DETC, RA, Eduelitism and conspiracy theories

Hi guys,


I have been reading your posting for a while now and have just finished reading "Bear's Guide To Earning Degrees By Distance Learning." First let me say, Dr. Bear, if you were here now I would give you a big hug. I found your book to be objective despite your self proclaimed bias. It was fun to read, easy to reference and informative. That said, I really appreciate all of the hard work and dedication you guys do here, kudos. I do find that there seems to be a strong objection to any school from which DETC is affiliated, to the point that it boarder lines being juvenile. While I agree that an RA is valuable and much easier to transfer to another school, it does NOT fit everyone's needs. I have looked at the practices of the RA commisions and DETC and I have found that DETC is not fairly represented anywhere in academia but for a few schools. The problem is one that dates back to high school I believe. The "Educational Elite" eagerly slamming the door shut in anyones face who would pursue any degree that they themselves have earned unless you do it the same way, face the same problems and only then are you respected and accepted. This being said, I am not a graduate of a DETC school as of yet, but I would have no problem attending one. If the federal government accepts its credibility as well as the military, then it would indeed be snobbish of me to look down on those who's needs were fully met by a school tailored to their way of learning. So may I enter the realm of accreditation madness in support of DETC. I know fully well that I am opening the doors to be attacked but I would like to balance the scales, so to speak. Thanks for the responses.

 

I'm actually a fan of several DETC-accredited schools. I've often said that DETC schools have incredible, and unrealized, opportunities within the federal sector. As a career federal employee, their degrees *do* have some measure of utility for me. And some of the more esoteric programs interest me for purely personal reasons.

So I suppose that, in a manner, I *do* support them. But objectively, I couldn't recommend a DETC undergraduate degree them in any instance where an RA program is an option-- partly for the reason(s) you cited, partly because of the difficulty in gaining admission to RA graduate programs that others have cited.

As for elitism or "door slamming," I'm not sure whether you're referring to the Regionals or to the posters on this board. If it's the latter: Please. The folks here are likely to be more supportive of a non-traditional learner than any manager or college advisor you'll ever meet. (And besides, good grief.. I'm a TESC graduate. It doesn't get much less elite than that.) Educational elitism? More like School-of-Hard-Knocks Realism.

 

There has been an awful lot going around lately about folks on this forum being anti-DETC, and I don't know where it comes from; maybe I've been a little harsh in my own comments, but I hope I've been clear that I think DETC-accredited schools provide meaningful options for graduate degrees, second undergraduate degrees, and certificates. I have expressed reservations--and I think even the leaders of the DETC would share them--over the possibility of earning a DETC-accredited first undergraduate degree, because of likely programs in transfer and grad school admissions. John Bear's survey indicates that 60 to 80% of registars at regionally accredited colleges and universities may not accept a DETC-accredited degree towards a degree program, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to earn a DETC-accredited first associate's or first bachelor's degree if there's a chance you might want to further your education later. And my assumption is that everyone in the world would like to keep that option open.


Cheers,

 

In general going for a not RA but DETC accredited degree will mean that more doors are closed to you. For example, getting an engineering degree at MIT will likely open up more doors for a graduate than if he'd earned his degree instead at a little known RA college. The point being that analogous to my example, in general, an RA degree will mean that more doors will be open to a person than someone that has a DETC degree.

Now friendorfoe you seem to be arguing that if a person is not interested in any of those additional doors that would be open to you then the RA degree has no advantage. This is true but I would counter that the future is hard to predict and it might be nice if you had those other doors as an option in the future.

BTW welcome to the forum!

 

Historically, I have come out in favor of RA degree programs but I don't wish to rehash that old issue here. I'm wondering...
Now that UNISA has sought and received DETC accreditation it would seem natural that one could get a DETC Bachelors/Masters degree and then be accepted into a UNISA PhD program thereby earning a GAAP PhD without having earned an RA degree at any level. Now I know that it has always been possible for someone to get a Bachelors degree from, say, Oxford (or some other non-USA school) but do we think that UNISA was admitting people with DETC degrees to their grad degree programs before they themselves became DETC accredited? And then the older question...did this move (DETC accreditation of UNISA) pull DETC up, pull UNISA down, neither, both? Just curious.
Jack

 

Hi guys,


First off, I think that this forum is the best I have seen about being informative and educational. I really enjoy the differences of opinion. Thank you guys for your reply, I do not attack any RA degree at all, I just thought I would be fair and give DETC credit for what they have done, continue to do and try to voice them in a little bit of a better light. You guys rock.