and ROI for me personally would not be worth it to attend a for-profit school and I would much rather choose an affordable and accredited foreign school over a for-profit school. I would recommend anyone do a local or state school that is accredited/endorsed properly with the ability to fund it without student loans. I've never had a student loan and refuse to get one. Plus, Azteca/UCN degrees are for life-long learners in general from my perception and perspective. That's why I went with them and may do ENEB next.

 

Hey Richard,
Since you are an HR professional, I would find your opinion on this very valuable if you don't mind:
Would you recommend someone to go for the Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from HAU or for the Ph.D and master in psychology (combined) from UCN?
Which one do you believe carries more weight if one wants to build a serious career for themselves in mental health counseling at a somewhat reasonable price?
Thank you

 

For the average person, if you graduate from Capella with a PhD, they will ask you, where is that school? It is a school in Minneapolis. This is cool! I have a cousin there, it looks like a good place to study.

On the other hand, "I have a PhD from University Azteca and Universidad de Nicaragua", OK that is cool, are you Mexican? No I was born in North Carolina. That is cool, did you went there because you married a Mexican? No, I finished there an online degree. This is cool, did you finish there because you wanted to learn spanish?, No I don't speak Spanish. This is cool, was your professor a Mexican that was fluent in English? No, my professor is British but works online for Azteca. Cool, is this an accredited school? Yes, but the PhD is not valid in Mexico but the Nicaraguan degree does. Wait a minute, did you finish in Mexico or Nicaragua? Both, but only the Nicaraguan degree is valid in the US. etc, etc, etc, etc. In few words, lots questions that just might not help you to convince people that this degree is real.

 

Luckily for me they told me I am only getting the Nicaraguan degree so there is that. I understand everyone's point of view of the foreign degree. It can be a slippery slope. If I need a US doctorate, I can always do another ABD program and finish one here. After working in higher education for years and leaving, I don't really see the benefit of having one at this time so I'll settle for what I have provided they award it to me with everything going on in Nicaragua.

Just to remind everyone, I had the cost of this discharged in bankruptcy so I didn't really lose anything. It's a plus either way since I passed and have proof that I did in case I have to transfer and get a EdD or PhD elsewhere.

 

The licenciado in psychology is one of those few Azteca degrees that are accredited by RVOE.
Basically, you first take the titulo oficial from Azteca (30 US credit hours) and then you take the doctorate by dissertation from UCN (60 US credit hours).
In total one graduates with 90 credit hours spread over 2 degrees.
The licenciado courses must be completed to transfer in with the Ph.D. otherwise it won't contain the necessary courses to be licensed.
In Austria, according to Institute Avrio de Genève, this degree programme is on par with the Austrian degree requirements.
That is a statement from Institute Avrio de Genève though. No idea if it's actually true since I don't live in Austria.
If it were true, it would be very interesting.

 

This worries me.
What takes them so long to print and sign your degree if you have met all requirements?
Is there a risk that they won't give it and keep your money?
Have they given you a clear date?

 

In your case it is very simple. PhD or no PhD. You are not willing to invest 80K just to make extra 20K as an adjunct. You already work in education so the PhD from UCN might still get you the extra 20K because you have networks of people that can give you the job if you show a PhD. People that know you would understand that this was just continuing education for you to qualify to be an adjunct. So in your case, there is all positive no negatives.

I think the issue here is more for people who want this to start a new career. If I am living with my parents on my basement and lazy to go to school but I have 10K saved in the bank and I want to do a PhD from my basement to be a clinical psychologist with my MA in Liberal Studies. I think this is not going to work most likely and would be a waste of money and time.

 

Well Azteca said they would be in touch with UCN and let me know when everything is signed off. Another graduate who got his PhD in Coaching Psychology from UCN said the process really took long (6 months) for him but it may have been because the Dean of the program was out ill. I'll let the forum know of any updates.

 

Congrats almost Dr. Carlton!

 

That's true. As I have mentioned a bit on this forum not so much to defend Azteca/UCN but to shine light on my experience and perspective of the school, these degrees should only be done for personal enrichment and a boost in a profile. It should be used to add to a career, not necessarily start a new one. I give the cake and icing analogy on this degree. You have to already have the cake to put some icing on it to be worth eating. Everyone here who is or has pursued the Azteca/UCN degree knows that the purpose their programs serve are generally life long learning and to put a check in a box. Those starting out in a career will be better off going to a community college or state university first, get several years of experience, and then get one of these foreign degrees to become more attractive for making more money as a side hustle (adjunct, consulting, writing, etc.).

 

This is good to know. The question here is if Azteca would issue the Lienciado degree for PhD graduates. At least you can say that you have a BS valid in Mexico and a PhD valid in Nicaragua.

 

The thing is that there is so much guess work with this convention that I have really started considering just paying a bit more to HAU and leave Azt-UCN aside for now.
At least with HAU I won't have all that drama and 5k$ more is a lot but over the course of one's life justifiable for a better education.

 

I think the UCN degree will do what you propose for it to do in terms of having a Doctorate from a recognized school. RFValve and Rich both have valid points and there are cautions. Going six figures in debt with Walden probably would have been an unwise move.

Did you have doctoral credit already. I am not sure I understand the ABD comment. Schools I have come in contact with in the US won't take a completed doctorate from somewhere else and let you complete just a dissertation. Not saying those don't exist just that I am unaware of them.

 

I think your questions is about a Masters or a PhD. It depends, in Canada for example, you would need a PhD in psychology to be a licensed psychologist (except Alberta) so potentially you could get a license as a Psychologist with a UCN degree but I checked and some foreign evaluators do not recognize UCN so the degree would not be useful for licensing purposes. The HAU degree is not Psychology but health counselling so it might potentially help to get a psychotherapist or counselling license in Canada but this depends a lot on the course work completed, most likely you would require to do more course work to qualify.
So it depends where you live and what you want to do with it. If you can get the UCN recognized in your country, it might be better if this is what can give you what you want as a license or teaching job. Given the differences in countries and local requirements, the best is always a local degree even if it is from an online program but many are already aligned with local licensing bodies.
I honestly thing that the UCN PhD in Psychology would not be likely to be used for licensing purposes but I might be wrong so you would need to consult with local bodies.