Hi, everyone. So far I trully appreciate the responses I have been getting. Another question, I went to the DETC.org site and then went to the U.S. Department of Education site which listed DETC as a regionally accreditted agency. My main concern is that if I enroll into one of the accredited schools and do obtain a degree(s), would it hurt my chances when I use the degree for government promotional advancement?
From my understanding federal jobs don't care where your degree comes from as long as it is accredited. DETC degrees will qualify you. I'm in the military in orderbto use my educational benefits the school has to be accredited...period. Since we fall under the Department of Defense....you get the point. Natdog73
Probably no reason to expect that a DETC degree would have any negative impact on a government position. However, the same cannot be said for the private sector or for academia. There are a number of employers -- no one has studied this, so we don't know if it's 5% or 45% -- that require regionally accredited degrees, and so that's a limiting factor. Likewise, there's a *large* percentage (over 40%) of regionally accredited schools that won't recognize a DETC degree in order to gain advanced status (i.e., to undertake a masters or doctoral program). DETC is most certainly a legitimate organization, and some DETC schools are excellent. But others have been reported to be extremely lax academically and to have very poor student satisfaction. Additionally, several schools more recently accredited by DETC have extremely checkered reputations and very shady and deceptive dealings in their past. For this reason, if there's an equivalent regionally accredited program, I generally recommend that this is the way to go, since you won't have the potential of future education or employment limitations. If you're absolutely, positively certain that you'll never want an advanced, regionally accredited degree, or you'll never be applying for a job where an RA degree might be required, then one of the better DETC schools could be a reasonable choice. Otherwise, I'd go for the option that gives you the most future options. Hope that helps.
Are you sure that the Dept. of Ed. labeled DETC as a regional because it is not? Where is the link that you found this info? Thanks, John
I'm sure "wantolearn" confused "regionally accredited" with "recognized accreditor." DETC is a recognized accreditor of degree-granting institutions. It is not a regional accreditor, nor is it itself regionally accredited. (A condition that describes schools accredited by one of the six regional associations, not other accrediting agencies.) As for "wantolearn's" original question: it depends. While the military has been rather progressive in terms of recognizing degrees awarded by DETC-accredited schools, that phenomenon is hardly universal. As Chip pointed out, recent data has shown a marked lack of acceptance by admissions officials of credits and degrees awarded by nationally accredited schools. As with anything else nontraditional in higher education, be very, very sure the degree you seek will meet your present and future needs. "Wantolearn" should make his/her inquiries to the appropriate human resources department in his/her branch of government, keeping always in mind that he/she may someday find him/herself in remarkably different circumstances someday. The degree that was acceptable to one employer may not be so to another--or to an admissions official when applying for a higher degree program.
Employers 5% or 45%? If that is a range that is a lot of employers. RA Schools over 40%? That also leaves a lot of possibilities. So why pick those numbers? Are you low-balling them? High-balling them? Does anyone know? If you do can you tell me? Tony
While reading the above post again, it emanated the wrong attitude I believe. I was not trying to demean anyone's statement nor was I trying to flame anyone. I would really like to know if anyone has that kind of information (other than testimonials which, while helpful as a starting point, are not very definitive). Thank you
