Dear Dr John Bear, Newport University claims that they are located at 2220 University Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660, USA. They said that they have more than 20 branches all over the world, including: Belgium Japan Czech & Slovak Mexico China United Kingdom Germany Malaysia Greece Pakistan Hong Kong Philippines India Portugal Indonesia South Africa Israel Spain Italy Switzerland Venezuela Taiwan It is also known that Newport University has been granted Full Institutional Approval by the Council for Private Post-secondary and Vocational Education. Approval means that the Council has determined and certified that the institution has met minimum standards established by the Council for integrity, financial stability, and educational quality; including the offering of bona fide instruction by qualified faculty and the appropriate assessment of students' achievement prior to during, and at the end of its program. Since Newport is only a State- Approved University, which is normally known as a unaccredited university, why are so many associations and orgnizations recognized Newport degrees? In a recent brochures that I received, it mentioned that: "Some of our programs are also recognized by the following professional bodies for exemptions or direct membership status: Association of Cost & Executive Accountants, UK Association of Business Executives, UK Canadian Chartered Institute of Business Administration Canadian Institute of Certified Administrative Managers Canadian Institute of Taxation Canada Institute of Chartered Accountants of America, USA Canadian Chartered Institute of Finance and Accountancy, Canada Chartered Institute of Certified Computer Professionals Chartered Institute of Industrial Engineers Any relevant information is much appreciated. Thank you. Shadow
Dear Shadow You ask, "Since Newport is only a State- Approved University, which is normally known as a unaccredited university, why are so many associations and orgnizations recognized Newport degrees?" "Unaccredited" does not necessarily mean "Illegal" or "Terrible." These British and Canadian organizations presumably have standards that permit acceptance of California-approved programs. Incidentally, the only accreditation Newport claims, is from the International Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities. Their domain name is owned by Newport University, and their address is the same as one of Newport University's addresses. In my experience, for the vast majority of degree-seekers, a California-approved degree will *not* meet their needs. But clearly there are those for whom it will. John Bear
I can definitely vouch for Newport's branch in South Africa, which is listed in the Open University's ICDL project (you can find it at http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk). Apparently a SAQA approved tutoring agency/branch campus, which surprises me a little. Newport does have a special negative place in my heart, though, owing to a particularly boneheaded letter they onc sent me -- something to the effect of "If you don't get your degree [implied: from us], some young whippersnapper will swoop in and take your job away from you." This is all well and good, but (a) I am that young whippersnapper, and (b) if I weren't, I doubt the unaccredited MBA they were hawking would have done me a whole lot of good over here in Mississippi. :laugh:All in all, though, Newport strikes me as a fairly legitimate outfit. I second John's concerns about unaccredited schools, though. An unaccredited MBA from a California-approved school is worth heaps more than an unaccredited MBA from a South Dakota-approved school, but it's still an MBA from an unaccredited school. Good luck! Peace, Tom
One of my little treasures is a Newport flier showing a photograph of their facilities in Switzerland: a large building with a large "NEWPORT UNIVERSITY" sign on it. When a Swiss friend went to the building, he found no sign. Newport owner Theron Dalton told me that they were planning one, and this was to show how it would look. (But they would have had just a small space in that large building.) Newport has been for sale for some years, listed with a brokerage service in Florida. You can acquire it for a low seven-figure amount. Indeed several years ago, some of the assets were sold to a man in Utah, which became Westport University. When a school changes ownership, things often change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. We shall see. John Bear
Newport was one of the set of brochures I received when looking at DBA programs. At the time, I was just about convinced that a CA Approved school was "just as good as accreditation." However, that bit of rationalization was due to my frustration at my inability to uncover an accredited program that would meet my needs. There are businesses that are 'legal'. However, based on other criteria you may or may not want to frequent them. For example, it would be 'legal' for my physician to perform heart surgery on me, but both he and I (and my wife for some unknown reason) would prefer to have a cardiac surgeon do the work. IMHO, I don't consider lack of accreditation alone as sinister. I look at it that the school serves a market segment- one that I am not a member. However, where I do draw the line is unaccredited schools that use confusing promotional materials to lure in students. The use of the "A" word is one way to draw in students from overseas that do not understand the US system. I've received a number of requests from people asking me to explain a particular school's accreditation statements on their web site. Frankly, their site is confusing as hell- nearly schizophrenic on the subject. Another use of the "A" word is to lure domestic victims that do not understand accreditation at all. As a hiring manager, I would not turn down an otherwise qulaified applicant because of an unaccredited degree. However, I (and the last 3 companies I've worked) would not recognize the unaccredited degree. If a person had an accredited undergrad degree and an unaccredited MBA, then the only degree recognized would be the undergrad degree. Another thing to consider- read between the lines. One school mentioned all the companies that provided tuition assistance for their classes for over 20,000 students. However, more detailed reading of their material indicated that they provided a number of seminars to employees. Their goal was to build to 200 MBA and DBA students that year and 250 the next. If they had a constant enrollment of 500 students, they would need 40 years to meet the claimed 20,000 student number- and were in business less than half that time. In their promotional material, they made it appear there were 20,000 MBA/DBA graduates- when in fact they counted seminar participants. Russ
Russ, When you say, "I (and the last 3 companies I've worked) would not recognize the unaccredited degree. If a person had an accredited undergrad degree and an unaccredited MBA, then the only degree recognized would be the undergrad degree.", what do you mean? In other words, what are the consequences to the employee for not having his/her non-RA MBA recognized where you work? Is it less pay compared to RA-MBA holders? Is it placing them in a non-managerial role? If your company has a tuition reimbursement policy, would your company pay for some (or all) of the tuition expenses for this individual to get an accredited MBA even though the individual already has a non-RA MBA? Would you forbid the employee from listing his non-RA MBA in his/her bio when the employee gives a public presentation? I have several friends who are Cal Coast U grads and am curious how you've delt with this issue as it hasn't seemed to have much negative effect on these individuals. Kind regards,
I can maybe answer this from my company's perspective. I interview a number of systems anlaysts/programmer types with my company. We often take into account education and experience. For instance, we might offer someone with BS and MS degrees a little more money than someone who just has a BS. However, that degree needs to be an accredited MS. Experience outranks education often, though. Promotions probably will not occur without the accredited degree, though.
I know with our organization a person DOES NOT get the job if a degree is required and the individual's degree is unaccredited. I do have a question with this thread. If an individual got their degree through the Newport University in South Africa, would that degree be considered accredited. North
I should add that a person without an accredited degree is unlikely to even make it past the intially scanning of applications. North
Probably correct for the most part. However, in my field, there are so many Indians and Chinese with a degree from their country that it does not always get caught in the front door. There were threads on some of the programming and immigration boards a few months ago regarding the H-1B program and fraudulent degrees. There are a lot of them apparently and they are tough to verify. Thus, we often hire contractors with a specific skill set over a diploma. Bing
I agree fully with Dr. Bear. My undergraduate degree is from a traditional brick and mortar school (RA of course) and unknowingly after 15 years I started an MBA with a CA approved school. Completed 2 courses and shifted to RA (DL) University. Now I completed my degree from the latter and quite satisfied. Go with regionally accredited schools and do not waste your money and time. I was lucky enough to lose the fee of 2 courses only! Eli
