Free education from an Indian University

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by msganti, Nov 7, 2017.

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  1. msganti

    msganti Active Member

    Amity university, through it's MOOC platform, is offering a tuition-free BA degree (3 year degree) and various short-term certificates:

    Amity MOOC

    Looks like this is free for all, irrespective of location. I don't know if this was posted earlier, but I just saw this and excited to share.
     
  2. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    This is a great offer. Amity has been distinguishing itself from its peers. I may start doing Amity's MOOC. It may be the next best thing to Linkedin courses cause it is bundled in a degree.
     
  3. Hille

    Hille Active Member

    Good Morning.

    I would love to see a free grad program anywhere in the world, any content area.

    Hille
     
  4. thequietman

    thequietman Member

    When you register, they never send a confirmation email.
     
  5. msganti

    msganti Active Member

  6. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    Excellent accomplishment by Amity. Good for Amity to be leading the way that a quality education does have to mean mortgaging the future of young people. I am a globalist on education - I love what Amity is doing.
     
  7. Michigan68

    Michigan68 Active Member

  8. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Is this "free" in the sense that it's free to see their materials, but you pay if you want credit?
     
  9. heirophant

    heirophant Well-Known Member

    It appears that there is an examination fee, but it's minimal: $5 US per class for students outside India. I'm not sure if this applies to all the exams or just to people who retake them in hopes of raising their grades.

    Amity MOOC

    I'm more concerned about where the examinations are offered. They say 'AMITY centres' around India and around the globe. But I'd like to know where they are located and whether it would mean significant travel.

    I don't really want to nit-pick though. This is probably the lowest cost degree program with recognized accreditation that I've ever heard of.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 9, 2017
  10. msganti

    msganti Active Member

    As per their website, the $5 is for retake of exams. Didn't see anything about any other fee.

    Students with foreign (non-Indian) degrees need to get their degree evaluated by the Association of Indian Universities (Your Page Title). This is standard procedure and may have some evaluation fee involved (~$200).
     
  11. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

  12. heirophant

    heirophant Well-Known Member

    Some of the quotes from that story are interesting. Regarding a proposed sale of the New England Institute of Art to Amity, we read this:

    "We are very, very sceptical about this," said Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey, who is asking the state's board of higher education to block the sale. "it's hard to imagine that this outfit from overseas, which has never done any education work here in this country, is well-suited to provide any kind of education to these students."

    If a Republican had said those exact same words, it would have instantly been denounced in all the media as another example of their evil "xenophobia and racism".

    It appears that the NE Institute of Art is one of the for-profits that was forced out of business by the Obama administration and is currently teaching out its last students. So Ms. Healey apparently would rather see it shut down entirely than stay in business serving students.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 10, 2017
  13. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    I didn't see what they intend to do with the St. John's campus they bought. If they satisfy the New York authorities then they should be able to expand elsewhere.
     
  14. heirophant

    heirophant Well-Known Member

    It will be interesting to see how they work that Long Island campus. Will it seek American accreditation (whether RA or perhaps NY Regents)? Or will it try to shelter within Amity's Indian NAAC accreditation from way back home? I would strongly favor their pursuing American accreditation. Either way, they will still have to get NY State approval to operate in NY.
     
  15. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    I am test driving one of the courses in the BA program. The quality is okay, the editing can be improved. I about 90% of completing the first course and I am happy so far. The art is not so bad after all for the first time I do have an appreciation for it. I may not do other courses because I have more relevant courses to do for professional development. But I want to pass on my new found knowledge, a poem from the course which is so relevant to today's political discourse:

    Where The Mind Is Without Fear

    Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
    Where knowledge is free
    Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
    By narrow domestic walls
    Where words come out from the depth of truth
    Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
    Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
    Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
    Where the mind is led forward by thee
    Into ever-widening thought and action
    Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 10, 2017
  16. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    It actually sounds pretty xenophobic as it stands. India is not known for consistent educational standards, but it's not some random "outfit", and it shouldn't be dismissed just because it's "overseas". I mean, seriously? Also, when all-American operators of Art Institutes run the school to the ground, it's not the good look for exceptionalism.
     
  17. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    It seems they can try to shelter within WASC accreditation from California by the way of way back home.
     
  18. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Oh boy, WASC team did the site visit to Uttar Pradesh, and also Dubai! Cool stuff.
     
  19. heirophant

    heirophant Well-Known Member

    I was unaware that Amity back in India (and its Dubai branch campus) are already RA with WASC. But so they are.

    https://www.wscuc.org/institutions/amity-university-uttar-pradesh

    So it would probably be most straight-forward for the new Long Island campus (and the art schools in NYC and MA) to get added to that accreditation as additional locations.

    I was struck by how positive the WASC site visit report and the June 8, 2016 letter were. It sounds like generally speaking WASC likes this school. It probably shouldn't be all that surprising though, since NAAC is internationally respected and schools that get 'A' ratings from them are likely to satisfy the regional accreditors too. (I think that's a pretty effective answer to Massachusetts' Ms. Healey.)

    Getting back to the subject of the free BA in the OP, the FAQ says that the degree will be awarded by Amity University Uttar Pradesh, which is already RA with WASC! So in effect this Mooc thing seems to be offering a free RA degree. (I'm not sure if this particular program is listed on WASC's list of programs for Amity, but if the awarding institution is institutionally accredited, who is likely to check?)

    The biggest remaining difficulty for Americans proposing to enroll in this is the 3-year degree thing. But if it's free, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
     
  20. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    That changes the picture and might add to their credibility, worldwide.
     

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