I work for the State of New York. I have an RA BS in Political Science. I am considering coing to a DETC school. What will a DETC degree NOT do for me that an RA degree will? Thank you in advance.
Hi I think the big issue is that RA is THE standard of accreditation in the US. Anything else is going to be second rate. If you are sure you will not go for an additional degree or ever teach it may be usable but certainly not your first choice. Good luck. Dave
I don't know if I'd be going for a PhD ever, or teach. I guess I might, down the road, who knows. How about I'm looking into a Masters' in Military Arts and Sciences or a Master's in National Security Studies from American Military University. Can anyone think of an R/A school that has anything similar by distance?
You know, I could be mis remembering this but it seems to me that the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (the federal service academy, that is) was offering a Masters in transportation in partnership with AMU. DETC or not, that's a pretty distinguished relationship for ANY D/L school to have. Nosborne
It's hard to say. Some schools will accept it towards a doctorate; some will not. Some employers will accept it as if it were an RA MA; some employers will not. John and Rich have done some research on this issue, but I can't remember the exact percentages. My take: American Military University is in the top 5% of DETC-accredited schools by almost anyone's estimation, and there had been talk in the past that they may eventually apply for regional accreditation. You could certainly do worse. Still, an RA degree would have wider acceptance. Peace, ------------------ Tom Head www.tomhead.net
The fairly extensive survey of registrars that I did last year and reported at their AACRAO convention last April suggests that about 20% of registrars routinely accept DETC-accredited degrees, another 20% will consider them, and the rest won't. One possibly important variable could be whether the school in question has had its individual courses independent evaluated for credit by the American Council on Education. Some have, many haven't.
