Hidden Gems of the DL World

India could easily become the superpower of DL, with so many underpaid bright people and so much need for cash... soon?

 

Agreed. And they mostly use English. The US degrees are becoming too expensive to be practical, especially in those disciplines that aren't likely to increase your salary. Why not study history or philosophy from India and pay 2 or 3K for an entire degree?

 

It does make sense, but I think something like that would be difficult to get regionally accredited. A few months ago, I talked to someone at the Higher Learning Commission about that very thing and they were not receptive to that idea. So the idea makes sense, but regional accreditation would be extremely difficult.

 

I don't think they'd need regional accreditation if they are legit by their home country's rules. You'd just need to have the degree evaluated by a service, like World Education Service, in the USA.

 

Agreed, although I don't know much about the WES. But that would be a whole other set of hoops to jump through. It might not be all that easy. Moreover, a degree like that could possibly be poorly respected by employers; even more poorly than the lower level DL degrees. Can you imagine; education by the lowest bidder? So low that it makes NCU look like Harvard!

You are right that there are many highly educated people in India that are severely underpaid and would make fine instructors for a bargain price. It could happen someday, but not tomorrow, I think. I'm sure it already does happen with a few instructors on a limited basis even now. But widespread acceptance of this idea is not on the immediate horizon. IMHO

 

Why wouldn't RA US universities employ lecturers from India? They could charge US prices and pay the lecturers at their local pay rates. The profit of the university goes up and the student is none the wiser. The degree is issued from the US and the tuition is from India.

Indian Professors are highly qualified and could easily perform at the level required, and then some. A lot of universities now have partnerships with univesities from other countries which could enhance the prospoect of thishappening.

It works for car production, why not education?

 

This could be a Gem. A PHD for under $3000
http://www.imnu.ac.in/www/exphd.asp

 

One hurdle that would need to be overcome is a communication barrier. From working with Indian partners on a daily basis I can advise that I still have no idea what people are asking for when they ask me to "Provide the needful." and they have no idea I have no idea based on their English comprehension.

That stated, not all communicate that way but there's the expectation and there's the exceptions. Not to mention that discrimination dies hard.

 

Interesting. That school looks legitimate. It's difficult to tell since it's an Indian version of English, but it appears that they have graduates from that school who have been published, or possibly professors who are published.

How did you come up with the $3000? I looked at the fee structure and could only find Indian currency. Also, I wonder how you would find out about accreditation and how their accreditation would be accepted here.

 

Yes, MC. I have worked with some very nice and very intelligent people from India in the past and even though they spoke English fluently, it was difficult to communicate with them due to dialect and accent.

 

Because while it might be an American accredited university, it wouldn't be a US university. More than anything, universities are their faculty. They aren't just a business registration in some address of convenience.

I agree that some of the low-end proprietorial DL schools might try this, if their accreditors let them get away with it.

But I don't think that the American public would embrace it. The American faculty organizations would certainly do everything they could to discredit it.

Or at least some of them are.

If this does become a trend, it's probably going to add to the existing public distrust of distance learning.

DL is already burdened by the fact that the majority of the DL schools that people encounter on the internet are degree-mills. There's already a perception that DL tends towards easy-admissions quickie-easy programs and serves students who want gradiose diplomas but don't really want to study.

If we start to see a trend of universities out-sourcing university instruction to low-wage countries, then it's going to be the DL schools that are doing it, not the B&M schools. Given the inevitable controversy that this will cause, public perception of DL will probably decline even further.

 

Well said, Bill. This is exactly what I have said in many replies to these ideas over the past several months. The only difference is that you said it much more eloquently than I did!

 

I guess that a 'hidden gem' for me would be an obscure program in a hard-to-find subject that I happen to be interesed in studying. It would rise in the charts if I liked its delivery format and if it was affordable.

And as long as we are talking about India, here's one that I think has 'hidden gem' potential.

It's a 2-year university level correspondence course in Sanskrit that results in a certificate.

http://www.sanskrit.nic.in/main/distance_education.htm

"...the Sansthan started an English medium course of twenty lessons in 1973... In order to make it more fruitful, a higher introductory course of one year... was incepted in 1978... These two lower and higher courses are also known as the first year and second year introductory courses consisting of 21 and 20 lessons respectively.

In brief, the introductory courses cover all the important items of Sanskrit language and grammar, highlighting the general rules and ignoring most of the unusual exceptions, the items of grammar based on the actual requirements of the texts supplied in the lessons..."

The price is extraordinary.

"The learners residing in India and abroad have to pay a nominal fee of Rs. 50/- (Rupees fifty only) and $20.00 (Twenty U. S. Dollars) respectively..."

Apparently the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in New Delhi is funded by the Indian government for the purposes of promoting Sanskrit, is a "deemed university" and is recognized by the University Grants Commission. But considering that this is only a certificate program and only costs $20/year, there's not a great deal of risk, whatever it is.

This could be an excellent way for somebody interested in Hinduism and Buddhism (or in Indian history and literature more broadly) to begin to acquire an important research language and helpful for doctoral students in those areas preparing themselves for reading knowledge examinations.

 

Beijing University and Fudan University in China both have great reputations state side, at least in academia. I spent some time at Fudan when I was in China in '07. They have a lot of great faculty.

 

List of Distance Education Universities & Institutions in India - IndiaStudyCenter.com Lots of great info on Indian Colleges.

 

If one took courses through these foreign universities not finish a degree but to transfer them into an American university, how would that work? Does ACE assign credit to them or is there some other mechanism? I'm curious about this as an optionto do some graduate courses and transfer them to AMU or TESC.

 

I clicked around on the list above and found one that was $1,995 for an MBA from a Goverment founded school in India.

 

I'm not sure how well that would work for you. It's pretty much up to each individual school as to what they will accept and what they will reject. I have no hard data on this, but I have a feeling that most schools would refuse to accept credits from a school in India. Maybe a degree from India would get by, but not individual classes, IMO.