Opinions on SCUPS?

Does anyone have any information about this distance degree school?

 

There is a lot of opinions about them. See: http://forums.degreeinfo.com/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=313057&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

 

What program do you have in mind?

Unaccredited but State Approved.

They have a CalBar qualifying law degree program but I don't know much about how many people complete it and pass the Bar. SCUPS doesn't seem to be one of the major players in the D/L J.D. business.

They offer the Ph.D. and Psy.D. in psychology. The ODA will allow SCUPS grads to use their Ph.D.s in Oregon (but not, apparently, the Psy.D.) Both degrees meet the educational requirements for licensure as a psychologist in California and there seem to be about four grads in history who actually made it.

SCUPS' masters in psychology is accepted for licensure in California as a Marriage and Family Therapist.

Not a mill, I don't think. Not horribly expensive, last time I checked. Just be very sure their degree will meet your particular needs.

 

Hey, Billm... you may not realize it, but some kind of weird, history-making perfection may have been achieved here... right in your very own thread. If nosborne48 had merely expanded a bit on his second sentence (i.e., "Unaccredited but State Approved") so that you'd be a little bit better tipped-off to the sort of... um... oh... I guess you could call it "controversial" or maybe "debatable" history and/or nature of SCUPS, generally, you'd bygod have, right here in this thread, probably the hands-down best brief, overall assessment of that institution that I've ever read anywhere. No kidding.

In other words, if that second sentence had been something more like... oh... hmm... let's see... maybe something like:

• "SCUPS is unaccredited but State Approved, and many here have argued that while it probably isn't a diploma mill in the truest sense, it certainly has issues about it that have made many here strongly question it. But, obviously, SCUPS can't be completely without merit; after all..."

and then the rest of what nosborne48 wrote... pretty much exactly as he wrote it.

Man, nos, that was a good post... a little, unexpected gem, just sort of lying around in the midst of all the other crapola we all post around here. With an expanded second sentence something like I've offered above, it sizes-up SCUPS with a sort of perfection; capturing, interestingly, all the little subtleties, nuances and intangibles of both its questionability, as well as its countering credibility, pretty much perfectly, in my opinion. Good work!

Trust me, Billm, you now know as much as anyone else does about SCUPS. It just doesn't get any more clear and/or understandable than that... which, I would argue, is a huge part of its problem!

 

Well, I admit that I DID leave out the bit about Thailand...

 

At the risk of adding to the crapola, I would like to add a piece related to their unsuccessful bid for DETC accreditation. In preparation for this they dropped their doctoral programs and then the second they failed in their bid they put them back up again. While this might make good business sense, it created a sense (in me anyway) that they'd go after the accreditation if it was easy but in the end they're all about money. There may well be different perceptions out there but that was mine. I've previously posted about how I believe the PsyD/PhD programs are utilized by Social Workers. I believe that it's a marginal degree that allows already licensed practitioners to put another set of impressive looking letters after their name without a whole lot of work or a whole lot of money.
Jack

 

SCUPS provides a quality education. I have two doctorates. One from Duke U (1997) and one recently from SCUPS. I chose SCUPS based on cost and the flexibility in which I could complete the Psy D program. I am very impressed with the quality of the degree courses that SCUPS provides at the doctorate level. I cannot speak to other programs that SCUPS offers. The course syllabi are very detailed, up to date texts are utilized, and faculty contact is excellent. It was a rigorous program and grades are not inflated by any means.

I have read some not so wonderful posts on this site about SCUPS. But I ask has any of these folks ever attended SCUPS to know what kind of programs the school offers.

I know that an author of several books on here has a personal issue with SCUPS that happened quite some time ago. And, from what I surmise from other comments between the posters on here, that they seem to stick together without being unbiased.

There was a news letter from SCUPS the other week that stated that a graduate of the JD program passed the Bar in Washington, D.C.

The best advice is for you to contact the schools directly and talk with them. Ask specific questions and you can "sniff out" the poor quality schools. They will be evasive in answering questions.

Best wishes on your search.

 

From SCUPS site:

http://www.scups.edu/university_info/news.asp#newsid10

Congratulations David Evan Lotter on Passing the Washington, D. C. Bar Exam

On behalf of the University, The School of Law is delighted to congratulate David Evan Lotter, a recent SCUPS graduate, on passing the Washington, D.C. Bar exam! Dave is now a practicing attorney in D.C. and plans to take the California Bar exam this year.

How did he pass the D.C. bar? I thought distance law students could only take the California bar?

 

That IS remarkable. Perhaps he completed an LL.M. somewhere?

 

Well, they just failed in their bid for DETC accreditation. That's got to tell you something.
Jack

 

seems they offer an inexpensive way to obtain a BBA via distance learning.

 

There are many inexpensive accredited BBA programs. What does SCUPS offer that they don't?

 

Was it just me, or did anyone else have a sinking feeling as they read Billm's words, here? Kinda' like watching a traffic accident... you know... where everything starts going in slow motion.

Billm... trust me... if there's one degree that you want to make sure is accredited, its your bachelors... what I call your "pivot" degree. If you don't make sure it's regionally-accredited, you'll find that there are even DETC-accredited masters programs that won't take you.

Don't screw around with this. Get a regionally-accredited BA or BS and stop toying with anything else. You can always circle back to SCUPS and get an unaccredited MA or MS or PhD or whatever your little heart desires.

There's plenty of time in life to get a shoddy degree, Billm. What's your rush?

 

...and that should be the new degreeinfo.com official motto!

Tony

 

Yes, and the Yugo was an inexpensive car. How many of them are still on the road?

It isn't as simple as Billm presents. The bachelor's from SCUPS isn't the same degree as one from an accredited school. Not by a long stretch.

 

I second that opinion, and would take it a step further and say that your masters degree should be at least nationally accredited... for your doctorate, go ahead for an unaccredited degree, but that too with a caveat that you may not be able to teach at a recognized school if it requires a doctorate; most likely the requirement would be a doctorate from an accredited university... if cost and DL are your driving factors, why don't you look at South African universities for your undergraduate degree?? More so, many RA schools I believe have in-state tuitions that compete with the price range of SCUPS. Don't take this lightly my friend!

 

Was it better if it was written Unaccredited but CA State approved?
CA approval is deferent from Wioming approval.

Learner

 

Moreover SCUPS and NCU share a great deal of Syallabus, Faculties and owners.

 

You may take the D.C. bar exam if you've completed a DL law degree and 26 hours from an ABA accredited school. The 26 hours has to be in subjects tested on the bar exam.

My guess is he transferred to SCUPS with 26+ hours in hand--maybe to save $$ or for other personal reasons.

Here's an interesting chart:
http://www.abanet.org/legaled/publications/compguide2003/legalstudy.pdf