Degree From "Diploma Mill" Using Real Courses?

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2015 is everything you want it to be!!

Has anybody here heard of anyone using coursework completed at legitimately accredited colleges to get a degree from a "mill"? I have to admit that I'm thinking of going this route for obtaining a 30 hour master's degree. I have 28.5 graduate credits (3.45 GPA) in digital cinema and digital journalism from a RA university. My enrollment was interrupted by severe health problems resulting in two hospitalizations in short proximity to each other. My financial aid got all messed up, and that was that.

Returning to said university to finish the digital journalism MA program is probably not going to happen anytime soon, and I don't want my credits to languish and go to waste. I know this is probably just my ego talking, but so be it. I worked very hard, while very sick, to earn those credits and that GPA (fell from 3.5), and I know that there are MA degrees that range from 30-36 credits.

I know what diploma mills are and I know that they range from outright fake schools to real schools with weak to no standards. My case, of course, is different. I'd like to transfer my RA credits in and be awarded a degree. It wouldn't bother me that the school might be unaccredited, if that is the case, because if challenged I can prove that the courses I used to get the degree are from a RA school, thus legitimizing my degree. I don't care if it's a "life experience" degree; I have so much of that that I've been advised by academics holding doctorates to take my goal of spiritual motivational speaking and combine it with my life experiences and write my autobiography - and I'm only 43 years old.

Does anybody have any ideas? Can anyone help? I know this question is going to sound crazy, but if you had to choose, what is the best, most legit of the diploma mills operating right now? The best of the worst, I guess, LOL. Oh, I'm NOT opposed to unaccredited religious schools/universities who can award an MA in digital media, new media, media arts, digital journalism, liberal arts, interdisciplinary studies or anything related to what my coursework covers.

I even have a student portfolio, which was required when I was enrolled in the MA in digital journalism. You can check out my Flickr photography portfolio, too. I took up photography as a hobby back in 2008 after it finally sunk in that lupus really had disabled me 100%. Thanks for any and all help and positive suggestions, and again, Happy New Year! :smile:

 

Filmmaker2be, I hope this is a New Year's joke of some kind, written perhaps after one too many New Year's drinks. If you aren't:

1. A diploma mill is a diploma mill. When you speak of the "best and most legit" diploma mill, you are speaking in oxymoronic terms. There is no such thing. It's like asking "which caliber is the best to commit suicide, 9mm, .357 or .45?" They're all going to kill you.

2. You're asking for a time bomb that's going to explode and damage your integrity/credibility at some future time.

3. You're almost there, be patient, do it right, and you will be glad you did.

 

Why not add something like the following to your resume:
Earned 28 post graduate units in "state subject" from XYZ University 2012-2014.

 

I've been on this forum long enough to know that while all diploma mills are bad, there are some that are less millish than others. I also asked for recommendations for unaccredited schools that were not mills.

As far as a time bomb that's going to explode and damage my integrity/credibility in the future, how do you figure? The people that that's happened to short-cut the entire educational process. Also, they tried to use those degrees to attain jobs and/or promotions, which is NOT what I'm looking to do.

So, exactly how is using RA credits to get a credential that's not available via any other means - I already said that I was not returning to the school I was pursuing the MA at, so there's no "almost there" for me - going to damage my integrity? I actually did the work for the courses, the only thing the mill is going to do is grant a credential.

 

Here's a similar method that would be even less expensive.

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Kizmet, I don't need the snark. If you don't want to read the rest of my post to understand why I'm asking, fine. But, drop the snarky comments.

 

I think what you should be looking for is a legally registered unaccredited university that offers the flexibility. Ideally accredited with flexibility will be the best. A diploma mill is illegal and it will eventually ruin your career.

 

If you go the degree mill route, then you are validating (transforming) your earned credits into trash. No one will ever take your education seriously by converting real credits into a garbage degree just for the sake of having said degree. I have been a hiring manager and a recruiter in the past. And I will respect someone more stating on their resume that they have earned credits towards their degree than someone with a diploma mill. You have my respect and admiration of doing said work knowing that you are sick. Don't do disservice to yourself and to your earned credits by obtaining a worthless piece of paper. I also agree with Kizmet, and don't take this the wrong way, why pay for a crappy degree when you can print it yourself? And guess what? Both degrees will be equally worthless.

 

I asked for recommendations of unaccredited universities with flexibility as well. All anybody focused on was the diploma mill part.

 

Well, when you put it like that...

 

Degree mills DO NOT grant legitimate credentials. Even if you completed all required hours/coursework for the MA, plus several more hours just to make sure everything was covered (all RA), then sent the money to a degree mill for the MA diploma, you still would not have a legitimate credential because it is from a degree mill. Do you want that albatross hanging around your neck for the rest of your life? By that, I mean every time your name is listed in some bio/CV for the rest of your life, it will read "MA: XYZ University," when everyone knows XYZ University is a degree mill. Yes, you can explain to them every single time what you did, but do you want that?

 

Don't be mad filmmaker, you knew it was a bogus way to go before you even asked the question. Not only have I read the whole post, I've read all your other posts as well so I know exactly why you're asking. Regardless of any of that, a degree mill degree is a degree mill degree and you may as well print your own because that's the value it will have.

 

Sorry, but you can't polish a turd. If you are looking for recognition of the work you have completed, a degree mill degree certainly won't do that. You could very well print your own degree at home and it would be just as highly regarded as a degree from a mill. That's not really going to validate the work you have done, but of course you already knew that.

A couple of options:

Option A: Fort Hays State University offers an online Master of Liberal Studies degree. Liberal Studies - Fort Hays State University You can basically work with them to craft your own program of study, and you can transfer credit. I'm not sure how much, but from what I have read on this and other forums, they can choose to accept 18 or more graduate credits, or none at all. If you explained your circumstances to them, you might have a good shot at getting a significant portion of your credits accepted.

Option B: Some folks are taking MBA MOOC courses, getting certificates of accomplishment or creating on online portfolio of their coursework, and creating their own "free MBAs." No actual degree is awarded, of course, but they are using the coursework as a means of demonstrating they have the same academic knowledge and background as someone who shelled out money for the degree. There is no reason you couldn't do the same with your college coursework, maybe even do a couple of MOOC journalism courses online and round out the "degree" you started. You could use an online service like Degreed to display your coursework and use it as a way of showcasing your knowledge, skills and abilities. It's not a degree, but some people feel this is the way college education is moving in the future. There is more on alternative credentialing here: Megatrends in MOOCs: #11 Alternative Credentials

The second option would be viewed more favorably than a credential from an unaccredited school or mill. It demonstrates you have done the work, without the tarnish of the name of a less-than-wonderful school attached to it.

 

Filmmaker2Be, there is a Master of Arts in Integrated Studies offered by Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada, offered via distance education with a 15 credit hour transfer limit. You might be able to negotiate a higher transfer limit particularly if you have a compelling reason.

 

There are many online master's degrees in liberal arts/liberal studies available. Two that readily come to mind are Excelsior College Excelsior College | Excelsior College and Texas Christian University Texas Christian University. You might try and see how many of your old master's credits they will accept. But don't pollute your resume with a degree mill diploma.

 

Excellent descriptive, Ted. POLLUTE!!!!!!! That's what a degree mill diploma will do to a resume/cv.

 

No, it's not. Everyone buying fake degrees feels justified.

 

I want to weigh in also - but my question is how close are you to the original degree? Because depending on how close you are - it may be less expensive to make arrangements and finish.

 

I comprehend where the OP is coming from. Essentially he wants to take his earned credits and repackage them. I agree that this is NOT the same thing as a typical diploma mill. However, what he fails to realize is that this isn't the way that diploma mills work or even credentialing itself. A credential from a university is not just a statement about an individual's efforts, it is a statement about collective effort. What the OP wants to be the only honest man in a collective of villainy and scum. Ok, even if that were possible it would be stupid. The idea of "pollution" is spot on. Anyone looking at a resume is not going to see your honesty, they are going to see you as one more member of the thugs. The fact that you have the academic credits to back it up is irrelevant--you are known by the company you keep. Maybe that's unfair but that is the way it works and you are not going to be the exception.

No, that's not the way it works.