Michael Nicholson 29 Degrees (including a Doctorate)

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Garp, Jan 29, 2023.

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  1. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    Probably something on here somewhere about him but I just saw this on a FB post. He earned 29 Degrees from the US and Canada. Did some teaching and eventually retired to pursue his education full time (even worked as a parking attendant to get a tuition discount).

    This article lists all of his degrees and what they were in. He says the hardest was the Bachelor of Religious Studies (had to know Greek and Hebrew).

    https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2012/06/heres_the_list_of_29_degrees_k.html
     
    Michael Burgos likes this.
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Spent his entire career in low-buck maintenance jobs at university, just to get free tuition. Now he's doing the same, in retirement? Degree-mania. Pathetic.
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-nicholson-most-degrees_n_1608880
    Search gadget here turns up 8 mentions. 7 more than he's worth, as I see it.

    Never held a job that required even ONE of those degrees. Can't see how they were of any benefit to his family. A poster remarked in one thread: "too many degrees can turn someone into an a$$hole." He may have been right...
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2023
  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Excluding that bit of teaching. First time I've heard about that. Years and years of low-buck maintenance jobs etc. Fluorescent tubes need someone with 20+ Master's degrees to change them I guess. Credential inflation?
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2023
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    It's not like he's out being a menace to society. He's just going to school. And there's nothing wrong with menial work. At all.

    Unless you have information that the rest of us don't about his family, maybe that's not a subject we should breech.
     
    Dustin likes this.
  5. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I don't think accumulating bushels of degrees is a praiseworthy pursuit. That goes double for the two Indian Degree Hunters who claim to have far outdone Nicholson. Their names are Parthiban and Satyanarayana and they claim to have bagged well over a hundred degrees - mostly advanced - apiece. Some of those claims are false, though, while all of Nicholson's are true. Satyanarayana has claimed doctorates from schools which don't teach the subject at that level - e.g. a PhD in Hinduism from Stanford.

    Big thread on those two on the other forum.

    I think I need to take my meds and lie down for a while. Talking about these guys plays hell with my blood pressure.
     
  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    No, there isn't. But far fewer than 29 degrees can get you WAY better - and better-paid - work. Or should ... shouldn't they?
    Perfectly right. I don't - so we won't. And thanks for mentioning it. Needed to be said.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2023
  7. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    I would love to have about a dozen degrees (give or take), but there comes a point when enough is enough and you really should stop.
     
    Johann likes this.
  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I think the point is right after the Second Doctorate. :)
     
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  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    One positive thought about Dr. Nicholson. "Working his way through college" (free tuition as employee) was WAY better than worrying about huge Student Loans for 29 degrees, in his retirement years! :eek:
     
  10. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    29? That's 22 too many. Or, perhaps, 21....
     
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  11. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    Who am I to tell someone what to do with their time? That said, it is a pursuit I shall never embark on.
     
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  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I found a message for me in that post, Josh. Thanks. You and Maniac turned this thread into a learning experience for me. :)
     
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  13. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    Sounds like he’d be a good asset on this board. It’d be interesting to hear his takes on the different programs.
     
    JoshD likes this.
  14. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

  15. Chris Landrum

    Chris Landrum New Member

    Posted on wrong thread. Sorry.
     
  16. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    We each have one life to spend and allocate time based on various factors. His choices hopefully have been meaningful to him. I get the desire to earn more degrees and credentials. To set a goal and achieve it. Knowledge is a great thing but only one aspect of life. I think about earning more degrees but then think I could spend so much time buried in books that I miss life (one day look up and it is gone).

    Also, you have to tailor what you present to employers or you can look like you can't make up your mind and focus on anything (mile wide and inch deep).

    The gentleman is an elderly man now and hopefully what he sacrificed for this was worth it.
     
    RoscoeB likes this.
  17. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    There are advantages to using the structure and content of a degree program to enhance your professional practice or even your life.

    This guy, however, seems to just like school. I don't think there is any concern on his part what employers may have thought along the way. (If they even knew.)
     
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  18. Messdiener

    Messdiener Active Member

    For anyone planning to attempt such a feat moving forward, you could always study Spanish, German, and a few other languages first and then take some lower-cost distance programs from Mexico, Spain, Germany, and other neighbouring countries.

    If they're merely a hobby (or rather, your personal passion), why not add language learning into the mix as well? That way too, you can be exposed to perspectives from Latin American and European professors!

    If you're even more adventurous, add some African, Middle Eastern, and Asian degrees to the mix.

    ----

    In all seriousness, good on him. If this is what the fellow likes to do in his free time, then I wish him all the best in the world. I probably won't be heading down that same road, but it's inspiring to see someone follow their dreams nonetheless!
     
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  19. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Or take a doctorate from a South African school, or a school in New Zealand. I found a doctorate in each for about $US16K.
     
  20. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    They must have known --- his employers were the schools where he studied - and who provided him free tuition, for many years, as an employee. And, seeing as he and they were both OK with it ... I should be, too. :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2023
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